Slashdot Mirror


TV Show Seeks Terminally Ill Volunteer for Mummification

Terminal illness got you down? Does your future seems bleak? Channel 4 and production company Fulcrum TV would like to brighten your day by making you the star of an upcoming documentary. They would like to offer you the chance to be mummified on TV and maybe even displayed in a museum afterward. An advertisement for the project reads: "We are currently keen to talk to some one who, faced with the knowledge of their own terminal illness and all that it entails, would nonetheless consider undergoing the process of an ancient Egyptian embalming."

262 comments

  1. Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Just awesome.

  2. Depends... by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Am I going to be done terriyaki style?

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    1. Re:Depends... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Informative

      I don't believe it - someone with mod points has never watched Futurama.

      I thought that was a requirement before anyone could get a Slashdot ID?

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Depends... by Anubis350 · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's not that, the mod's pissed 'cause *he* was going to eat that mummy!

      --
      "goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
    3. Re:Depends... by glwtta · · Score: 1

      I thought that was a requirement before anyone could get a Slashdot ID?

      Hell, these days most readers probably don't event know about 'X-Bender' (et al).

      What with their Twilights and Miley Cyruses and whatnot...

      Get off my lawn.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
    4. Re:Depends... by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Ah, these days they're just letting anyone in. Pretty soon this place will be populated by people who aren't able to catch a "Real Genius" quote, who let a reference to a dead parrot pass without a single "He's pining for the fjords" comment, and who harbor absolutely no animosity towards Wil Wheaton.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    5. Re:Depends... by Jump+into+the+Void · · Score: 1

      My God! This is an outrage. I was going got eat that mummy!

    6. Re:Depends... by thelonious · · Score: 1

      Well how do you mod up a TV show?

    7. Re:Depends... by Tihstae · · Score: 1

      I don't believe it - someone with mod points has never watched Futurama.

      I thought that was a requirement before anyone could get a Slashdot ID?

      You must be new here. Slashdot has been around before that show that you think is a requirement for an ID. I know I had my ID slashdot ID before that. How about you?

      Do you even know who Jon Katz is?

    8. Re:Depends... by Bios_Hakr · · Score: 1

      I'd rather be done Mellified Man Style.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellified_Man

      --
      I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
    9. Re:Depends... by stuntpope · · Score: 2

      And some of us watched Futurama a few times and didn't care much for it. Give me a Monty Python, Dr Who, Simpsons reference any time. Futurama? meh.

      Please don't remind me of Katz.

    10. Re:Depends... by Tihstae · · Score: 1

      Sorry for the Katz reminder. I know he is a sore point with some.

      I have never even seen a Futurama episode. I hate Star Wars (all except the original movie) too.

    11. Re:Depends... by neurospyder · · Score: 1

      I'm post Katz. You guys were ruthless it seems. It's an interesting effect the internet has where the readers can immediately give feedback or abuse. Katz was forward thinking and brave if technically inept.

    12. Re:Depends... by Tihstae · · Score: 1

      Some of us were ruthless. I liked Katz at first and then he became only tolerable.

      I only apologized because he is a real sore point with some.

    13. Re:Depends... by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      who let a reference to a dead parrot pass without a single "He's pining for the fjords" comment,

      Stunned. Just stunned.

      and who harbor absolutely no animosity towards Wil Wheaton.

      Who?
      (I think that the guy has been mentioned as if he's an actor, but I don't know in what. Nor, particularly, do I care.)
      And yes, I have had a UID since years before I ever encountered Futurama ; it's possible that I had a UID before I'd even seen the Simpsons.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  3. Not a bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's for science! I think this could be interesting.

    1. Re:Not a bad idea by Interoperable · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's for science!

      No, it's for "science."

      --
      So if this is the future...where's my jet pack?
    2. Re:Not a bad idea by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      Ehhh... there's a certain amount of stuff that needs to be done to interest people in science. We have a culture where being smart is a bad thing. Little ways we can fight that is good... the MythBusters started out ok, until they started warning about the science content. Warning? WTF? There should be a "Now pay attention to this next bit!" tag, not a fucking warning.

    3. Re:Not a bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's reverse psychology. If you tell people it's dangerous and not to try it at home, they'll want to more.

    4. Re:Not a bad idea by FiloEleven · · Score: 1

      When is the last time the theories on preparing Egyptian bodies for mummification were tested? We've seen documentation of the procedure on pyramid walls and we've seen the mummies themselves, but how do we know that the proposed mix and administration of chemicals are correct?

      Performing the procedure will tell us more about it. So what if it's also a gimmick for raising ad revenue?

    5. Re:Not a bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This might help: http://www.google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|en&hl=en&q=irony

    6. Re:Not a bad idea by sFurbo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      1994. Hmm, this might be a better description.

    7. Re:Not a bad idea by FiloEleven · · Score: 1

      Well there you go. But aren't repeated experiments an important part of the scientific method? ;)

  4. Creepy by Psychotic_Wrath · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Let me be the first to say thats kind of creepy. Are they gonna suck their organs out of them just like the egyptians used to? Cuz thats kind of weird.

    --

    Doctors do Massage in Longview WA now, who knew?
    1. Re:Creepy by tuxgeek · · Score: 1

      Yep, I'm with you on the "This is creepy" line of thought
      Pretty much the same as "Lets video tape a corpse decomposing in a grave"
      Nothing but a sick, twisted idea here ...

      --
      "Suppose you were an idiot...and suppose you were a member of Congress...but I repeat myself." Mark Twain
    2. Re:Creepy by GospelHead821 · · Score: 1

      People have donated their bodies for medical research and education. Medical students dissect cadavers and I would bet that's been recorded and/or televised before. Is there something intrinsically creepier about using a cadaver to study mummification than human anatomy?

      --
      Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
      Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
    3. Re:Creepy by DarkOx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because having you blood drained and replaced with embalming fluid and you body covered in makeup and posed like we do today commonly is perfectly rational.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    4. Re:Creepy by natehoy · · Score: 1

      No, but there's something creepy about it being a television show that wants the soon-to-be-deceased subject. I mean, it's not really that it won't be an interesting experiment, it's that it'll be done on TV.

      I just hope the "TV show" isn't something like "Big Brother", where one of the contestants will now die on the show and be mummified and kept in the house. Though given "reality" TV shows in their current state, I wouldn't be terribly surprised.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    5. Re:Creepy by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Because having you blood drained and replaced with embalming fluid and you body covered in makeup and posed like we do today commonly is perfectly rational.

      It is rational. It gives people time to travel (sometimes long distances) to consol one another on the passing of a friend. The makeup, the embalming fluid, it's all there for the purposes of the viewing. The funeral is for the living.

      Irrational is leaving a body to decompose and make the gathering uncomfortable for the sake of being the 'thoroughly modern nihilist' who doesn't follow those lame and old-fashioned traditions because they are soooo much cooler than that.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    6. Re:Creepy by lazy_nihilist · · Score: 1

      A nihilist wouldn't think its 'cool' to leave a body to decompose. Lot of people misunderstand nihilism to mean Anarchism or Apathy. I can sum up my nihilism in one sentence: There are no objective morals or ethics.

    7. Re:Creepy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? Rational would be:

      a) Don't do *anything* to the body. Death is a natural process, filling the body with chemicals is not.

      b) People are not naturally supposed to live "long distances" apart. When death happens, it happens. In the animal kingdom, any relatives who aren't in the immediate vicinity will not be part of the aftermath.

      c) "leaving a body to decompose and make the gathering uncomfortable"? Uncomfortable? Why would it be uncomfortable? Again, death is a natural process. There should be nothing uncomfortable about it.

