Life or Death?

Lately the girl considered brain dead by doctors but alive by her parents has been in the news a lot. So, is the girl dead or alive?

A century ago that conflict couldn't have happened. Everyone agreed that when someone stopped breathing and their heart stopped beating they were dead. Machines to keep those body parts functioning didn't exist.

One of my college Linguistics professors said when studying a language if you come to a term people can't define you know it's one of the most basic concepts of the culture. Today in our culture we can't agree on the definitions of some of the most basic terms.

What is a human being?

What is a marriage?

What is the difference between life and death?

And, as the world keeps changing so will our concepts.

Okay, here comes my creative, writer's mind. Beware!

What if, in the future, people who "die" not only have their hearts, lungs, and nutrition continue by machines, but their brains are remotely controlled so they can function almost normally? Will those people be alive? Will they still be humans? Or will the world be taken over by zombies?

What do you think might happen?

What Can They Mean?

One of my college Linguistics professors told us when someone is studying a different language and they come to a term the native speakers can't define it means the word represents a concept  absolutely basic to that culture. In recent years there have been several terms we used to define easily in American English that people no longer agree on. For instance there have been conflicts about what it means to be dead, how to define a human being, and the meaning of the word "marriage." Although our country has been a "melting pot" made up of immigrants from all over the world, most of us have always agreed on the definitions of those basic terms. But things don't stay the same and our world is certainly changing. In fact there have probably been more changes in the last hundred and fifty years than in the preceding thousand years. I predict that it will be quite a while before we can ever agree on those basic terms again.