attitudes to death

Arguably humankind has not altered significantly although the eons eat away at us. We still react as expected to whatever difficulties arise, be they physical or mental. All in all, man is an animal known for his predictability; history repeats itself. If one considers a man to possess the superior empathetic capacity of a chimpanzee, the latter demonstrating a keen awareness of death, then one can conclude that whatever reaction ensues after the loss of a loved one, is not only primal and instinctual, but something which has the potential for evolvement. Humanity’s capacity for mental awareness grew and changed from base acknowledgement of companion to something deeper and more complex, signifying a change in the way the dead were treated. Death is an ambiguity that we as modern humans have yet to fully comprehend, due to the various elements involved. To loose a comrade, or a family member in a violent manner leaves a sense of almost animal confusion, there is no immediate closure. 300,000 years past, people’s reaction to a death would demand that same sort of primal distress and sudden incomprehension, thus leading to a reverent disposal of the body and subsequently drawing in that essential feeling of resolution. Whether the burials were ceremoniously executed, or whether the corpses were left to rot away from the group and then disposed of, is irrelevant. The point in question is that our ancestors made an intentional effort outside of the given primitive nature of their species, and created something out of a natural order in which they lived. This implies they felt a similar connection to each other as we do today. They experienced the same recognition of tragedy and of loss, and how that loss is to be then contended with. If one can express love, even at the most rudimentary level, and human beings are recognized at their ‘superior’ ability for love, then one can certainly express a reaction for the loss of love, be they cave men with sticks, or businessmen with briefcases. The rest is just history.