macabre thoughts

Don't call the police, emergency services or the guys in the white coats. these are just thoughts.

random thoughts.

last night i was holding a piece of metal rod i took from a hobby item. it was about 20" long and thin (2-56 or about 1/8" in diameter). threaded on one end. as i was holding it in my hands i wondered if it would be possible to put it in one ear, push it through my head and out the other ear. would it hurt? would my consciousness alter as it went thru my brain? i think it'd miss the medula oblongata, so i don't think death would be immediate. would there be flashes of color? would old memories pop up? would senses be affected? is it possible there'd be no noticeable effect other than probable loss of hearing? what would they say in the ER?

i wonder if your life really does flash in front of your eyes in the moments before you die?

i've been in two accidents in the last few years. not so much in the last one (although it did occur) but in the first one, there was some definite time distortion. in the ?4? seconds from the time the first car hit me until the second did, time slowed waaaaay down. or maybe it's just that your thoughts speed way up? so where in that process does your mind switch from processing what you're seeing and experiencing to reviewing your life? does the brain make an evaluation that you're about to die, that there's no point in processing sensory input anymore, and then switches to more ?enjoyable? stuff?

if you shoot yourself in the head, does it hurt? do you hear the shot? does your consciousness just -end- or does it explode into pieces of thought before disappating forever?

when you drown, does your life just -stop-? or are you aware, once your lungs fill with water, that you're not getting air? do you keep trying to breathe, pushing water in and out, until asphyxia takes you? is there some brain function that recognizes "hey, i'm gonna die" and shuts off?