I am afraid that the last few minutes of life will be like a confusing and disoriented nightmare. That has always seemed to me to be the most likely scenario as your brain is shutting down.
If its like psychedelics I don't think it would be. Which i think the initial parts could be similar since they decrease blood flow to the brain, seems the same as dieing? IME there is nothing to fear, fear (emotions in general) is a higher level concept and those seem to be the first thing fall apart. Thoughts about thoughts, self identity, are made up to make living and thinking easier.
my guess is you slowly transition to simple machine with sense inputs and outputs until it all shuts down.
Reading your comment gives me such an unsettling feeling. You nailed it. I think death is the ultimate form of discomfort. Our bodies refuse to let us die peacefully under most circumstances. They fight with every last breath and every last heartbeat, to keep going. And all the usual signals of comfort are gone, with one just left bare before the universe. Think motion sickness + nausea + all the other terrible feelings combined, and you cannot just give in, you just have to endure until you're gone.
Interestingly there are two David Lynch movies (Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive) that can be interpreted as just that: someone's disorienting nightmare as they are dying.
tayo42|4 years ago
my guess is you slowly transition to simple machine with sense inputs and outputs until it all shuts down.
awb|4 years ago
Death could be like that too. A flood of signals you're unfamiliar with and a lack of signals you're used to having.
It probably depends on how much warning you have and your willingness / readiness to pass as well.
Kind of like if you're really tired and can't wait to fall asleep vs. scared and trying to keep yourself awake.
goldenkey|4 years ago
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGuXaFyU5lY
anotherman554|4 years ago
Wiseacre|4 years ago