Is it possible for humans to conceive of being dead?

Question

I am reading Stephen Cave's book Immortality, and one of the claims he makes early on is that there is a "mortality paradox." This is the phenomenon that humans know that they will die (based on induction), but that "the one thing that these minds cannot imagine is that very state of nonexistence; it is literally inconceivable." I am interested in the second part of this paradox, that humans cannot conceive of death.

His evidence for this is:

• Introspection: "Try it: you might get as far as an image of your own funeral, or perhaps a dark and empty void, but you are still there—the observer, the envisioning eye."
• Quoting Freud, who said: "It is indeed impossible to imagine our own death; and whenever we attempt to do so we can perceive that we are in fact still present as spectators."
• Appeal to some recent psychology: "Research by the psychologist Jesse Bering has shown that even young children who have not yet been socialized into any particular religion or worldview believe that the mind survives bodily death. He and his colleagues argue that this is because the alternative—that the mind is extinguished—cannot be grasped. He concludes that we have “an innate sense of immortality” that stems from this cognitive quirk—that is, the seeming impossibility of our annihilation is hardwired into our brains."

My question is: Is the idea that death is inconceivable a consensus stance in cognitive psychology?

Surely it depends on how one defines a "conception", but it seems to me like it ought to be possible, at least for some subset of the population.

Answer 1

Sort of, think of what it's like when you're asleep, not dreaming. Or if you've ever been knocked-out via anesthesia. No-consciousness, just a gap in time.

The question can't really be answered though because it's asking how one might perceive a lack of consciousness, consciously.

Here's an interesting study on the transition from an unconscious to conscious state via the use of anesthetics:

http://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/14/4935.full

Answer 2

Under normal cirmumstances, death is indeed inconceivable. However, there is a rare psychiatric condition called Cotard Delusion or Cotard's syndrome where patients believe that they are dead. Strange as it may seem, there have been reports by such patients who deny the existence of parts of their bodies or claim to smell the rotting flesh of their allegedly dead bodies. Also some of these patients deny their existence completely. I think this condition, rare and extreme though it may seem, it certainly qualifies for providing the possibility of a realistically false but phenomenologically true and direct conception of death. For a review of this syndrome you can have a look at this the full text of which is available on researchgate.net.

Answer 3

I can only think of one way to attempt to experience death. And even that last sentence isn't entirely correct, but more to the point, attempt this thought exercise:

Draw a set of three circles in a chain (not a Venn diagram, but they DO overlap) and label them Life, Thought, and Death, in that order, or reverse if you prefer. You will slowly be running your finger from one direction to the other, and attempting to achieve the state of each circle. They do not need to be huge, just large enough for you to place your finger in each one. In the first circle, Life, you can do things actively. Imagine running a marathon, or some other physical activity. In the next circle, Thought, you can do things actively and passively. Imagine perceiving a person running a marathon. In Death, you can do nothing. You can't observe, perceive, or act. Try to not think or observe. Clear everything from your mind and shut out your senses. Even though you can't realize it, if you're actually doing it, that was death.

By virtue of thinking, you remove a state of true death. You cannot observe the unobserved by observing it. You can only observe it by observing that which it isn't. Like observing a black hole. You can't see into it, you can only see the gap it leaves while continuing to exist. It exists as a 'nothing' that is still kind of a 'something'.

Or if this statement helps more, "you can't think of what it would be like to be dead because it isn't a state of experiences. When you're dead, 'nothing' happens. You'd have to think of what it would be like to experience something that defines your state that you cannot experience."

You can also ask individuals who have been resuscitated from 'dying', though I'm sure they are rare and more rare as you restrict the definition of 'dead' from 'dying'. Though I'm certain, other than religious observations, the majority of the responses you might hear would be "A big blank".

After you've left life and left thought, only 'state' of existence persists, which may be experienced bodily, but definitely not mentally.

Answer 4

We have all been in this 'state' if it can be called that. It existed before we were conceived.

However it is impossible to imagine being something we are not. I cannot imagine being a dolphin and perceiving the world through echolocation. A person blind from birth cannot imagine the colour green.

For the same reason, a living person cannot imagine being dead because a dead body is not a living person and has no imagination.

Cave's statement seems trivial to me. How can anyone believe otherwise?