the 2d of 3 stages of death?

February 23, 2016 6:42 AM

In one of the world's traditions (or maybe in fiction), there's the idea that death has 3 stages: first, the biological death of the physical body; second=??; and third, when the last person who, as a child, knew you, undergoes biological death. Would someone please refresh or correct my memory of this teaching?
posted by mmiddle to Religion & Philosophy (7 answers total)

Best answer: Are you thinking of this quote by David Eagleman?

"There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time."

From Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, confirmation of the quote here.
posted by LeeLanded at 6:51 AM on February 23, 2016 [5 favorites]

Best answer: You're describing something similar to the idea of sasha and zamani.
posted by jedicus at 6:52 AM on February 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: There’s a saying, a version of which is attributed to David Eagleman, that details three death points for humans. The first is when the body dies. The second is when the last person who knew you dies. The third is when your name is spoken for the last time.
posted by pintapicasso at 6:52 AM on February 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks! especially for these 3 links!
posted by mmiddle at 7:23 AM on February 23, 2016

There's a SF book with this as the premise, but I can't for the life of me remember the title or seem to google it either.

Anyway, the idea is that there a city of the dead in the afterlife. It's a huge sprawling place, but the people in it start to disappear. The idea being that on the real world people are dying and while at first this means an influx, too many are dying, so no way for everyone alive to remember everyone dead, so they start fading.

Driving me crazy now.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:19 AM on February 23, 2016

There's a SF book with this as the premise

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier.
posted by jedicus at 10:12 AM on February 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Thank God! I spent like an hour searching before I gave up. Someone revoke my honorary lifetime bookseller status.

I would highly recommend The Brief History of the Dead if this is a topic that interests you. It's mostly a mystery, but man, it's such a unique story that I would suggest most fictions fans read it.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:36 PM on February 23, 2016 [1 favorite]