Society & Culture Things in life you just don't understand

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Caesar

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Death is a personal subject. I'm reluctant to categorise people's reactions to it particularly rigidly.

To treat death lightly/cavalierly/humourously is often an important mechanism for people to cope with or even bring themselves to think about the subject. Ghoul pools are a particularly fatalistic game, but I am not sure they are wholly callous.

Having participated in them in the past, I can tell you that you take greater note of death for the period of the game. And it does make you think - whereas our normal reaction to someone famous dying is "that's sad" and quickly move on, a ghoul pooler thinks "yes, they were on my list!". The follow-up pang of shame underlines how unimportant the deaths of strangers are, in a way that normally we would never consider.

And when the time comes to tally things at the end of the year, I doubt there is anybody who doesn't ruminate on the sheer randomness of some of the results. People who seem sure to die stagger on for another 12 months, whilst others are struck down out of nowhere. Drafters go from last to first on the basis of one left-field pick.

Adding up the numbers encourages you to reflect on the impermanence of life, the relative (un)importance of death, and perhaps question what you've done with the last year yourself. After all, if you were famous, who knows? Someone might be scoring 70 points on you next year.
 

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Shell

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Just read through the bigfooty 2013 death list thread.....Really don't understand how people can enjoy this thread and make a game out of people dying...
Ok reading this, we aren't the same Poseidon. Love the death thread.


Does it help we are all going to hell when we die, for that thread?!? :D:oops:
 

Poseidon

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Ok reading this, we aren't the same Poseidon. Love the death thread.


Does it help we are all going to hell when we die, for that thread?!? :D:oops:

Paris Jackson is on suicide watch & is only 15
One for next years list - some risk, but massive reward.
How is this an acceptable exchange between 2 fully grown men?
 

Caesar

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You've kind of got to accept that the banter that goes on occurs solely within the context of the game, which is conducted in an intentionally detatched manner. It doesn't actually represent people's genuine wishes about the wellbeing of the individuals.
 

zimma

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Just read through the bigfooty 2013 death list thread.....Really don't understand how people can enjoy this thread and make a game out of people dying...
Death is going to happen anyway, making a game out of it is hardly the worst thing to ever come out of death of a celebrity.
 

zimma

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Not sure why you're detaching a death of a celebrity from a death of a human.

You do know they're the same, right?
As detached as i am toward the death of anyone I don't know personally or that I am actually close to. Humans die, just like everything else, fact of life... Not like anyone has probably ever met the people who they posted in that thread, not really even detached more just a non emotional response to death of someone worthy of making the news.
 
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