Page 489 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

464 M.P. Mueller and D.J. Tippins

body (what sort of person would deny their grandparents or elders the medical
treatments or technological advantages needed?)

Democracy for the Dead (or Unborn)

Would it not be cool to live forever! The dead are dead! Or do the dead partake in
some forms of ecodemocracy through spirits, ghosts, apparitions, or advocates of
extrasensory perception (ESP)? If they do, “the dead” should be included more
fully through ecodemocracy, because they are part of the broad spectrums that blur
a boundary between life and death within the larger ecologies of the supernatural
world (albeit it is seldom considered “normal” to embrace and value a “sixth sense”
in the environmental sciences). Diversity scholars, multiculturalists, and educa-
tional pluralists limit diversity when not considering the dead (and the unborn)
significant enough to address as cultural identities. Indeed, there are many cultural
traditions for the dead and nonliving spirits (e.g., El Día de los Muertos). What are
the ways that the dead could be more fully included in science education? What
ways could the dead become alive again through gene reinvigoration? Cloning cells
and tissues appear to be a viable option or freezing entire bodies for those who are
seeking limitless lives forever solidified at negative 130°C in aluminum containers.
Could these peoples’ spirits or actual lives be raised from death? Is “death” a demo-
cratic matter? If people could decide, it is likely that some individuals would select
to die based on the most democratic option – when they would like to die. Perhaps,
certain people would not want to die. For example, if an ecologically sophisticated
sort of human were developed by science, why die? It is also true that some decide
when to die by way of a gun, knife, or rope, and it makes sense that these choices
are democratic (suicide decisions are the third leading cause of teenage death).
Some older individuals elect to die through euthanasia when they are terminally ill,
and others decide when and where to terminate a pregnancy (e.g., rape, Down’s
syndrome, or Spina bifida). The point is that death is democratic. However, the
justifications for why to postpone death are vulnerable and threatened. Nevertheless,
societal laws do not tolerate for all types of euthanasia, suicide, or infanticide.
Withstanding the freedoms we have in choice of death, democracy seems to per-
petuate a sort of ecological violence or Earth pressure. On the other hand, if democracy
is extended for nonhuman animal species, then it seems logical to include it as a
movement with education for the ecodemocracy of all organisms.

Unbiased Diseases

Who would you want to bring back from the dead? Would it be a dog, cat, fish, or
other family pet? Would it be your favorite aunt, grandparent, neighbor, teacher,
or even a child who never had the chance to live the life they deserved to live?