Interviews with people who were brought back from the brink of death combined with some basic neurophysiology lead to a rather macabre conclusion: in some cases it may be possible to perceive, feel, and perhaps even think after you are technically dead, or so close to being dead there’s little difference. Which sounds perfectly horrible, just in time for tricks and treats:
A significant number of participants in the study report being aware of their surroundings during the period in which they were pronounced dead. Though most were unable to recall specific memories, 39 percent of the study’s participants could describe “a perception of awareness.” A small percent say they were also able to hear full conversations, even see things happening around them. Lest you think these accounts a hoax, medical professionals and staff who were present at the patient’s time of death were also able to verify these stories.
Since the brain might still have a few networks capable of firing, as it goes not-so-gently into that final goodnight, it might be able to zing out a few thoughts that would allow you to, in effect, know you are dead. So yeah, thanks, science.
- Less intense: here’s a couple of dozen spooky-fun ideas geared more toward kids and science for Halloween.
- Ten years ago this month here on Daily Kos, written for Halloween: Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite!
- There’s another creepy deal called Cotard’s delusion where patients aren’t actually dead or even dying, but they’re convinced beyond any hope of logical argument that they are walking corpses. A related condition is referred to as depersonalization disorder.
- Then there’s the opposite: the human who doesn’t know it’s alive, but acts the part. A really good golem wouldn’t be stumbling around with its arms outstretched. It would behave as if it knew it was alive while having no actual self-awareness. This hypothetical creature is known as a philosophical zombie.