We’re used to seeing death as something negative – and with good reason. It takes life away from us and creates a sense of loss when loved ones pass away. It is so final and cannot be undone. But death is also a prerequisite for life and a very important event in the natural processes.
The role of death in nature
“One man’s death is another man’s bread”, there is a saying that applies on many levels.
In nature, death is a prerequisite for the survival of predators and the livelihood of the many animals that feed on carrion, from vultures, hyenas and marabou storks to carrion beetles and fly larvae. The dead animals quickly decompose and become new life, which fulfills important roles in ecosystems and in this way also becomes a prerequisite for our own lives. Life and death go hand in hand in the biological processes that make up life here on Earth.
Acceptance of death
Death is thus just another biological state that we find difficult to relate to, but which is a completely natural element on a living planet like ours. To understand nature, we need to accept death as a premise on a par with life itself and not let our feelings about the meaning of death for ourselves guide our actions.
Intervening in nature’s processes
And with this in mind, we should not least look at our intervention in the natural processes where death plays a role. Should we intervene in the face of impending death in nature, knowing that if we do so, we deprive other living organisms of the opportunity to create new life?
Ethical considerations
Should we satisfy our own feelings and value those feelings so much that we intervene and prevent the coming death based on a principle of “compassion”?
In cases where we are responsible for the coming death of other beings – by running over animals or shooting them and the like – the answer can be quite easy. There we have made ourselves responsible for the lives of others. But what about the many situations in nature where we simply witness death? Should we intervene there too? Read the rest of the post in Kristeligt Dagblad.