      Most people are ridiculously annoying when it comes to dealing with death. People are so afraid of it that they refuse to deal with it properly when it happens to a friend or family member. I can't BELIEVE how many people hold closed-casket services. The fact that so many people won't even *look* at the body of a dead loved one is pathetic. Our society is so scared of death, there are literally no words to describe how purely disgusting that is.

  5. Don't forget to... by incognito84 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Remember, the actual brain is located in the stomach. That thing in your head is just waste and is to be disgarded!

    1. Re:Don't forget to... by bytesex · · Score: 1

      Funny, mine is located lower still.. but hey - wasn't this an Asimov story ?

      --
      Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
    2. Re:Don't forget to... by SenseiLeNoir · · Score: 1

      No, but the Ancient Egyptians did think the brain was the "heart", responsible for emotions of "life" and the brain was just a mess of stuff they didn't fully understand the significance of. Some ancient Egyptian physicians knew there was something vital about the brain, in that if a clot appeared, they would drill the skull/etc, but they never fully understood it was the nerve center of life.

      --
      Have a nice day!
    3. Re:Don't forget to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It may be the nerve center but it's overrated.

      The brain is just one of the helper organs that an organism uses to keep the stomach happy ;).

    4. Re:Don't forget to... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      the Ancient Egyptians did think the brain was the "heart", responsible for emotions of "life" and the brain was just a mess of stuff they didn't fully understand the significance of.

      Maybe I'm applying modern thinking, but had they never seen anyone who'd been concussed?

      You also mentioned trepanning, which was practiced even in neolithic times. Odd that they didn't make the connection.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    5. Re:Don't forget to... by ReTay · · Score: 1

      "Remember, the actual brain is located in the stomach. That thing in your head is just waste and is to be disgarded!"

      For many of us men it seems that you are about 12inches too high...

    6. Re:Don't forget to... by Yamata+no+Orochi · · Score: 1

      Twelve inches? You flatter me!

    7. Re:Don't forget to... by SenseiLeNoir · · Score: 1

      I know, its odd they didn't make the connection, but they didn't.

      Hence why in mummification they usually scoop out the brain using special scoops inserted via the nasal canal, yet preserved the heart.

      --
      Have a nice day!
  6. Sequel? by tsvk · · Score: 5, Funny

    Terminally III?

    Is that, like, the sequel to Terminally II?

    1. Re:Sequel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Didn't they make a third one called Terminally Ill -Salvation.

    2. Re:Sequel? by wiredlogic · · Score: 4, Funny

      I prefer Terminally Ill: Revenge of Helvetica

      --
      I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    3. Re:Sequel? by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      I prefer Terminally Ill: Revenge of Helvetica

      Well, Helvetica does make me die a little on the inside each time I use it...

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
    4. Re:Sequel? by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      Terminally III?

      Is that, like, the sequel to Terminally II?

      Terminally -- the Series

      Terminally Barbie -- What can Ken do for an encore?

    5. Re:Sequel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The next one will be Terminally Salvated?

    6. Re:Sequel? by M8e · · Score: 0

      Terminally I: Forced Mummification
      Terminally II: I accidentaly the mummy.
      Terminally III: Volunteer For Mummification.

    7. Re:Sequel? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Wait till they get to Terminally vi - Emacs strikes back.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    8. Re:Sequel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Thats Because Slashdot Thinks It's Cool To Capitalize The First Letter of Every Word

      I may be taking crazy pills, but I'm pretty sure it's appropriate to use title case for titles.

    9. Re:Sequel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I prefer Terminally Ill: Revenge of Helvetica

      A lot of people get that one muddled up with Terminally IV: Arial Strikes Back, because they're quite similar apart from some minor details.

      Personally, I found them both grotesque.

    10. Re:Sequel? by mschirmer · · Score: 0

      iT's deFiniTelY thE CraZy piLls

      I'M suRe Of iT!

    11. Re:Sequel? by damien_kane · · Score: 1

      I prefer Terminally Ill: Revenge of Helvetica

      A lot of people get that one muddled up with Terminally IV: Arial Strikes Back, because they're quite similar apart from some minor details.

      Personally, I found them both grotesque.

      Strikes back was V;
      Terminally IV was "A New Courier"

  7. Is there anyone not terminal? by BetterSense · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I am "faced with the knowledge of my own terminal illness" in that I am alive. I know that I will die, sooner or later. I understand that people who are terminally ill have a better idea as to the possible maximum, but we all have a possible maximum, and as you get older it will be looming for you, too. It annoys me when people are like "He KNOWS he's going to die, that must be so depressing". We all "know we are going to die". Nobody lives. Everyone dies. You should live accordingly.

    We can never satisfactorily "cure" cancer or any other disease. "Curing" a disease is defined as letting you live long enough to die from a different one. Numbers show that millions of lives have been saved by antibiotics, but have they? Just give them a bit more time. They will die sure enough. The only reason the "terminal illness" part is relevant to this TV show is they need the person to die on their TV schedule.

    1. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by wizardforce · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That is like saying that solar power isn't a renewable resource because eventually the Sun will die in 5+ billion years. It may be technically true but not meaningfully so.

      --
      Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
    2. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by DigiShaman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      We can never satisfactorily "cure" cancer or any other disease. "Curing" a disease is defined as letting you live long enough to die from a different one.

      True. But, there is a difference between dieing at the age of 25 vs 90. If possible, I would like to live as long as I potentially can. Life is too short as it is.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    3. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Tied to a chair with bedsores, sedated to keep you from becoming troublesome, and spoon fed whirled peas. Be careful what you wish for.

      Deaths can be prevented, but when you see the term "preventable deaths" in the press they're never using it correctly. You prevent deaths with condoms, birth control pills, and poor oral hygiene - by preventing the lives from starting.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    4. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Tomfrh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We all "know we are going to die"

      Well yeah, obviously, but that's completely different to being told "two months".

    5. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for your semantic insight Captain PEDANT!

    6. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Cryacin · · Score: 4, Funny

      You prevent deaths with condoms, birth control pills, and poor oral hygiene - by preventing the lives from starting.

      Don't forget to add personality to that list of prophylactics!

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    7. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Understanding disease: you're doing it wrong.

    8. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Low+Ranked+Craig · · Score: 1

      On a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.

      --
      I still cannot find the droids I am looking for...
    9. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by symbolset · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And slashdot, of course.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    10. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Nice going there, Rorschach

    11. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by wizardforce · · Score: 1

      Your definition of "disease" seems to be restricted to biological dysfunction that is caused by a foreign vector such as a virus, bacterium or otherwise communicable pathogen so you may be surprised to learn that although cancer isn't normally a communicable disease, there is a type of cancer called Sticker's sarcoma in canines that is communicable. Lab rats are often injected with other individual's cancer cells which artificially induces cancer in the animal for research purposes. Cancers in their various forms are probably the best type of terminal illness for the mummification process owing to the fact that the deceased probably isn't as much a biohazard as say AIDS or TB might be.

      --
      Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
    12. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by gruntled · · Score: 1

      Yeah, everybody has to die eventually. I'm the exception that proves the rule.

    13. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by athlon02 · · Score: 1

      On that happy note, will you be volunteering for the show?

      </kidding>

    14. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One step closer to televised death matches using convicts ... err volunteers. Not to get ratings, but to teach and protect the children!

    15. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by sznupi · · Score: 1
      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    16. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by wizardforce · · Score: 1

      HTLV-1 causes leukemia in 3% of infections however, Sticker's sarcoma is a case of the cancer its self spreading from animal to animal not a foreign pathogen spreading from animal to animal and indirectly causing cancer like HPV and HTLV-1 do. Cancer cells themselves are pathogens to a degree, it is just that normally most cancers are the result of mutations in various body cells instead of an infection of any sort.

      --
      Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
    17. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No it isn't.

