There are many corpses in the ocean, but nobody has any corpse-related qualms about swimming in the ocean. But most people would not swim in a pool with a corpse in it.
Large enough I am not faced with the reality of a corpse.
I don’t see any corpses when I’m at the beach. I know they’re out there in theory, but they’re a distant enough concept I don’t worry.
Great Lake sized lake with body on other side? Same.
A small lake/pond where I can see the area in which the corpse is floating? Perhaps even smell it? Or speak with a person who saw it? Hard pass.
Olympic sized pool? I can see the corpse. Hard pass.
What if you put on a blindfold before entering the pool area?
I would not get into a pool blindfolded. There might be corpses in there.
at least large enough for the corpse and me
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD QUESTION. Using real life examples, the ocean definitely has thousands/millions? or human corpses, and maybe some really big, Ancient lakes/Rivers, have ten-hundreds of dead bodies (maybe thousands? if they’re really old) not that I’ve really thought about corpses in bodies of water before, but I feel comfortable after the fact, and would swim in oceans and lakes again, knowing there corpses.
Any body of water where I can see, smell or feel, or have seen smelt or felt a corpse, meaning any corpse I can distinguish as a corpse, to the horizon would be a body of water I could not swim in.
But in this circumstance, it’s a pool, and I know of the corpse in the pool. The pool would be shallow, and the corpse, on the other end of a pool. I could probably swim in a pool, quite uncomfortably, as long as I couldn’t see it when looking around all sides. It would also have to be really shallow, so I could stand up, assuming the corpse drifts over for a quick leaving protocal.
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animals leave corpses
You’ve already swam in a pool with a corpse (rodent, bird, insect, etc.) that’s what the filters are for.
Maybe the real question is, “How large would a corpse have to be to stop you from swimming in the pool?”
It’s likely a ratio of water area to corpse volume. With a multiplier on presence (visibility, smell, people talking about it, and hell, if the corpse is making noise that I hear, there’s no chance I’m getting in that water)
I’m sure there’s some external influence, too. My corpse tolerance would be a lot different if it’s extremely hot outside than if it’s chilly. If I’m at risk of heat stroke, I’d maybe even swim with a corpse making audible noise. If I’m physically on fire, I definitely would.
But then if it’s chilly the corpses don’t get nasty nearly so quickly…
This could be a What if? Horror Edition for xkcd.
Small bird or larger
I would think a human corpse will be more harmful to other humans, since the bacteria are already adapted to our species.
If I have to swim with a corpse I think I’d rather something large than a bird. No chance of it floating up to me by surprise.
Lake Erie. I’ve swam in it plenty of times, and I’m sure there are corpses in there.
Kinda Eerie ngl
Fresh or rotting?
For fun? Uhh, kilometers. It needs to be far enough away to become abstract. And I do find the ocean slightly gross and pest-ridden already.
For a good reason, like someone is paying me? A bathtub if fresh, typical public pool size if not, and I’m showering right after.
How dead is the body?
I’m going to assume worst case scenario, rotting bloated corpse that stinks, is covered in flies, and is floating high and very visibly on the surface of the water.
In that case, I would need the pool to be probably Olympic sized and be on the long end away from the corpse.
My instinct says that would be enough for me to not be too horrified beyond the initial horror of seeing it in the pool.
Is there incentive to swim in a smaller pool? Otherwise far enough not to smell it.
You know what I really want you to make this a series focused on asking the most outlandish interesting questions you can think of for people to answer. Have a feeling you will be very good at it and xan be a weekly thing
Also please let me know when it is made if you do!
It basically needs to be a sea, or at least a very large lake, supporting an eco system of some kind if the body’s not going to removed at any point.
Jacuzzi size.
I see you like to party with Bernie.
Depends a lot on how long the corpse had been there, and what state it’s in. My local 25 m x 6 Lane pool, I’d get in it with someone who just had a heart attack. Fresh corpse but shot, I’d have to play it by ear. Some post-apocalyptic scenario where the filtration system and everything has been offline for months and the whole place has turned into John Doe broth… probably pass…I mean there’d have to be a pretty good reason and a way to rinse off afterwards.
Why on earth would I do that?
For a huge pot of money, to escape a rabid musk ox?
