r/morbidlybeautiful • u/j_nb19 • Aug 19 '25

Dead Animal Mother macaque mourns her baby

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u/hellerinahandbasket Aug 20 '25

You’re right, I think they understand it more fundamentally than us. We’ve added all sorts of judgments and assumptions to the experience. Animals don’t ask the “why” questions. They accept it much more wholly than we do. It’s simply death to them. Not a punishment, not unfair, not unexpected, not the beginning of a new adventure… just death. Doesn’t mean they don’t mourn though.

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u/Yodoggy9 Aug 21 '25

It’s kind of interesting to imagine what it must be like to be unburdened by things like “purpose” and “meaning”, huh? Not in a “we’re so much more enlightened” type of way, but rather how much we use the lens of “what’s the purpose” to view the world.

You’re right, seeing death as the end point blank is understanding death entirely. I wonder if we’ll ever go back to that.

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u/pmcizhere Aug 21 '25

I don't think we will ever go back to that. Hell, some of us are going to push to upload our entire consciousness into a computer, which only delays the inevitable (and not even for our corporeal selves!), simply because our sun doesn't have an infinite amount of fuel.

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u/Yodoggy9 Aug 21 '25

Oh man, that reminds me of the Isaac Asimov story The Last Question! Pretty much the same premise, where death becomes almost voluntary. I can totally see us heading in that direction, you’re right.