> -----Original Message----- > From: Russell Standish [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > This case bothers me too. The initial (or perhaps traditional) > response is that consciousness is lost the instant blood pressure > drops in the brain, a few hundred milliseconds after the neck is > severed, thus the beheading is not experienced. However, there is some > anecdotal evidence (eg the beheading of Lavoisier) that consciousness > can survive up to 10-20 seconds after the neck is severed. > > Even if this is true, it still does not eliminate magical solutions, > such as waking up "Matrix"-style in an alternative reality.
Yes....or in a tipler style afterlife inside some megacomputer trillions of years in the future (or equivalently, I suppose, somewhere else in the multiverse). Definitely starts to sound like an act of faith to believe that's what would happen, though.... Even if you lost consciousness a split second after having your head removed, QTI would still have to explain how you got from 'immediately after being beheaded' to anywhere else...! Charles
