A death scholar on why we need to stop being naive about dying: I always hear, Can't you just put me into a nice meadow?'

"The overwhelming value of end-of-life decisions, particularly among the baby boomer population, is this value of right, autonomy and control. Choreographing end of life from bespoke aged care solutions and medical interventions to prolong quality of life to one-of-a-kind burials is increasingly possible if you have the resources."

"The idea of trying to wield total control over our final act gives Gould the heebie-jeebies. It's very different to how previous generations have seen death and it might be quite different to how millennials will see death, as millennials don't think they've got enough resources to be in control of anything."

"Classifying that whole complicated experience as bad enrages me just about as much as when people said he lost his battle with cancer. Gould became credentialed in death by becoming a member of the dead dad club when she was 23, which got her considering what people regard as a good death and a bad death."

Australia faces a demographic shift termed "boomergeddon" around 2040, when annual death rates are projected to double due to aging baby boomers. Dr Hannah Gould, a death scholar, identifies that baby boomers prioritize autonomy and control over end-of-life decisions, enabling customized aged care, medical interventions, and personalized burials for those with financial means. However, Gould expresses concern about the pursuit of total control over death, viewing it as distinctly different from previous generations' approaches and potentially different from millennials' perspectives. Her academic background spans comparative religion, religious materiality, and Buddhist studies, with personal experience shaping her research into what constitutes good and bad deaths.

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