View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/at-what-moment-are-you-dead-randall-hayes For as far back as we can trace our existence, humans have been ...
========== For as far back
as we can trace our existence, humans have been fascinated
with death and resurrection. Nearly every religion in the world
has some interpretation of them, and from our earliest myths to the latest cinematic blockbusters,
the dead keep coming back. But is resurrection really possible? And what is the actual difference between
a living creature and a dead body, anyway? To understand what death is,
we need to understand what life is. One ancient theory
was an idea called vitalism, which claimed
that living things were unique because they were filled
with a special substance, or energy, that was the essence of life. Whether it was called qi, lifeblood, or humors, the belief in such an essence
was common throughout the world, and still persists
in the stories of creatu...