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Consider the reverse: birth. How many of us are cognizant of that event, or even of what happens in the several years that follow? ...whether death comes after premonition or sudden surprise, the thing that's "dead" is our self-awareness.
To me, death as loss-of-consciousness is actually a soothing and comforting prospect. It means that there is no semi-death, when we're trapped inexorably in a broken state with cognizance of exit from life, but no means of altering it.
Man, this is THE answer for me!! I'm going to remember this; it makes perfect sense, and it soothes me, as well. How can we fear what we won't be able to "know" or "recall," just like birth? Thank you!
Have you ever thought about this - that when you die, you may not even know it?
Sure. Since one ceases to exist upon death, ones own death can only be anticipated as a future event, never understood after the fact.
But there are certainly instances where one can know with near (though probably never with absolute) certain that death is immediately imminent.
Examples might include those who jumped from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, to escape the smoke and flames. While it is true that sometimes people survive extreme falls - I can think of two falls from airliners miles in the sky that were survived, and in Minneapolis a few years back there was a drunken knucklehead who inadvertently crashed through a window and fell 15 floors only to survive with serious injuries from which he made a full recovery - the odds of survival are very long. Also, a German general linked to the July 20 plot, who was serving on the Eastern Front when he got word that the plot had failed. He knew that sooner or later, the Gestapo would torture his name out of someone, and then come for him - so he pulled the pin on a grenade and held it close to himself. Even on the off-chance that the grenade had somehow malfunction, he could have immediately grabbed another. And Louis Slotin, who mishandled the so-called 'demon core' and received a massive dose of radiation that he knew would kill him shortly (due to a similar accident the previous year with the very same core). The previous incident killed the physicist in question in 25 days; Slotin was dead in a mere 9 days.
These people - and there are other examples, I am sure - would have known with near-certainty that they were about to die.
I think that's the closest we can get to knowing we have died - to knowing with something approaching 100% confidence that we are about to die. But many of us will have no idea at all regarding the precise 'when';, though we all have a pretty good idea of the general time frame (ex: I'm 45, so I know I'll more likely than not be dead within 40 years, very likely within 50 years, extremely likely within 60 years, and all-but-certainly within 70 years). That's just the way it is.
For some, I believe that dying may be a fugue state similar to when you doze off - you know that you are falling asleep (sleepy) and then your conscious state is gone. There is no coming back to realize that you are dead - the 'dream' ends and your consciousness is in that state of emptiness that happens in between dreams.
It's going to be okay. We won't know it anyway. Let's just focus on living while we can and appreciate every moment that we DO have.
Don't take anyone or anything for grated, don't get too comfortable in life because it won't last forever. No need to worry or fret over it... just LIVE while we can and make yourself healthy and happy. Try to keep yourself alive for as long as possible and be grateful for this experience.
Since one ceases to exist upon death, ones own death can only be anticipated as a future event, never understood after the fact.
HUH??? Where does all this stuff come from??
Since when do we "cease to exist upon death"? I'm not getting into religion here, so don't go there with me. But think about this: are YOU just your BODY? Don't you have a personality that is separate from your body?
Because all that happens when we "die" is that the BODY ceases to function. And by the way, it is genetically programmed to do that -- to wear out ("aging") and to stop functioning ("dying"). But the person who lives inside that body does NOT die. Call it a soul if you wish, but I prefer to call it our spirit, the energy force that is uniquely "us". That part definitely DOES KNOW that it has been released from the material body, and is glad of it (usually). There's no such thing as dying in your sleep and knowing nothing (because you were asleep).
Call me weird if you like, but I have experienced enough signs from those who have passed into the next life (yup, at least one more, but who knows what it's like?) to know that 1) they definitely know something major has changed, 2) they definitely think things are better now, than when they were in this life, and 3) they wish to make contact with those whom they love. It has not been my imagination. The messages were corroborated by others who were close to them.
You should learn which part of you is mortal, and which part is not. And it has nothing to do with religion.
No one knows that they actually died. Makes no difference whether their death is predicted to be soon or not. You still don't know you've died....after you've died.
But, yes, emotionally (and irrationally) I, too, find it unsettling....and extremely unsettling that I will have no control over what is done to me at that point. Then I remind myself that I won't know and won't care.