      This is why many treatable illnesses are ignored and left untreated in very old patients. For example, my great-grandfather is 93 and has prostate cancer. Given that the treatments for that cancer have nasty side effects, and he is very likely to die simply from old age before the cancer can kill him (several years from now based on his last checkups) he has opted to leave it untreated (as his doctors recommended).

      Lives are never 'saved' by medical intervention. They are only lengthened (which isn't without its value, obviously, but its not the same thing).

    18. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your statement is very incorrect, we cannot possibly know what the future holds.

      I suggest reading "The Singularity is Near". Kurzweil gives a convincing argument that in mere decades our society will have all imaginable technology. It seems far fetched but I would encourage you to keep an open mind until you read.

      Nanotechnology could provide tiny robots to stave off common causes of death, and even extend our telomeres, an oft cited cause for the guarentee of one's eventual demise

    19. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Rakishi · · Score: 1

      Entropy will get us all in the end.

    20. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cheery little bugger aren't you?

    21. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by alonz · · Score: 1

      Life: an invariably fatal sexually transmitted disease.

    22. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I look forward to reading more about this on your Deadjournal.

    23. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by pisto_grih · · Score: 1

      Life is too short as it is.

      How can life be too short when it is the longest thing anyone can do?

    24. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Hebbinator · · Score: 4, Funny

      Reminds me of the quotation:

      "Life is a sexually transmitted disease with 100% mortality rate."

    25. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by f0rk · · Score: 1

      HOW the fuck did Captain Obvious get +4 Insightful?
      Ofcourse we are all going to die sooner or later. There's a differences in seeing death around the corner and hearing mythical stories of an inevitable end.

    26. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by addsalt · · Score: 1

      "Curing" a disease is defined as letting you live long enough to die from a different one.

      Keep it secret, but I read about a group of famous people who found a way so they will NEVER die because of ANY disease

    27. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by digitalchinky · · Score: 1

      Maybe for you :-)

    28. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Tim+C · · Score: 2, Informative

      We can never satisfactorily "cure" cancer or any other disease. "Curing" a disease is defined as letting you live long enough to die from a different one.

      I know several people who are extremely happy to have been given the chance to die of something other than cancer.

      Numbers show that millions of lives have been saved by antibiotics, but have they?

      Yes, they have. If without them you would have been dead in days or weeks, but with them you successfully fight off the disease and are no longer in any danger of dying from it, then yes, they did save you. Even if you were hit by a bus and killed on the way home from getting the all-clear, that disease or infection did not kill you, and the antibiotics did save your life.

      I agree with the mantra that you should live your life according to the knowledge that it won't last forever, but the rest is needlessly fatalistic imho.

    29. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It may be technically true but not meaningfully so.

      No it isn't.

      It's technically true that everyone will die sometime, but it isn't really meaningful in the context of making a film about it in the near future, which I presume the story is about (no, of course I didn't read it).

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    30. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Tom · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We all "know we are going to die".

      Not really, no. I'm serious. One thing that humans are fascinatingly good at is ignoring this "knowledge". There's some brain research that shows evidence of our brains actually being wired up so that we avoid facing this, on very low-levels. In other words: It's not a conscious decision, not even an unconscious one. Runs a lot deeper than that.

      So, it's only true for broad definitions of "know". Yes, the fact is recallable from memory. But your brain goes to great lengths to ignore it, and almost always when you actually do recall it, it has about the same emotional impact as last year's sports numbers. Actually, for sports fans, less than that. But it shouldn't. Ever wondered why that is? Now you know. For some definitions of "know". :-)

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    31. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by stjobe · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Life is a disease; sexually transmitted and invariably fatal"
        - Neil Gaiman, Death: The High Cost of Living

      --
      "Total destruction the only solution" - Bob Marley
    32. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is like saying that solar power isn't a renewable resource because eventually the Sun will die in 5+ billion years.

      Yes, but I'm sure the sun can be revived, eventually.

    33. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure you can cure cancer or any other disease. Your point is that you can still die from something else. The point is not that curing cancer, or any and all diseases, will make you live forever. It's that curing an ailment will allow you to spend more time on this mortal coil to "live accordingly" with the knowledge that one day will be your last. Memento mori.

    34. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by mike2R · · Score: 1

      And slashdot, of course.

      Correlation is not causation :)

      --
      This sig all sigs devours
    35. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      We all "know we are going to die". Nobody lives. Everyone dies. You should live accordingly.

      It is true that we are all going to die and should live accordingly, but an awful lot of people don't really believe it. That is part of what is wrong with this world, people think they are immortal...or even that it is possible to be immortal.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    36. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by mike2R · · Score: 1

      Not really, no. I'm serious. One thing that humans are fascinatingly good at is ignoring this "knowledge". There's some brain research that shows evidence of our brains actually being wired up so that we avoid facing this, on very low-levels. In other words: It's not a conscious decision, not even an unconscious one. Runs a lot deeper than that.

      While I don't disagree, it does remind me of a fascinating conversation I had with my 4 year old niece. She'd watched a video of Swan Lake with her parents on Christmas Eve and apparently on Christmas morning came out with "Mummy, am I going to die?"

      Some basic facts of existence were explained by her parents, and they obviously lodged in her mind, since when I saw her over New Year she came up to me with a serious expression and asked "Michael, are you going to die?" I explained that it was more than possible, and she asked me if she was going to die as well. I told her I was thirty years older than her, so would die a long time before her, which seemed reassuring to a certain extent (at least she later went round her slightly older cousins telling them how much sooner they were going to die than her).

      But I did find it interesting that we aren't born knowing we are going to die, and in fact the revelation when it comes is not one we are happy with at all.

      --
      This sig all sigs devours
    37. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      Whenever you have a singularity in your theory, your theory almost certainly will fail before getting to that singularity, because there's something happening that you don't know, because you've never experienced anything so close to the apparent singularity. Indeed, even if you have mere exponential growth, you already should expect that there's something which will stop it.

      Maybe as our technology improves faster and faster, the probability of some technology getting out of control (either through lack of precaution, or through terrorists, religious end-of-world fanatics or whoever misusing the technology to harm us) approaches 1, and then we get back to the technical level of the stone age, because all the advanced technology got destroyed, most people died, and the few left don't have enough knowledge to recreate the technology from scratch.

      Or maybe at some point development of the technology comes to a halt because we have used up the materials found on Earth before we started to get efficient mining in space, and then we can't mine in space because we lack the resources to get there.

      Or maybe at some point, technology development will simply stop accelerating for economical reasons: If you don't have the time to market your invention before it is obsolete, a company will have little incentive to support its development. In that scenario, we will get continued progress, but no singularity.

      I'm sure you can find quite a lot other scenarios of why the singularity doesn't arrive. But probably the true reason why the singularity doesn't arrive will be one no one of us could even have thought of, because we have no clue about the technology existing then, and the effects it has on us.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    38. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Yamata+no+Orochi · · Score: 1

      Hello, this is Killian. Give me the Justice Department, Entertainment Division.

    39. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by DigitalSorceress · · Score: 1

      I am overwhelmed with the urge to say the following:

      Amen, brother/sister as the case may be... Amen.

      --

      The Digital Sorceress
    40. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by jayme0227 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think there's a big difference between "knowing" that you're going to die and "understanding" that you're going to die. Every one of us knows that our time is ticking down and that we will, some day, die. Most of us have had no reason to really grapple with our own mortality, and as such, don't really "believe" that we're going to die.

      I think this is part of the reason that funerals are so hard on so many people. They come that much closer to the understanding how fragile life is and to the fact that their life can be taken at any time.

      Sorry for the misuse of quotes above. I wanted it to be known that the concepts that I was leaning on weren't exactly the definition of those words, but my limited vocabulary couldn't allow me to find anything better.

      --
      But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
    41. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Gerafix · · Score: 1

      Speak for yourself, I plan on living for the next six billion years.

