Death

The only certain thing in life is that it will one day end. That knowledge is perhaps the defining feature of the human condition. And, as far as we know, we alone are capable of contemplating the prospect of our demise. Over the next 12 pages we explore the implications: the shifting definition of death (“ Plight of the living dead“), how knowing that we will die gave birth to civilisation (“ The quest for immortality“) the grim reality of decomposition (“ Death: the blurred line between dead and alive“) and whether it makes sense to fear death (“ Don't fear the reaper“). But first, when did we become aware of our own mortality?