Children are creatures that I'm sure many of you are quite familiar with. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you were all a child at one point in your lives, whether you remember that time or not. Something that was mentioned to me a while back has really gotten me thinking about children, and why people grieve more for their deaths than they do for adults (30-50 years old, for the sake of argument).
http://www.babypicturesphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/baby_picture_photo_2.jpg
I'm sure you really like kids. Right?
Sometime ago, I was watching a movie with a friend. It was mentioned to me that it was their hope that a child in the movie wouldn't die. When I questioned this, the answer I was given was this: "It's sadder to see a child die than an adult".
I didn't really understand this logic, especially when it comes to children under 6 years of age. Before that age, the brain is no where near developed enough to even be fully aware of your life. I know I for one can't even remember the time when I was that young.. At that age, you aren't aware of all that much. Only basic thoughts really cross your mind.
The way I see it, you wouldn't be losing all that much if you were to die. You wouldn't have experienced true hapiness at that stage in your life. An adult on the other hand, has most likely felt true hapiness before. You would actually have something taken away from you if you die an adult. As a child, you would never have experienced something like that, so you can not have it taken away.
The only conclusion I can come to is the potential that the child has. As someone who follows sports, I can safely say that potential is something that rarely works out properly, and is more often than not something that is wasted. The child could actually end up having a really poor life, or become a burden to society. In that case, a death may not look so bad.
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2909/50954106.png
The child could end up like this guy.
My question The Escapist community is: Why is a child's death grieved more than an adult's?
Don't interpret this as a hatred on children, as I generally like them. I'm just curious.
http://www.babypicturesphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/baby_picture_photo_2.jpg
I'm sure you really like kids. Right?
Sometime ago, I was watching a movie with a friend. It was mentioned to me that it was their hope that a child in the movie wouldn't die. When I questioned this, the answer I was given was this: "It's sadder to see a child die than an adult".
I didn't really understand this logic, especially when it comes to children under 6 years of age. Before that age, the brain is no where near developed enough to even be fully aware of your life. I know I for one can't even remember the time when I was that young.. At that age, you aren't aware of all that much. Only basic thoughts really cross your mind.
The way I see it, you wouldn't be losing all that much if you were to die. You wouldn't have experienced true hapiness at that stage in your life. An adult on the other hand, has most likely felt true hapiness before. You would actually have something taken away from you if you die an adult. As a child, you would never have experienced something like that, so you can not have it taken away.
The only conclusion I can come to is the potential that the child has. As someone who follows sports, I can safely say that potential is something that rarely works out properly, and is more often than not something that is wasted. The child could actually end up having a really poor life, or become a burden to society. In that case, a death may not look so bad.
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2909/50954106.png
The child could end up like this guy.
My question The Escapist community is: Why is a child's death grieved more than an adult's?
Don't interpret this as a hatred on children, as I generally like them. I'm just curious.