    42. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by PachmanP · · Score: 1

      It's technically true that everyone will die sometime, but it isn't really meaningful in the context of making a film about it in the near future, which I presume the story is about (no, of course I didn't read it).

      Well everybody is going to die in the near future. The entire existence of man isn't really meaningful in the context of the universe.

      --
      You're thinking small. Why miniaturize the laser, when we could instead enlarge the sharks? -John Searle
    43. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by WillDraven · · Score: 1

      Same here, I'm holding out for mind uploading. Meet me in the kuiper belt in a few billion and we can watch sol die together.

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
    44. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Yeah, about that. Make sure you kiss your loved ones today. Don't ask me why, I can't tell you.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    45. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by 2obvious4u · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There is a very obvious reason for why this is. If we actually really understood what being dead meant and really thought about it on the deep levels we would be in such a panic that we couldn't function as a society.

      The more I think about my own mortality the more I view Religion as a coping mechanism.

    46. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Hebbinator · · Score: 1

      Ah - that's the one! Thanks

    47. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I doubt TV production companies (sorry to bring up the actual frikkin subject under discussion yet again) plan their filming schedule using eons as a unit.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    48. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Petrushka · · Score: 1

      The joke's a lot older than that. I heard it regularly - in almost that exact form - before Gaiman adopted it. He's a clever masher-upper, but don't give him credit for what he didn't write. Ultimately it seems to come from:

      Let Nature, and let Art do what they please,
      When all's done, Life is an Incurable Disease.

      -- Abraham Cowley (1618-1667), To Dr. Scarborough

    49. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 1

      But I did find it interesting that we aren't born knowing we are going to die, and in fact the revelation when it comes is not one we are happy with at all.

      I remember when I learned this fact. My sister (who is much older) took me on a ride on the back of her bike to go to a nearby market for a popsicle. I must have been somewhere between 3 and 5 years old. On the way, we stopped at the cemetery up the road and walked around. It was a pleasant spot; lots of trees, and it was a beautiful, bright day. Although I knew the place was called a cemetery, I didn't actually understand what it was. My sister tried to explain it to me... something about how these people went to sleep and didn't wake up, and they were now under the ground, but they wouldn't come back to see other people anymore. And although I didn't quite get it, I somehow understood. I don't remember getting depressed, but I remember asking her about it later in the day because it was such a novel idea, and I wanted to understand.

      It's interesting -- I have very few memories from that age, but I remember that day in detail, even down to the kind of popsicle I ate.

      So whether or not we avoid facing this consciously or unconsciously, I find it interesting that that day is burned in my memory so strongly. Not because I got upset about it (at least that I recall), but because it struck me as so significant at the time that people went away and didn't come back.

    50. Re:Is there anyone not terminal? by Tom · · Score: 1

      The more I think about my own mortality the more I view Religion as a coping mechanism.

      Bingo.

      Book: "The Golden Bough" by Frazer. Should be required reading in school. Explains very detailed just how religion came to be, and that it evolved out of two very deep desires of man. One is coping with death. The second is having some meaning in and control over the world which to early man was random, uncontrollable and very much frightening.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  8. why terminal? by scapermoya · · Score: 1

    Why does the person need to be terminally ill? why can't it just be someone who agrees to be mummified following their death?

    are the producers that impatient?

    --
    Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
    1. Re:why terminal? by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Informative

      Duh. Preferably you die the moment after you signed the contract so they can start making the documentary. Do you think they want to wait another 40ish years or however long you plan to live?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:why terminal? by coastal984 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because obviously they'd like to get some filming done before May Sweeps... this is show business, you know. Can't be waiting for you to croak 20 or 30 years down the line...

    3. Re:why terminal? by AaxelB · · Score: 1

      Why does the person need to be terminally ill? why can't it just be someone who agrees to be mummified following their death? are the producers that impatient?

      Yes! Even if you've got some 100-year-old heroin addict, it could be years before they drop, and by then everyone involved will have lost interest and the body will either be buried boringly or go to, like, science or something stupid like that.

      ;-)

    4. Re:why terminal? by scapermoya · · Score: 1

      i wasn't suggesting it should be someone youngish. i just think it would remove some of the morbidity it they didn't use the word terminal.

      --
      Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
    5. Re:why terminal? by GrubLord · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because they're looking to cash in on the morbid fascination of seeing a sexy, healthy-looking person who died of some non-obvious disease (such as certain cancers) get stripped down and cut to pieces.

      It's much less can't-look-away horrifying if they're cutting up an 80-year-old. Who'll want to buy ads in THAT half-hour?

    6. Re:why terminal? by Redfearn · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Sexy, you said? You're on to something. Death sells, but add sex, and just watch the ratings soar!

    7. Re:why terminal? by mhwombat · · Score: 1

      That is morbid, but I think it would be morbid if they were following some elderly person around filming them just because they're old, waiting for them to drop dead!

    8. Re:why terminal? by scapermoya · · Score: 1

      i don't think they would film anything before the person died either way.

      planet earth took years and years to film. i'm not suggesting this will be anywhere near as good as planet earth, just that production companies have plenty of time on their hands. it's not like someone is going to scoop them.

      --
      Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
    9. Re:why terminal? by TapeCutter · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Here in Oz, SBS broadcast this series. Basically it was a live autopsy with the body hung in an upright posture by wires (facing away from the camera and live audience). The "can't-look-away horror" part for me was when he removed the brain, spinal cord and siatic nerve all in one piece.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    10. Re:why terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's much less can't-look-away horrifying if they're cutting up an 80-year-old. Who'll want to buy ads in THAT half-hour?

      Dog food producers?

    11. Re:why terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope you meant "live" as in "live broadcast".

    12. Re:why terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Duh. Preferably you die the moment after you signed the contract so they can start making the documentary. Do you think they want to wait another 40ish years or however long you plan to live?

      Hell no! You can bet your ass that the producers will have a camera in the face of the lucky winner and their loved ones, asking those searching questions and generally trying to get people crying for the camera. 'Reality' TV's influence demands that they extract maximum drama out of it to fill the void in the sad gits watching. That will always trump any concerns about ethics, exploitation or accuracy.

    13. Re:why terminal? by fbjon · · Score: 1

      There's a similar series with the same doctor performing the autopsies called Anatomy for Beginners. Very uncensored and informative.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
    14. Re:why terminal? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Depends on who shoots that documentary. Basically, MTV or BBC?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    15. Re:why terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Presumably the same advertisers that advertised during Channel 4's Anatomy or Beginners

    16. Re:why terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even if they went with an old person, they could still be waiting 10 years.

      Maybe they could get a few hundred people to sign up, with the likelyhood that one of them will die soon enough, but it is quite possible they want to get some background on the person who volunteered for it, maybe an interview with them explaining why they want to have this done to them, and things like that, so it is more practical that they find a volunteer whose almost certain to die in a year or two so they can do some background filming while the person is alive.

    17. Re:why terminal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would submit that most terminally ill people who die of their diagnosed terminal disease will very likely not look "sexy" or "healthy-looking" by the time they go. Of course, to each his own I guess.

    18. Re:why terminal? by MiniMike · · Score: 1

      Duh. Preferably you die the moment after you signed the contract so they can start making the documentary.

      Wow, talk about a poison pen...

    19. Re:why terminal? by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      Eww, just eww.

    20. Re:why terminal? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Maybe they could get a few hundred people to sign up, with the likelyhood that one of them will die soon enough

      You mean somthing like a ghoul pool?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    21. Re:why terminal? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      "Very uncensored and informative."

