Do People Really Remain Conscious When Guillotined?

Dive into the dark history of execution methods and the mystery of consciousness after decapitation. Explore shocking experiments and modern debates in this chilling examination of death's most enigmatic moments.

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[Daugueffxi]

A shoddily built private sub depressurizing in deep sea seems a pretty fast way to go.

[sublimemime]

Death isn’t nearly as frightening to me as the way I die. Ideally, I’d die in my sleep without pain. The fear of dying AND it being horrific feeling is awful

[gw]

People screaming in the face of beheaded people for science has to be the most disturbing image I've had in my head today.

[Gamble]

My brain activity ceased years ago and I'm still walking around.

[chrisgattman]

I died in the ER. Only for 28 seconds but the last words I heard as clear as a bell was, "I don't have a pulse"! Then next thing I remember is the room was full of doctors and nurses. If your heart stops then your clinically dead. But I can still hear the nurse yelling I don't have a pulse! I think if you lost your head for just a second you would see your body. I was told my heart had stopped but my brain was still active for a second or two.

[BennyMcGhee]

The worst part about being beheaded is that from your perspective, you are being de-bodied. Your body is being cut off. I wouldn’t even want to lose a finger, let alone my entire body! The horror!

[MegaBspark]

i'd have to say "i'd rather go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, not screaming in terror like his passengers" bob monkhouse

[hoynmsy]

We had to put our dog down last year. I remember it vividly. After the vet gave him the drug to stop his heart, his lips and eyelids twitched for 10 minutes after his heart had already stopped. I knew he wasn’t in any pain, but I still remember feeling so much sadness. My hypothesis was there was still blood reaching his brain even after his heart stopped; or at least enough blood for electrical signals to keep his brain partially active. RIP buddy ❤

[ahhamartin]

As someone who has heard medical personnel tell others i was "gone" (SPOILER they were evidently mistaken), when I've been with loved ones who died (several times..I'm old) I always held their hand and talked for a few minutes more just in case. That way they'll be comforted by realizing "Thank goodnes I'm dead and won't have to listen to THIS guy anymore."

[pb]

When my uncle died last year following a severe secondary stroke, he went from heavy, fast breathing and sharp movements to complete stillness and silence. Several medical staff confirmed his pulse had stopped and we all embraced each other. Approximately 30 seconds later, his eyes opened, he frantically looked around, took several more fast breaths, then he passed away again. Everyone was very shocked by it but it makes a little more sense having watched this video....

[bmweeny]

I once read that Hypoxia was a great "way to go" -, sudden loss of pressure at altitude without any oxygen - and you end up blissfully unaware of anything after a few seconds while you expire..

[kenharris]

A person in France who was due to be Guillotine said to a friend that when his head was severed, he would try and blink continuously, even after the head was severed; his friend noted that the poor fellow continued to blink rapidly for almost thirty seconds after the execution.
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
Aesop.

[elizzybec]

Reading comments here from others who have experienced cardiac arrest. I felt only an initial state of alarm, like I was going to throw up, then sat down and closed my eyes, and started turning blue because my heart had stopped. I was at a friend's house and while she was screaming at me to open my eyes, I kept ignoring her because I could hear her and assumed I was fine. But she was yelling that I was BLUE and for a split second I realized I had to move back towards her voice. She gave me a chest thump that I felt, but was not able to respond to. I was pulled back into darkness and relaxed and felt so relaxed. The second thump gave me a "direction" to "swim" to, and I did and slowly was able to open only my eyes. I still did NOT believe my friend until I saw my fingers and toes were blue. By the time an ambulance arrived I was awake and apparently ok. But for those who have lost a family member to cardiac arrest, be at peace, it is a good way to go. It's like the most relaxed I'd ever been, maybe too relaxed in hindsight. But I could HEAR everything and I was definitely still inside my head, thinking, while I was dying. No panic, no pain, no trauma. I would assume a beheading would be much more traumatic because I am sure you CAN hear and see the horror unfolding as your body twitches next to you. Ugh.

[Metguy]

Having experienced 5 cardiac arrest in one day before getting a pacemaker, I can confirm from my experience that it takes maximum 4 seconds to lose consciousness and there is no pain associated at all. At the first arrest I fell off the chair and banged my head into a ceramic flower pot, didn’t feel a thing. The others took place in the hospital with no apparent injuries other than fatigue.

[sysbofh]

One thing people never remember: we don't feel the lack of oxygen, we feel the excess of CO2. Put the person on a sealed chamber, pump it full of nitrogen (helium? Don't care - just don't use CO or CO2) - without oxygen and he will just pass out. No sensation, no feeling, no nothing. The person just "turns off". And yes, that's how it happens: ask any diver about the dangers of hyperventilation.

Keep it that way until he's dead, and problem solved. Easy, cheap, without suffering. Not even the asphyxiation feelings.

Never understood why no one does it this way.

[oskyys]

So glad there’s a channel so high quality that still speaks bluntly despite YouTube monetisation

[tophers]

What I don't understand is how a head can remain conscious after blood flow stops. I've had blood flow to my head cut off via a pressure to the veins in my neck. I lost consciousness in maybe 5 seconds. Plus people tend to pass out quickly when their blood preasure drops quickly. I don't understand how a head that loses all blood flow in an instant can remain lucid at all.

[vivienleigh]

People, like myself, that have very low blood pressure, can tell you that the second blood leaves your brain, you're out. It's hard to imagine a more severe cause of drop in blood pressure than being de-capitated. You don't feel pain, you don't even feel when your body hits the ground.

[ajadrew]

I'm reminded of that Sopranos part when, in a boat fishing, Bobby says to Tony something like "you don't even hear it' talking of the gunshot sound. You're dead before you hear the bullet that kills you.

[AlTheRelic]

You just gotta love Simon, he does YouTube documentaries that range from the history of Reese's peanut butter cups to the life functions remaining in decapitated heads.