True, but a Living Will might help. I don't want to be cremated, for example. My driver's license shows I'm an organ donor. If any of my body parts are still good at that point, I hope they'll help someone in need. (There are way too many people waiting for organs, which is very sad) OTOH I don't want to be a cadaver in a research lab. Okay, so maybe I'm weird. My point is you can have a little control over your remains when you finally die if you put something in writing and have it notarized.
True, but a Living Will might help. I don't want to be cremated, for example. My driver's license shows I'm an organ donor. If any of my body parts are still good at that point, I hope they'll help someone in need. (There are way too many people waiting for organs, which is very sad) OTOH I don't want to be a cadaver in a research lab. Okay, so maybe I'm weird. My point is you can have a little control over your remains when you finally die if you put something in writing and have it notarized.
Yes, I see your point....but I wouldn't define that as control. It is, essentially, making a request while alive....that you hope will be carried out in death, but will nonetheless have no control over.
Another reason, among many, why death is just unacceptable from any vantage point.
But then, once again, I tell myself that I won't know and won't care - because I won't be. I tell myself that, but I won't accept it.
A fascinating topic that is almost limitless in depth.
Have you ever thought about this - that when you die, you may not even know it?
For some reason, I just realized this a few weeks ago. And ever since, its been intriguing to me. The idea that we would not even know that we no longer exist....something about that is very interesting.
There are many people who, before they die, know that they are going to die. This could be someone with late-stage cancer, or ALS, or any other sort of terminal disease. Or many other scenarios in which a person is still conscious when they either learn or assume they are going to die.
But there are also many situations in which a person doesn't know they are going to die.
One example comes to mind for me... an elderly family friend who was in generally good health. He went in for surgery to get his pacemaker adjusted. It was considered a routine surgery. Well, he had a heart attack while under anesthesia, and never woke up.
I can also apply this to myself. When I was a child, I was in a serious car accident in which I was hit by a car while I was crossing the street. To this day, I can still remember the moments before I stepped out into the street. And then, in an instant, the car hit me, and I became unconscious. Thankfully, I survived. But had I died after being hit, I would have never known that I died.
I was just curious if anyone else had ever thought about this and what your thoughts are. I personally find it somewhat unsettling to think that I might never know that I actually died.
Last year I was on life support three times......I was about dead.....I did not know a thing for weeks.
I can tell you it is like nothing.....like when you where unconscious as a child.
Last year I was on life support three times......I was about dead.....I did not know a thing for weeks.
I can tell you it is like nothing.....like when you where unconscious as a child.
I'm sorry for what you went through, but there is a big difference between being "about dead" and being actually dead. So many people report seeing a light, seeing long deceased relatives, and feeling really, really loved when they die...and then are brought back from death.
There is a fascinating book written by a medical examiner about her experiences with people who died and their loved ones. The book is named "Forever Ours: Real Stores of Immortality and Living" by Dr. Janis Amatuzio. I have read it and was awed by it. It is listed as 4.5 stars on Amazon. She wrote a follow-up book called "Beyond Knowing: Mysteries and Messages of Death and Life from a Forensic Pathologist." Here is a blurb about her books:
"Working as a medical examiner, Dr. Janis Amatuzio has found that by listening and talking to loved ones of the deceased, she can offer them a sense of closure. In doing so, she has heard — and here retells — extraordinary stories of spiritual and otherworldly events surrounding the transition between life and death.
As in her first book, Forever Ours, Dr. Amatuzio presents the amazing, heartfelt accounts told to her by grieving family members, patients, doctors, nurses, clergy, and police officers. Along with these stories, she shares her own story — reflecting on the course of her career, the bonds she has formed over the years, the lessons she has learned, and her conclusion that “Everything truly is all right.”
This powerful book honors the mystery of life and death, exploring the realms of visions, synchronicities, and communications on death’s threshold. Told in the voice of a compassionate scientist who sees death every day, these stories eloquently convey the patterns of truth Dr. Amatuzio has found in what she sees and hears. Beyond Knowing explores the wisdom the living might find in these accounts and shows how that wisdom changes lives."
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No one knows that they actually died. Makes no difference whether their death is predicted to be soon or not. You still don't know you've died....after you've died. 
Not Knowing That You Died