      Yes SBS constantly demonstrates that the claims about draconian censorship in Australia are usually made by slashdotters who don't understand the local politics.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    22. Re:why terminal? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      I meant a live audience but I botched the wording in a rather amusing way.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  9. Dear Potential Corpse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hello,

    Commiserations on the news of your imminent demise. At Channel 4, we believe that the most appropriate way of dealing with this sad news, and the undoubted grief of your nearest and dearest, is for you to submit your corpse to be messed about with on national television for public "infotainment". The documentary we are producing will take just as sensitive, informative, and considerate an approach as the famous documentaries "The Boy Whose Skin Falls Off", "The Woman Who Never Grew Up" and our other televised equivalents of old-time circus freak-shows.

    We've set up a 24 hour hotline, just in case you really are that close to popping your cloggs, and look forward to working with your mortal remains soon!

    best regards,
    Channel 4 Public Relations.

    1. Re:Dear Potential Corpse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You make a good point. I was going to say "at least we don't have the bearded lady", but I've seen a half dozen tranny hookers on TV in the last week alone, and I don't think that's an improvement.

      We all laugh about how backwards our ancestors were, that they considered circuses with "freak shows" to be entertainment. Yet, when I spin through the dial on my cable TV in the last week (excluding the movies on demand I've seen), I've seen shows about midget couples tackling the challenges of everyday life, shows about morbidly obese black families trying to lose weight, shows about really *really* morbidly obese people who can't stand or walk and get bariatric surgery only to die as often as not afterwards, shows about people who have too much plastic surgery, shows about transexuals from minority communities, and shows about people who have hoarded so much shit in their houses they can barely get out the door.

      That's all in the last two weeks, and I don't watch more than an hour of TV a day.

    2. Re:Dear Potential Corpse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off" was incredibly moving. Hardly a freak show.

  10. I don't see what the big deal is by daemonenwind · · Score: 2, Funny

    Being mummified on live TV isn't all that different from what kids are doing with Facebook these days, anyway.

    1. Re:I don't see what the big deal is by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Ya know, braggin' rights and self promotion is kinda pointless when you're ... well, dead.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:I don't see what the big deal is by Sparx139 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but it'd still be a really cool way to go out.

      --
      Our culture doesn't get smarter, it just finds new ways of being retarded.
    3. Re:I don't see what the big deal is by Interoperable · · Score: 1

      No, you get my lawn.

      --
      So if this is the future...where's my jet pack?
    4. Re:I don't see what the big deal is by Interoperable · · Score: 1

      Aw damn...missed "off." This is why /. has "preview" for your comments.

      --
      So if this is the future...where's my jet pack?
    5. Re:I don't see what the big deal is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you get my lawn.

      Not until I'm pushing up daises!

      Ha Ha! CAPTCHA " Angelic"

    6. Re:I don't see what the big deal is by sznupi · · Score: 1

      OTOH it's quite an easy way to be remembered for a bit longer and by a somewhat larger group of people; even have encyclopedic records about oneself, for example.

      That's the best any of us can hope for anyway, after death.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    7. Re:I don't see what the big deal is by tagno25 · · Score: 1

      or like [attempted] suicide on stickam.

  11. What is next live executions? by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1

    What is next live executions?

    any ways are there laws saying that assisted suicide can't be done in states in us or other areas.

    1. Re:What is next live executions? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      they aren't going to assist a suicide or murder anyone, they just want to sign on someone who will flop over dead very soon to meet T.V. season taping schedule. So if you just got diagnosed with lung cancer, forget it, they don't want you. If you were diagnosed with lung cancer 12-18 months ago and are breathing and fed from tubes, and have to hit the button on your morphine drip every 15 minutes to somewhat lessen the agony, then yes, by all means give them a holler.

    2. Re:What is next live executions? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      they aren't going to assist a suicide or murder anyone

      Why not? Assisted suicide live on TV? Think of the ratings!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:What is next live executions? by DigiShaman · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why not? Assisted suicide live on TV? Think of the ratings!

      Why not turn it into a game show where you get to pick a vowel? We can call it "Hangman".

      (I'm so going to hell for that)

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    4. Re:What is next live executions? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      they aren't going to assist a suicide or murder anyone

      Why not? Assisted suicide live on TV? Think of the ratings!

      Nah, reality shows like "cops" have that niche stiched up.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    5. Re:What is next live executions? by alx5000 · · Score: 1

      A screenplay is in the works!

      --
      My 0.02 cents
    6. Re:What is next live executions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not? Assisted suicide live on TV? Think of the ratings!

      Why not turn it into a game show where you get to pick a bowel? We can call it "Hangman".

      There, fixed that for you.

    7. Re:What is next live executions? by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 1

      any ways are there laws saying that assisted suicide can't be done in states in us or other areas.

      A while back there's been a documentary about assisted suicide, they investigated where it was legal and not, non-profit organisations aiding people who wanted euthenasia.

      It ended with following someone who decided to helped to die, he said bye to his girlfriend, and drank some suicidemix provided with the help of the non-profit.

      After he drank this, he's lays down on his bed, his speech gets slower and after a while there's no response anymore and over is the documentary as his life.

      --
      I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
    8. Re:What is next live executions? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Why so boring? This is the way ahead.

      Quick plot: You get a million if you survive for a week while some nutjobs try to kill you. Problem: The network fixes the game to make sure you can escape them for a week. Then they make sure they finally get you, saving a million.

      Think of the ratings!

      (and yes, I'm aware that Running Man has a similar plot. But this one was done earlier and it looks way more "realistic". Greed > liberty!)

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    9. Re:What is next live executions? by MiniMike · · Score: 1

      Think 'Jay Leno Show'. Ratings fail.

      But I may be wrong about that being the original intent of the show...

    10. Re:What is next live executions? by clickety6 · · Score: 1

      You can't have a show like that on today's polictially correct TV channels.

      What the hell where you thinking?

      Executives will never buy that show.

      HangPERSON on the other hand is a sure-fire winner!
       

      --
      ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
    11. Re:What is next live executions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aYe0Dxz32rY/SZzYQkCwQrI/AAAAAAAAAvM/rK6UpcgjS8Y/s320/PDVD_012.JPG

    12. Re:What is next live executions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not turn it into a game show where you get to pick a vowel? We can call it "Hangman".

      (I'm so going to hell for that)

      Ohhh better yet, Celebrity Hangman with David Carradine!

    13. Re:What is next live executions? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      but the person on noose will have to be white male, otherwise show will be sexist or racist.

  12. Terminator III for Mumification? by Fotograf · · Score: 3, Funny

    how is that possible, i thought he was an robot from the future...

    --
    God's gift to chicks
    1. Re:Terminator III for Mumification? by The+Wild+Norseman · · Score: 5, Funny

      I died inside a little. Urrghh.

      WAIT! Hold on! Lemme get my camera first!

      --
      "A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book
    2. Re:Terminator III for Mumification? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3) there was a way to physically punish people over the internet for grammatical abuse like "an robot."

      Dude, the n is silent!

  13. Mummy! by RebelWithoutAClue · · Score: 2, Funny

    I volunteer! I expect to return to terrorize the world in a few hundred years though.

    Wait, what do you mean life doesn't count as a terminal illness ?

    --
    "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results" - Winston Churchill
    1. Re:Mummy! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Brutally said, it's because you don't die soon enough. Basically, the "terminally ill" part is in there because it would probably not be too good an idea to simply say "we make you a mummy TV star if you off yourself damn right now". Not so much because of the outrage, but rather because they only need ONE specimen and wouldn't know what to do with the surplus.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  14. So how long until we get... by Taikutusu · · Score: 1

    ...George Carlin's all suicide channel on cable TV?

  15. I nominate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    the Fox Network.

  16. Be a good mummy, now... by SEWilco · · Score: 1

    Now it's obvious what project Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul have gone to. Insist on earplugs if Simon's on the panel of judges, to help keep you motivated toward reaching the Grand Finale competition.

