Dying

*new* video on dying "Can We Live Forever?"
From a student in another class who saw this video in a psychology of aging class.  Its called "Can we live forever?"  
http://m.video.pbs.org/video/1754457671/

13Mar13  NYTimes: For a Hospice Pioneer, Still a Tough Call
For more than 25 years, Paul Brenner led nonprofit hospice organizations. Yet when his health faltered, choosing to become a hospice patient himself proved unexpectedly difficult.  http://nyti.ms/13Cg6DF

  13Mar13 Love That Endured Alzheimer's Ends In 2 Deaths
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/31/us/love-that-endured-alzheimers-ends-in-2-deaths.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120331

  13Mar13 Caring for the Dying
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/magazine/the-topic-of-cancer.html

  13Mar13 Looking for a Place to Die
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/opinion/looking-for-a-place-to-die.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

 13Mar13 dying
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/03/30/early-spring-vignette-walking-home/ 

Top Five Regrets of the Dying
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying

How Doctors Die
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die/ideas/nexus/

Happiness :)

*newly posted* 1April 13 (not a joke!) Review of 3 books about happiness
 http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/the_myths_of_happiness_partner/


 13Mar13 "A Serving of Gratitude Brings Health Dividends"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/science/a-serving-of-gratitude-brings-healthy-dividends.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210

13Mar13 Questions to develop success
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/10-questions-that-create-success.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

13Mar13 The Neuroscience of Happiness
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/28/the_neuroscience_of_happiness/singleton/?mobile.html

NYTimes: Secret Ingredient for Success
Self-examination is the key to noodle-making and other accomplishments.  http://nyti.ms/VPsPyq

Taking Email Vacations Can Reduce Stress
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/taking-e-mail-vacations-can-reduce-stress-study-says/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120505

Eastern Religions

What questions/comments do you have about any of the eastern religions (Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism) we've studied?

Here's some info on the "New Confucianism" that Yip referred to in class this afternoon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Confucianism

here's a book review from the Independent on a book about the New Confucianism
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/chinas-new-confucianism-by-daniel-a-bell-841037.html

Suicide

What other facts about suicide can you gather for this post?

*newly posted 13Mar13* Suicides Eclipse War Deaths for US Troops
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/09/us/suicides-eclipse-war-deaths-for-us-troops.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120609

Self-Immolation as Protest
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/world/asia/as-self-immolations-continue-some-tibetans-ask-is-it-worth-it.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130203

*newly posted 13Mar13* http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/asia/in-self-immolations-signs-of-new-turmoil-in-tibet.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120323 


NYTimes: As Families Change, Korea’s Elderly Are Turning to Suicide
The number of suicides among people 65 and older has nearly quadrupled in recent years, ranking the country’s rate of such deaths among the highest in the developed world.  http://nyti.ms/15lJWeA

Guns & Suicide
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/us/to-lower-suicide-rates-new-focus-turns-to-guns.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130214&_r=0

extra credit: Thomas More's Utopia

There's an interesting project recently created which has made More's Utopia available online and open for collective comments.  I'll give you 5 points of extra credit for reading the entire book and commenting online (comments don't have to be extensive but do have to demonstrate that you've read the entire book).

Due:  15 April

Afterlife & Our Digital Lives

What questions or comments do you have about "the afterlife"?  Do you really think it is worth thinking about or should we focus more on the here & now?  Explain.


What Happens to Our Digital Lives When We Die? | PBS NewsHour
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/03/what-happens-to-our-online-lives-when-we-die.html

re: Chpt 6 The Bible

(from Morrison & Mink presentation)
1. Do you believe women should be given the chance to be ordained?  Why or why not?
2. What does it mean to be a Christian?  Why is this question important?  (see separate blog entry on being a "good" Catholic)
3. What did you think about the St. John's illuminated Bible?

"good" Catholic (Jew, Muslim, etc.)

What does it mean to be a "good" Catholic?  Must one adhere to all of the orthodoxy?  Can you be a "cafeteria" Catholic?

We could have similar discussions about being a good Jew or Muslim, except I don't think we know enough about those traditions to be able to know what might be common practice and how that aligns or differs with doctrine & orthodoxy.

And for our nonbelievers:
NYTimes: The Way of the Agnostic
What do believers have to believe? http://nyti.ms/WQ7GzK

New religious service opportunities

Are you interested in seeing how others worship?  Perhaps someone in class would allow you to come with him/her to his/her worship?  Perhaps a small group is interested in a different tradition?  This can be your contemplative challenge for March.  Let me know if you want to go to temple or mosque, and perhaps I'll go with you.  Be especially alert to the Easter services at the end of March if you have not gone to those before:  you really will learn a great deal about the Christian beliefs about death from them.

The Self (Barry Chpt 5)

Comment on a few of these prompts:

• Spiritual Needs of the Dying. This is related to an earlier prompt about the importance of faith in human nature.  Question:  does everyone have spiritual needs?  Even atheists?  Even the dying?  Even children?  Please explore.
• Are we dualistic creatures?  Do we have minds separate from bodies as Descartes argued?  Or is that a folk tale we tell ourselves for comfort?  What is the mind-body problem?  Do souls exist?  If yes, how does that fit into human metaphysics?  Which of the many possible philosophical positions detailed in Barry's Chpt 5 is most comforting / makes the most sense to you?
• Does one need to have a conception of a personal soul for immortality to make sense?  Explain.

Current Events (Feb'13)

*new* posted 27Feb13 Living with a dying spouse (fair warning: it is hard to read)
"What he said before he died"
January 28, 2013 08:00 PM | LEE ANN COX  View full article at Salon.com

Mobile reminders for end-of-life conversations
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE90302O20130104?irpc=932

*new* 25Feb13  NYTimes: China: 2 Tibetan Monks Carry Out Fatal Protests
Two Tibetan monks have died in separate self-immolation protests in Tibetan regions of western China since Sunday, according to reports on Monday by two Tibet advocacy groups. http://nyti.ms/Xbftvm

 http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/34325/title/Bad-Blood/
 20Feb13

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/us/vermont-senate-advances-bill-for-cases-in-which-patients-choose-to-end-lives.html?ref=policy

Vermont: Senate Advances Bill for Cases in Which Patients Choose to End Lives

The State Senate gave final approval on Thursday to a measure that would exempt doctors from criminal or civil liability when treating terminally ill patients who choose to end their lives. Any person present during the self-administration of a lethal dose of legally prescribed medication would also be exempted. The legislation, known as a “death with dignity” measure, was an amendment replacing a longer bill, modeled on Oregon’s end-of-life law, that supporters said included more safeguards for patients. The bill now goes to the House, which supporters hope will put forth a bill more like the original legislation. Passage would make Vermont the first state to approve an end-of-life measure by legislative act alone. Both Oregon and Washington have end-of-life laws that were approved by voters.

18Feb13   NYTimes: Country Star Mindy McCready Dies
Mindy McCready, who hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career, died Sunday in Arkansas in an apparent suicide. She was 37.
http://nyti.ms/UwKATp 

14Feb13
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/us/to-lower-suicide-rates-new-focus-turns-to-guns.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130214&_r=0

http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die/ideas/nexus/