I’m John Troyer, the Death Studies Scholar-at-Large, former Director of the Centre for Death and Society at Bath University and author of a book that explores the relationship of the dead body with technology. Let’s talk death, corpses, ＆technology.

Why do you think we embalm corpses (other than to preserve for medical/scientific research)?

Do you feel people are more or less comfortable with death following the Covid pandemic opening up more conversations?

Embalming has a long history. Our modern sense of it really begins in the 19th-century and creates a template that we follow today. As to why people do it, there are lots of reasons. Convention, family tradition, international repatriation requirements (sometimes).

Everything around COVID is extremely compelling to follow right now since we're still kind of in the middle of everything. That said, I do think we'll begin so see more research on the longer-term shifts on how and if people are discussing death and dying more. I do expect to see more discussion around grief and bereavement caused by COVID. In fact, this is already happening.

Have you ever spoken with individuals with near death experiences? If so, what were your biggest takeaways, what similarities did they have, and any other info!

Near Death Experiences or NDE's are a whole field of research. I haven't spoken with anyone who has had an NDE so I can't comment directly. But I am fascinated by the entire idea of the Near Death Experience as a phenomena in the 1970s. That's when they start emerging, particularly in popular culture with television shows like In Search Of (for those who remember Leonard Nimoy's side projects....) and That's Incredible in the early 1980s. The people who I am most intrigued by are the accounts where the person says they went to hell and then came back.

Do you think there’s any sort of relation between NDEs and peoples’ experiences while on DMT, ayahuasca, or similar substances?

That's a great question. I don't know, that said, back in the late 1960s and early 1970s LSD (and other substances) were being looked at to help with grief and bereavement. That was shut down by the War on Drugs but the research itself has come back.

Based on your knowledge is it possible to cryogenically freeze a corpse and bring them back? Thanks

The short answer is No, it's not. That said, cryogenics has always been about 10-15 years away from working since 1968 or so. I'm skeptical that it's possible (or desirable) but I remain ever open-minded about these things!

Based on how our views on what is considered "dead" has changed over the years as we learn more about the body and medicine in general, do you think we may ever come to a point where much of we consider dead now could be reversible? (Recently of course, nothing George Romero)

The short answer is Yes. The definition of death and dead has and will change. The key point in these conversations is what's considered 'irreversible'? The definition of death hinges on it being an irreversible condition, so there's room for definitional change here. This will always be a philosophical as much as biomedical question too.

The way we dispose dead corpses today (cremation, burial...etc) is based on personal preference. Do you think in the future, corpses will be mainstream in harnessing clean energy? (Ex: microbial fuel cell technology)

Yes! I did a whole project on this a few years back.

I will also say that organ donation, for me, is one of the 20th centuries big breakthroughs in biomass recycling.

Thanks for this AMA. Where do you foresee the business of funeral homes going in the next 10-20 years? Do you expect that virtual funerals or memorial gatherings will eventually overtake traditional ceremonies? With that, will we perhaps see society overwhelmingly favoring creamation, further discarding the old ways of tombstones, caskets, and viewings?

I see the continued use of all the technologies you've listed. I do. I first came across funeral webcasting in 2007 so the idea of a virtual funeral has been around for a while --- then something like COVID happens and the tools become used in such a way that they become part of the normal practice.

Funerals in the West were already hybrid events and I don't see that changing in the coming years.

Let's get this AMA STARTED, YO!

Hi John, all this info is fantastic. I actually delivered a paper over the summer for the International Gothic Association. My focus has been primarily 19th c. gothic novels and the real science inspiring the fictional scientists such as Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, Griffin (the Invisible Man), and Dr. Moreau. The focus has been to source the fear of science so prevalent among large groups during the pandemic. All of the above were written in speculation on up-to-date scientific theories and practices (such as Luigi Galvani's belief in scientific necromancy through electricity, Wells extrapolating the potential danger of newly discovered X-rays, etc.) But the masses have far more access to popular fiction containing fantastic and speculative science as oppose to clear and easy access to real scientific theorems, advancements, etc. So, what seems to result is a sort of intertextuality of fact and fiction, which feeds inherent prejudice or mistrust in actual medical science.