  17. Fox Network by Lord_of_the_nerf · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe they could sweeten the pot and sign me up for any future 'When Monsters Attack' specials.

  18. Try Mummification Deluxe Pro! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Forget euthenasia kids, mummification is the theme of the season!

    That'll show those anti-euthenasia bastards.

  19. After the game... by SEWilco · · Score: 1

    My, what a tall mummy you are.

  20. This has been foreseen. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bizarrely, this was predicted by Adam Carolla and Patton Oswalt last week on Carolla's podcast:

    They were talking about how people get famous for doing nothing...

    Oswalt: With the Dr. Drew show.. Now there's no way out. There's no... drinking or fucking yourself out of show biz. There will always be a show for every level of your success or failure as a reality douche. The whole infrastructure is there. You will never have to leave television.
    Carolla: The next one is going to be called... Celebrity Crematorium.... Snooki goes from the Jersey Shore to Dr. Drew to the Dark Sleep to the crematorium where we have them "Earn the Urn!"

    The really sad thing is that URL for Snooki: http://www.mtv.com/shows/jersey_shore/cast_member.jhtml?personalityId=13196

    MTV Reality Show personality ID THIRTEEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX. Step right up and get in line, everyone!

  21. re by JohnVanVliet · · Score: 1

    This will be AFTER and not before death , right ???

    --
    "I don't pitch OpenSUSE Linux to my friends, i let Microsoft do it for me
    1. Re:re by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Nah before death. I mean the whole liquefying the brains while their alive, and watching it; is fun the whole family.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    2. Re:re by mschirmer · · Score: 0

      the whole liquefying the brains while their alive, and watching it; is fun for the whole family.

      Grab the popcorn, a mug of hot chocolate, whatever you fancy, crack up the sound system.

      Death by Mummification (feat. Living Patient) - The Documentary. PG rated. 3D glasses required.

      *not suitable for children under the age of 8. May involve mild scenes of blood splatter, organ removal and dying patients.

  22. TV has hit an all new low by djdevon3 · · Score: 1

    This is about as low as you can go for ratings. This would be as low as showing people getting anal warts removed. Thank god TV is dying.

  23. Good. by Cryacin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So it's not just me that sees shows like Mythbusters as an intellectual version of Jackass.

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    1. Re:Good. by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Interesting

      So it's not just me that sees shows like Mythbusters as an intellectual version of Jackass.

      I'm pretty sure that was their intent, so no, you're definitely not the only one.

      Or, as Teller once put it when asked about their greatest achievement on "Bullshit":

      "Our greatest achievement is presenting skepticism to people with the assistance of obscenity and naked breasts and genitals."

      I'm sure Adam Savage would give a similar answer; just replace "obscenity and naked breasts and genitals" with "explosions and goofy antics".

    2. Re:Good. by MoonBuggy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Trite as it seems to quote XKCD (#397), it is appropriate as always: "Ideas are tested by experiment. That is the core of science. Everything else is bookkeeping."

    3. Re:Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, imagine if Mythbusters had naked breasts and genitals. Best. Show. Ever.

    4. Re:Good. by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

          I'd prefer if they didn't replace the first with the second, but added them together.

          MMmm.. Obscenity, naked breasts, genitalia, explosions, and goofy antics.

          THAT would be a good show.

          [Penn] "Today we're going to be blowing up this fucking thing, and to help us, is the Swedish bikini team, without their bikini's. Fuck this is cool."

          [Teller] [nods acceptingly]

          [Adam] "Wow, how did we land this gig."

          [Jamie] "Yeah."

          [Swedish Bikini Team] "Would you like us to blow something up now?"

          Ahhhhhh, the perfect show....

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    5. Re:Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And spoons up the ass. Don't forget those...

    6. Re:Good. by Ardx · · Score: 1

      Mmm... shockwaves jiggling boobs. /homer

      --
      Whoa there dude! Check your keyboard, somebody might have slipped you a Dvorak.
    7. Re:Good. by jollyreaper · · Score: 2

      So it's not just me that sees shows like Mythbusters as an intellectual version of Jackass.

      Yes, except for the intellectual part.

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    8. Re:Good. by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

      [Al Bundy] Boobies.. boobies.. boobies.. BOOBIES!

          Actually, right from the show

      [Al Bundy]: Boobies. Boobies. Boobies. Boobies.

      [Kelly comes downstairs; all but Al stop]

      [Al Bundy]: Boobies. Boobies. Boobies. Um... Hi, Pumpkin.

      [Kelly Bundy]: You know, I haven't heard anybody chant that word since me and my girlfriends were standing around when this old guy in this Dodge drove by... Ew, Daddy!

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    9. Re:Good. by Gulthek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I take it you didn't watch their most excellent deconstruction of just about every "we didn't land on the moon" myths? Or the recent one where they achieved an 10% fuel efficiency increase by adding golf ball-like dimples to the body of a car?

      Science isn't just theory, science is also getting out there, getting your hands dirty, and seeing what actually happens.

      I used to agree with you, then I actually watched more of the show.

      As usual, XKCD: http://xkcd.com/397/ At the time, I disagreed with this comic. Now, especially in the recent seasons, I completely agree.

    10. Re:Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tory has almost died by being hit in the chest from a compressed air tank
      Kari had a spring designed to launch a parachute hit her in the stomach while pregnant
      I think Grant almost got decapitated by one of their contraptions
      Adam tried to kiss a vacum motor
      At some point they discovered that their bullet "proof" shield wasn't really bullet proof

      They really aren't all that intellectual

    11. Re:Good. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Yeah, no way any of those things could have been a set-up.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    12. Re:Good. by Yamata+no+Orochi · · Score: 1

      Yeah, you know there's a boatload of engineers and genuinely smart people supporting those goons from the background, right? They don't show the parts where that Asian dude is sitting around doing the rocket science required for half their inane projectiles, but you can rest assured it's going on.

    13. Re:Good. by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 1

      Mythbusters has become primarily an excuse to blow sh*t up. Not that that's entirely a bad thing...

    14. Re:Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except that they spread the opinion of "we failed to recreate X incident, therefore it is impossible."

      also, choosing the least-plausible version of an urban legend to test of course skews the results.

      They are talented propmakers, but not scientists.

  24. It's the Daily Mail, the UK's Onion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's fake.

  25. ... and all that it entrails by Scott+Kevill · · Score: 1

    Anyone else read it as entrails?

    --
    GameRanger - multiplayer gaming service for PC and Mac games
  26. ...or do you want nana to meet Chuck Norris? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I much prefer the late, great prophet Bill Hicks' suggestion of recruiting the terminally as stunt fodder in action movies.

  27. Well, what's your diagnosis then? by jonaskoelker · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am "faced with the knowledge of my own terminal illness"

    I take it you've been diagnosed with the dreaded Alive, Well and Happy Syndrome, caused by a complex combination of healthy diet, regular exercise, a low to moderate alcohol consumption, a lack of tobacco or nicotine intake, frequent sexual intercourse and a supportive social network.

    Fortunately, it's in decline among US youth; see the article published in pubdot at http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=10/01/12/1337235

    1. Re:Well, what's your diagnosis then? by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I guess you could live forever if you lived that kind of life. But, if you do, you had better hope heaven is fun--because you sure aren't going to have any here.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    2. Re:Well, what's your diagnosis then? by 2obvious4u · · Score: 1

      Since when is "frequent sexual intercourse" not fun?

  28. GTA IV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Also a GTA IV reference here for the gaming crowd, one of the radio ads sounds about like this article. If you played enough you may remember.

