A Momentary Flow

Rebuilding worldviews one world at a time

Mourning Digitally | Anthropology in Practice, Scientific American Blog Network

Via Scoop.it - Knowmads, Infocology of the future

How are social technologies changing the experience of death for those charged with remembering? Death has been referred to as the great equalizer—it is the one fate we cannot escape. And cultures around the world have developed highly ritualized approaches to coping with death. For example, Alan Klima (2002) documents the funeral casino in Thailand where rites of exchange work to mediate the relationships between the living, and between the living and the deceased (7). In Thailand, Klima reports, wakes are transformed into impromptu casinos. He describes the wake scene of the death of a beloved father:.
Via blogs.scientificamerican.com