Apologies for the ramble. I am most curious if you have ever come across any odd correlations with the scientific revolution of the late 19th and early 20th century and our relationship to death? Or any rise of misconceptions.

The genesis of my question is that, at least in Canada, many anti-vax arguments were from a fear of "DNA mutation." I'm wondering if you might have any similar anecdotes from your field.

Thank you for your time and this wildly interesting AMA.

Always remember that a lot of organ transplantation was originally frowned upon and outright condemned in the 20th century since it meant humans were acting like Gods! The list goes on and on. You're totally right about the 'science' and 'technology' of the moment and how we humans use these/those moments to define and understand death. Bill Gates made me answer this question this way. I'm kidding.

How do you think about your own death?

The main thing for me in being an organ, bone, and tissue donor if possible -- so I think about it very practically. My main advice to everyone is to communicate your wishes to all your loved ones and friend and also put those wishes in writing (if you can). I've done all these things and I think it can give a person a certain peace of mind that you've begun arranging things.

Thank you for your response. I started therapy and anti anxiety medication this year after a pretty stressful breakdown dealing with the subject. But the idea that some good could come from it helps a lot.

I appreciate you doing the AMA. It’s not a topic that folks usually get to chat about casually.

I grew up in the American funeral business so it's totally normal for me to talk about death and dying. My sister called it my Superpower.

That said, I think making it an everyday normal conversation is key.

Recently some scientists were able to bring back brain function from deceased pigs after several days using a cocktail of nutrients, blood..etc

Do you see this happening to humans in the next 10 years. The ability to theoretically bring people back with both organ transplantation and restarting the brain?

The recent pig brain function is extremely fascinating. The honest answer is no one knows and even if you could do the same kind of thing to a human brain, how do you prevent stroke, or memory loss, or cognitive damage in general. The idea of a 'brain transplant' or re-starting the brain has been described as the 'death of death' since around 1950s but we humans are nowhere near that kind of neuro medicine.

Which would give the best benefit, donating my body to science, or being a organ donor? Or is it possible to do both?

I always recommend organ donation since there's a much bigger need for donors. Many med schools have a surplus of donors so if you go that route then have a back-up plan in place.

You mentioned that both AIDS and Covid had an impact on we view death and dying. How similar or different were these events in regards to death and dying do you think?

Great question. The think to keep in mind is that so much pandemic response planning (and mass fatality planning in general) developed many tools as a result of the AIDS Epidemic (which is still happening) and those tools were deployed during COVID. I think what shocked many people in the West was to see those plans being used. One important difference between AIDS and COVID was how homophobia (in particular) played a key role in pathologising the dead. This is a topic that will be studied for many years.

Not a lot of people know this, but your late brother Verne had a successful few years after starring in the Austin Powers movies. Would you say that acting is a talent that runs in your family, or was your brother’s success a special case? And did Verne ever try tinkering with undead cyborg technology or was he pretty focused on a career as a thespian?

Soooooo Verne Troyer and I are cousins. True story.

The Troyers are Amish and he's from the Michigan side of the family. I'm from the Indiana side. That said, 6'4" and therein our paths diverged.

I am also an actor and spoke with agent like 20-years-ago about doing a show with cousin Verne but cousin Verne's people weren't interested. So it goes.

What happens in your mind when you die? Can you still think, hear conversations? For how long?

No one knows the answer to that question, I don't think. Not really. There's some research around consciousness and Near Death Experiences but that's not totally dead.

Elon musk is working on technology that allows you to store your mind in an AI interface ("mind uploading"), essentially making it possible for us (not our bodies) to live forever. What are your thoughts on this technology?

Well. You know. Elon Musk can go first. I'm not convinced we're anywhere near that level of neuro-machine interfacing. Could it work? Maybe. One issue I'm interested in is legal standing if and when this technology becomes viable. Does an uploaded dead consciousness have legal rights? And now is when we move into talking about Black Mirror!

Sorry for all the questions. Have been thinking a lot about technology and death. I'll check out your book. Thanks again for your AMA

EVERYONE SHOULD READ MY BOOK!!!

Technologies of the Human Corpse --

https://johntroyer.com/