    1. Re:GTA IV by dafing · · Score: 1

      Sure do, I have the ingame audio ripped to my iPod. # Eugenics Inc. International (2) # Mummification (2)

      --
      --- ...or a new slashdot signature. Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
  29. Again? by zmollusc · · Score: 1

    Are those guys back in business again?
    Don't believe them folks, they say you will be preserved for all time and eventually resurrected so you sign up and pay them a fortune, then you get fucking ripped off by those stonemason bastards who are all part of some secret price-gouging club. You get the procedure, get settled in for 'eternity', then some asshat comes along after a couple of millennia, digs you up and uses you to power his steam train!

    That's not right. I, for one won't get burned like that again.

    --
    They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
  30. forget mummification, do an alcor freezing.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why use old ancient tech (that did not realize the brain is where you live and die)....they should do a special also, on freezing a terminally ill patient so that we can use advanced nanotech to un-freeze them in about 20 to 30 years and bring them back to life!!...of course, by then we will have a handle on using nanotech to take old people and make them young, so it will be a cake walk to repair whatever killed them in the first place.....but, the mummified person will be mummified forever (however, perhaps the producers could carefully take out the brain and freeze it (may be hard to do as the usual process is to replace the blood and infuse the body and organs with an antifreeze so as to reduce the damage caused by the freezing process...also,it costs ~30k for the head and ~100k + for the body at alcor life extension, similar companies can be cheaper).
    Actually these costs are really cheap for wealthy people, you would think that a lot more of these rich people who die of old age (lots of them around and many more rich baby boomers are in the pipeline.
    Also, consider that supporting the life extension researcher organization now-a-days as we will need these technologies to reverse aging in older people, see www.maxlife.org and www.mprize.org as these are some of the leading scientific tax deductable scientific research organizations.

    1. Re:forget mummification, do an alcor freezing.. by FiloEleven · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually these costs are really cheap for wealthy people, you would think that a lot more of these rich people who die of old age (lots of them around and many more rich baby boomers are in the pipeline.

      That was the most frustrating thing I've tried to parse all year. Tell me son, have they already liquefied your brains?

  31. All I can say is... by BancBoy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tut tut tut...

    --
    [UID-HeinzIntel]
    1. Re:All I can say is... by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

      Best comment so far!

  32. And the Nominations are.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I vote for Simon Cowell. I dont think hes actually ill or anything, but still, get 'im while hes fresh, ah say..

  33. And when all is over and done with... by YankDownUnder · · Score: 1

    ...the family can say, "That's my MUMMY!"

    --
    YankDownUnder Veni, Vidi, volo in domum redire
  34. I hereby volunteer Bill Gates for this one by H4x0r+Jim+Duggan · · Score: 2, Funny

    When you're making a TV show that needs a mummy army, just let me know

    1. Re:I hereby volunteer Bill Gates for this one by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 1

      Hey I'll volunte-

      }}}NO CARRIER

      --

      There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
    2. Re:I hereby volunteer Bill Gates for this one by asCii88 · · Score: 1

      Hey I'll volunte-

      }}}NO CARRIER

      I guess he was disconnected from the Matrix

    3. Re:I hereby volunteer Bill Gates for this one by 2obvious4u · · Score: 1

      You mention Bill Gates, but isn't Steve Jobs on his deathbed?

    4. Re:I hereby volunteer Bill Gates for this one by neurospyder · · Score: 1

      What's the Matrix?

    5. Re:I hereby volunteer Bill Gates for this one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Follow the white

      }}}NO CARRIER

  35. I volunteer Steve Jobs for the job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I fear that would only make the crazy Appletards start a Steve Jobs cult and then they'd get the Apple lawyers to make it possible for them to live in the museum so they could worship their mommy, err, mummy.

    Steve Jobs AKA iMummy now on display.

    1. Re:I volunteer Steve Jobs for the job by wisdom_brewing · · Score: 1

      iMummy?

  36. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  37. Whoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At a glance, I read the headline as Terminator III volunteer. I'm a bit disappointed now.

  38. Straight to hell... by lazycam · · Score: 1

    First they hook us on shows like Survivor and Fear Factor. If those programs were not unsettling enough, now we want to watch someone die on tv, and watch them go though the process of mummification. Somehow I get the feeling THE RUNNING MAN is right around the corner...

    --
    my mom posts on slashdot.
  39. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  40. It has to stop... by Zooperman · · Score: 1

    Please, for the love of God, reality TV must be stopped. It has already degraded our culture and ruined our ability to appreciate anything urbane or tasteful. Garbage like this is just the final insult. Please, just stop.

    --
    Zooperman
    1. Re:It has to stop... by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      Call me old fashioned but i was thinking the exact same thing. Mummification? What's next, televised executions?

      Then again, i'm sure someone has tried to do this in Texas.

    2. Re:It has to stop... by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 1

      I was in Bellville, TX once and stopped off at their historic prison. While there I picked up a postcard that had a double hanging on it. Looked like the whole town was watching. You can see it here, but I can't remember right now if my postcard had the before picture (at the top) or the after picture (near the bottom of that page).

      --
      Stop Global Warming!
      Just say no to irreversible processes!
  41. And in other news I am seeking terminally ill by multiplexo · · Score: 1

    volunteers who are willing to undergo the process of zombification so I can have an army of the undead to do my bidding. I'll bet that my reality show is going to be way cooler than Channel 4's pathetic "mummy" reality show.

    --
    cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
  42. Pibgorn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's a webcomic called Pibgorn. It had recently finished a fiction story on how the characters were in living hell - they were made to become contestants in a variety show, where the consequences for answering wrong is decapitation.

    (Of course, the good guys won in the end, but it was really hard.)

    Don't worry about your comment; it's highly innocent.

    1. Re:Pibgorn by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I remember a not so recent Dr. Who episode that revolved around "deadly" gameshows (that weren't so deadly... but I don't wanna spoil for those that didn't see it yet).

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Pibgorn by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Ah, another Pibgorn fan! Tom Torquemada!!!

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    3. Re:Pibgorn by Zordak · · Score: 1

      *SPOILER ALERT* It turns out that Rose isn't dead. The Dalek Emporer just kidnapped her to make her his concubine. Where do you think the "nightmare child" that they mentioned in the End of Time came from? (They call it the "nightmare child" because it's as ugly as a Dalek and as annoying as Rose).

      --

      Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
  43. Fulcrum? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Arn't those the bad guys in Chuck?

  44. Do I get my own pyramid, too? by Ihlosi · · Score: 1

    No?

    No deal, then.

  45. Dr. Bob Brier did this in 1994 by lemur3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I remember watching this done on a modern human over 10 years years ago on discovery networks... it was very cool.

    from his wiki article:

    "In 1994, Brier and a colleague, Ronald Wade, director of the State Anatomy Board of Maryland, claimed to be the first people in 2,000 years to mummify a human cadaver using ancient Egyptian techniques. This research earned Brier the affectionate nickname "Mr. Mummy" and was also the subject of the National Geographic television special of the same name."

    1. Re:Dr. Bob Brier did this in 1994 by lemur3 · · Score: 1

      whoops! wrong tab.

      offtopic ;-)

  46. It will turn out bad baked! by cpscotti · · Score: 1

    It occurs to me that I have seen some 5 different Discovery Channel programs on how mummification was carried out and something I could note is that they were slightly different on "HOW" it was done...
    I could bet that whoever is going to do this.. will make it bad.. hahaha
    For example, the "taking the brain out through the nose" part seems very tricky demanding extensive expertise..
    I don't think a 21st century mummy with her face/nose all messed up is going to find its way to any museum..

  47. Tutankhamun by NightlordTW · · Score: 1

    This has been done before: thats how Tutankhamun got famous

  48. What is the limit by hellraizer · · Score: 1

    to television network greed .... I cant belive they are asking someone to die on their schedule ... and broadcast anything related to his/her death ... is this even legal??? God ... this world is stupid.....

