The subject of death is of a considerable interest to all of us, as it has been since the beginning of civilization. However, the place of dying has seldom been studied in the field of environmental gerontology. The concept of aging in place is often explored in the field, but the discussion normally stops short of the last stages as if aging in place is a condition that never ends. Still, dying is part of the inevitability of aging. And even though a number of scientists and statisticians argue whether people die of old age, there is plenty of evidence that life has its natural, inherent limits. Clearly, intrinsic physical developments associated with aging inevitably cause an individual to become more vulnerable to mortality, which “ends in all cases we know of, in death” (Ehrenreich, 2018, p. xv). Even the most successful aging process eventually involves accumulation of disabilities as a result of the ongoing conflict at the cellular level of our bodies. Sadly, “successful” aging is an ideal that hardly accommodates the realities of decline and death (Ehrenreich, 2018). Conforming to the modern demographic pattern, the majority of people in the Western society reach old age, and consequently they are destined to die of one of its ravages. No matter how good our medical care or our exercise and hygienic regimens are, our ability to control the biological continuum between “normal” aging and disease is very limited. We are all susceptible to chronic diseases and death (Cole, 1992), as the paradoxical nature of aging and death discloses.

中文翻译：

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生死之地：简介

死亡这个话题对我们所有人来说都是一个相当大的兴趣，就像自文明开始以来一样。然而，环境老年学领域很少研究死亡地点。现场老化的概念经常在该领域进行探索，但讨论通常在最后阶段停止，好像就地老化是一种永无止境的条件。尽管如此，死亡是衰老不可避免的一部分。尽管许多科学家和统计学家争论人们是否会死于老年，但有大量证据表明生命有其自然的、固有的限制。显然，与衰老相关的内在身体发育不可避免地会导致个人更容易死亡，“在我们所知的所有情况下，都会以死亡告终”（Ehrenreich，2018，p.xv）。即使是最成功的衰老过程，最终也会由于我们身体细胞水平上的持续冲突而导致残疾的积累。可悲的是，“成功”老龄化是一个难以适应衰退和死亡现实的理想（Ehrenreich，2018）。按照现代人口结构，西方社会的大多数人都到了老年，因此他们注定要死于其中一种蹂躏。无论我们的医疗保健或运动和卫生方案有多好，我们控制“正常”衰老和疾病之间的生物连续性的能力都非常有限。正如衰老和死亡的矛盾本质所揭示的那样，我们都容易受到慢性疾病和死亡的影响（Cole，1992）。