it is the selfish desire of every sadist to see the pain and anguish their death would cause others. perhaps it an attempt to convince themselves that people care, they would love to see people emit some emotion for them. if only this emotion was present when they were alive, they might still be with us. if only we did not wait until they were gone to laugh, or cry, or at least show some emotion in their presence, instead of ignoring them. if only they could go in to the future, and see themselves lying in their coffin, with friends and family huddled around. then they'd learn that they weren't quite alone as they thought and that their death wasn't needed or necessary.