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Comment by olladecarne | Hacker News Reader

There's so many things we invent with good intentions but in the end go terribly wrong and I think this is one of those things. I think it's ok to mourn and remember the past, but moving on and accepting reality is important to a healthy life.

Let's be real though, the startup that makes this but appeals to our worst instincts make bank. I can't imagine how much more messed up future generations will be as we keep making more dangerous technology that appeals to our primal instincts.

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Let be real: I've worked on the R&D stage of a Chinese research project for a State supported Ancestor Worship software where people's ancestors are recreated in 3D, their "ancestorial home" is made available in pieces and parts the software user must purchase with real currency, and the user is encouraged to discuss their day to day life issues with their observing and consoling animated ancestors. The software is a complete Orwellian Spy while masquerading as all your ancestors listening, offering advice, and demanding gifts that cost real currency. To say the least, I spooked the hell out of that situation.

Wow. I want to know every detail about this.

Me, too, but I'm betting that's already all they can say (and probably more than they should have).

"mourn and move on" is a somewhat Western concept of dealing with death. Plenty of cultures around the world have developed different practices, up to religious forms of ancestor worship.

These practices would typically be associated with the idea that the dead have a genuine existence beyond simply “existing in my memory of them” and would be restricted in the forms they take by surrounding ritual, so I’m not sure there’s a direct point of comparison, though?

Yes, there's a direct comparison. Practices change as times and technology change. When photography became cheap enough, practices like in-home shrines often changed to incorporate photographs of loved ones. I think it's reasonable to speculate that newer forms digital representation can become part of these practices as well.

People often fear losing their memory of a loved one. A memento could help someone heal

Bs. People do different things. But nobody can sit around wallowing in the VR. Having seen what death of my cousin and grand parents did to the family, moving on helped every one heal in a way. VR would have been a torture to live in.

Perhaps starting your comment with "bs" is not a surefire way of getting your thoughts considered seriously..

Sigh. Point taken. You are right.

You are taking the worst possible interpretation of my comment. I was responding to literally the aspect of the GP that said "mourn.... move on"

It is a factual matter, easily discovered through simple searches, that non-Western cultures often take a different approach. Including, literally, ancestor worship. I am not making a judgement on which is better. I believe there are multiple healthy ways of dealing with grief, and "mourn & move on" can be one, but not the only one.

This is very far from an obsessive interaction with a semi-emulated version of a dead person in VR. However things wouldn't have to be that extreme.

In cultures that practice it, it's not uncommon for a small shrine in the home to be setup. And yet that is of limited access to family located further away, so a digital form of this not bound to a specific location could also be of use to people from these cultures. There is no reason that such things couldn't compliment existing practices of honoring ancestors.

I dont know how a grieving person can maintain distance from vr when the memories of their loved ines are tied. Reminds me so much of the movie Reminiscence

I think by "move on" they meant moving forward with life and getting through your grief.

You are absolutely right though that there are different ways of dealing with grief!

I'd say religion is the epitome of not moving on - or, moving on by imagining that it didn't really happen.

Possible the comment was directed towards a Western consumer.

Possibly, I'd give it the benefit of the doubt. Either way, I think it is fair to note that other cultures see death & remembrance in different ways.

Curious how you find other cultures and belief systems are? In Hinduism, at least I can attest that there is the concept of "mourn and move on" in that the body is not even preserved, it is freed of its physical form through cremation. The fire into the funeral pyre is instilled by hand by the eldest son - it's a poetic closure.

If you do a search for "ancestor worship" you'll find a few examples. It seems more common among Asian cultures, perhaps specifically those with a Buddhist tradition, but that's what I happen to be more familiar with so it may be common outside of that as well.

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