Appreciate the kind words!

Interesting article, but one correction. The author states:

"Before we go any further, we must first recognize that the ancient Greeks held the belief that the world was constructed form the four primary elements: earth, water, wind, and fire."

This idea was pre-Socratic, but was first seriously presented 100 years after Anaximander by Empedocles through his introduction of the Four Roots. Empedocles was likely drawing from Greek gods and mysticism when developing the Four Roots, but they were not neatly packaged in this way and it was not established that these were what constructed the world. To say otherwise would diminish Thale's importance of submitting water as the Arche. The actual presentation of the roots as "Elements" was later introduced by Plato.

I don't think anyone should be excluded from death watch and age shouldn't factor at all. I think there's something to be said about people's fear of death and how Western culture stigmatizes it. Other cultures have treated death very differently; tribes in the New Guinea famously ate their loved ones, while others brought relative's bodies out on holidays to eat with them at feasts. Yes, it can be painful losing a friend or relative, but it's natural and inevitable. While I don't endorse cannibalism or holding onto bodies, our extreme aversion to death and the dying borders on emotionally unhealthy and dictates that death is a traumatizing experience to be avoided at all costs.

The following is anecdotal, but was a primary influence on my view. When I was three my brother died. My parent's initially thought this would be too damaging for me to cope with and didn't allow me to visit him after his accident or attend his funeral. While I struggled with why he disappeared this did some serious, but temporary, damage that manifested into emotional issues and a severe stutter. About a year later they took the time to explain why he was gone and the concept of death, this was a powerful moment that I still remember vividly -- everything made sense. The other issues resolved themselves, but what I learned was that it wasn't death that was traumatizing, but how everyone regarded it.