    1. Re:What is the limit by fridaynightsmoke · · Score: 1

      to television network greed ....

      Capitalism blame fail: Channel 4 is a 'public service broadcaster', a non-profit UK government organisation. Think of an advertiser funded BBC and you're there.

      --
      This is a substitute for a clever sig that fits within the maximum number of characters.
    2. Re:What is the limit by hellraizer · · Score: 1

      Capitalism blame fail: Channel 4 is a 'public service broadcaster', a non-profit UK government organisation.

      i think it is even worst....in that case . I dont blame capitalism , just the networks that do anything to get more audience

    3. Re:What is the limit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Almost - its owned by an independent public body (not Gov) and commercially funded. Other than allowing them to broadcast (and over-all supporting new channels) the Government has nothing to do with it.

  49. Won't be hard to find somebody by smchris · · Score: 1

    A friend died of a stroke a couple years ago and donated herself to a med school. Said she always dreamed of being a skeleton in the corner at a med school.

  50. Why do this on dead people? by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

    I've experiments to be run.
    There is research to be done.
    On the people who are
    still alive.

    I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.

  51. Hee hee by famebait · · Score: 1

    The tag-line says "science tv idle terminally morbid story"

    --
    sudo ergo sum
  52. Obligatory quote by ThaReetLad · · Score: 1

    I'm not dead!

    --
    You can't win Darth. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
  53. Season 2 by aliquis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Staring the most famous politicians of the world!

    Then do a follow up season with dictator leaders, soap opera celebrities, ..

  54. Circular argument by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only because past 100 years contain no meaning for you as a human being.

  55. Bob Brier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bob Brier did a mummification 14 years ago. Here's a recent lecture about it:
    Mummification
    Lengthy but very interesting and detailed.

  56. To follow on your signature by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 1

    This wouldn't be a problem for Russian TV. They can guarantee filming starts on time.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  57. What the hell do you care? by KingSkippus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What the hell do you care? It's not like you're going to be lying there thinking, "Aw man, this really sucks!"

    My family has approached me a few times about what I want to be done with my body when I die. My answer is always the same. I want what organs might be useful donated. After that, I really don't care. Bury me, cremate me, donate me to science, do whatever gives you what comfort and solace you need, because that's not me.

    When my mom passed away, which is by far the single most gut-wrenching experience I've ever been through in my life, that thought was the only thing that got me through the funeral without totally falling apart. My mom was a lot more than just the collection of organic molecules that lay before me, and she's gone. I appreciate the body that lay before me; it was her "house" for 60 years and allowed me to see her, talk to her, interact with her, and love her. But the house was now empty. Sad, for sure, but it wasn't the loss of the house I was mourning.

    So yeah, once I'm gone, you can pull my brains out through my nose and make gut soup for all I care. It was just my house, and I don't live there any more.

    1. Re:What the hell do you care? by Zordak · · Score: 1

      It's not like you're going to be lying there thinking, "Aw man, this really sucks!"

      You'd never know you were in a box, would you? It would be just like you were asleep in a box. Not that I'd like to sleep in a box mind you. Not without any air. You'd wake up dead, for a start, and then where would you be---apart from inside a box. That's the bit I don't like, frankly. That's why I don't like thinking about it. Because you'd be helpless, wouldn't you? Stuffed in a box like that, I mean, you'd be in there forever. Even taking into account the fact that you're dead, it's not a very pleasant thought. Especially if you're dead, really. Ask yourself, if I asked you straight off---I'm going to stuff you in this box now. Would you rather be alive or dead? Naturally you'd prefer to be alive. Life in a box is better than no life at all. I expect. You'd have a chance at least. You could lie there thinking, "Well at least I'm not dead. In a minute, somebody is going to bang on this lid and tell me to come out."

      --

      Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
    2. Re:What the hell do you care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      After that, I really don't care. Bury me, cremate me, donate me to science, do whatever gives you what comfort and solace you need, because that's not me.

      Assholes don't care. Here is an idea: Tell them what to do in writing same as you would communicate any wishes via a will with your possessions (whether a lot or a few). Otherwise, when you kick the bucket, your loved ones will be arguing over whether or not to spend $20,000 on a cemetary plot or leave you in dumpster behind Denny's. That corpse may not be "you", but it is your responsibility.

    3. Re:What the hell do you care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well said good sir, must admit I even teared up a bit reading this. I lost my grandfather about a year ago, and somewhat felt the same way, and it helped me.

    4. Re:What the hell do you care? by thelonious · · Score: 1

      Mmmmmm...gut soup!

      Personally I think I would like to be the closing act at a Burning Man festival and make it live up to it's name for once.

    5. Re:What the hell do you care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I lost my grandfather about a year ago

      Did you ever find him back?

    6. Re:What the hell do you care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're either really old, or terminally ill! Hey, you should apply!

    7. Re:What the hell do you care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speaking of the dumpster behind Denny's.
      How's your mother?

    8. Re:What the hell do you care? by KingSkippus · · Score: 1

      I'm glad it helped. I lost my dad to cancer a couple of years later, and that time, I was a little more prepared for it. Obviously, there was still grief and mourning going on, but it did help.

      Today, I don't visit the graves of my parents very often. For one thing, they're both out of town, between three hours (my mom) and six hours (my dad) away from me. But really, it's because I don't really want to remember them as being dead, I want to remember them as they were alive. I still make donations in their name, and if you ever meet me in person and give me a chance, I'll tell you the most wonderful stories about them.

  58. If I sign up... by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

    ...will I get to go to Pandora when I pass on?

    --
    Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  59. An ancient Egyptian embalming? by kungfugleek · · Score: 1

    Does that mean my wife and maid will buried with me, dead or alive? Well sign me up!

  60. BSD by Massacrifice · · Score: 1

    I heard that FreeBSD was volunteering for the show!

    --
    -- Home is where you eat your heart out.
  61. social limits by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think there are some social limits, which shouldn't be crossed. With the recent media tendencies and especially reality shows, they are already crossed. How this will impact the society and especially young generation no one knows. I would be more careful if I was the World...

  62. another volunteer? by cashman73 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I heard that the "octo-mom" wants to do a reality show. How about we sign her up, call it "octo-mum"? Once she's mummified, we wouldn't have to listen to her anymore! Plus, she's already given us a head start with all that plastic surgery to make herself look like Angelina Jolie!

  63. Terminally III by Jodka · · Score: 1

    Did anyone else read that headline as "Terminally 3" ?

    I know some adults who act like they are terminally 3 and mummifying them would be a good thing. So it kind of made sense that way.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature.
  64. Re:retarded actually by thelonious · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They weren't strange to the Aztecs!

  65. What I want to know... by RavenChild · · Score: 0

    is if I get a free copy of the documentary if I sign up?

  66. Capt. Jack Harkness, is that you? by freaker_TuC · · Score: 1

    Subject said enough ..

    --
    --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
    1. Re:Capt. Jack Harkness, is that you? by zmollusc · · Score: 1

      Hehe, I had to google 'Capt. Jack Harkness' . Where do I hand in my geek card?
      Not watched Dr Who since he was played by Tristan the vet.

      --
      They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
    2. Re:Capt. Jack Harkness, is that you? by freaker_TuC · · Score: 1

      Not watched Dr Who since he was played by Tristan the vet.

      It's the follow-up serie of Dr. Who, Torchwood ; but close ...
      The man with the blue telephone box will confiscate your geek card any moment now ;)

      --
      --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
  67. Forget the mummification... by j741 · · Score: 1

    O.K., so setting aside the ethical concerns, the absolute morbidity of this idea, and the "is this really appropriate for a general television audience" concerns; I'd rather have plastination instead of mummification.

    --
    - James
  68. It better be good pay. by s0l1dsnak3123 · · Score: 0

    Do they get money up front?