THE TRANSITION INTO A STATE OF DEATH








A Study in Thought

sa082



by





Marius Heuff

Chapter 1

Content

A pre-occupation with the phenomenon of death.
What will it be like to be dead?
When we know, that death will come soon.
When it is too late to think about it seriously.
Is death "the end", or a transitional stage?
A brief review of the religious reality perceptions.
The scientific view is dominated by the assumption, that there is no "Willed Force" or "Creator", interfering with the "natural force-fields" of the environment.
An audacious evolutionary imagery.
The presence or absence of a belief in personal salvation has a strong influence upon the interpretation of our existence.
The natural background of our belief-structures.
The assumption, that my feelings, thoughts and experiences are not unique, and may have some relevance for others.
Is it useful to think about death and dying?
We all die in the realities of our beliefs.
When memories, belief-structures and contemporary sense-impressions fuse into a single, undifferentiated imagery.
The hallucination.
When we lose contact with the spheres of reality of the people around us.
The experience of reality is easily disturbed.
Misinterpretations of sense-impressions; the mirage.
Even the "agnostic" will not be free from hallucinations or anxieties, when he knows, or believes, that he is dying.
Death may come as a relaxed "falling-asleep".
The stress of impending death may evoke hidden anxieties, and re-activate images from a cultural heritage.
The stress associated with dying may evoke commonly shared and perfectly logical psychological mechanisms.

I often think about death. I am not obsessed by it, nor do I think about it in an emotional and morose manner. I am trying to come to grips with the phenomenon of death, and, in particular, with the process of dying. Most of us are too busy, as long as we are healthy and active, to give death and dying much thought, and, many of us will die quite suddenly and unexpectedly, or, we are hoping, till the last moment, that we are going to recover from an illness or escape from the predicament we are in.

Whenever the time has come that we have to face death, it is too late to think about it clearly. Death may be happening so fast, or so insideously, that we may not realise what is happening to us, but, I suspect that most of us will have a few moments, just before we lose consciousness, to realise, that, this time, our loss of contact with the world we live in, is going to be permanent, and, that we are not going to wake-up again.

Death fascinates me, because there are so many different ways man has visualised the nature of death. There are a variety of religious images and beliefs that have transformed the process of dying, and the state of death, from an essential "end" to a transitional stage, where man passes into another world; the world of God, in which we will "live", either, as someone who has found favour in the eyes of God, or, as someone who has been cast-out into an eternity of damnation in Hell. There are many variants on this basic interpretation of death and life after death. Here, we are not interested in tracing this variety of religious beliefs. In stead, we like to concentrate on the common elements, shared by nearly all religious interpretations, of the phenomena of death and dying.

The religious reality perceptions share a belief in a Creator, or a system of anthropomorphic or "willed" forces. These religious images explain the existence of man's environment, as well as his own existence, as an act of "Creation". In contrast to the religious or anthropomorphic reality-perceptions, we have discussed, on several occasions, the development of the "scientific reality perception", which has really flourished, to such a remarkable extent, in the last few centuries. However, it has flourished primarily amongst those, who have been thoroughly exposed to the scientific methods of investigation and interpretation.

Let us recall, that the essential feature of the scientific reality perception is represented by the fact, that it has abandoned all belief in the existence of a "Willed Force or Creator". This is, indeed, an audacious conclusion, and, it is quite remarkable, that the existence of so many, highly complex forms of existence, in particular, the myriad of life-forms we have come to know and have been able to describe, do not require a "Creative Force" in order to explain their existence. It is almost incredible, that we can visualise a smooth transition from one form of existence into another, for the living, as well as the inorganic or non-living forms of matter and energy. This process of transition is based upon the visualisation of a large series of logical and coherent events, leading to predictable and logical changes from a status-quo.

True, we can, ofen, only grasp the bare outlines of the complexities involved in these evolutionary changes of matter and energy, including the spectrum of living existence as we know it on earth, but, the point is, that the concepts of evolutionary change, together with a solid scientific grasp over the living and non-living forms of existence, have given us a framework of reality-perceptions and interpretations that does not leave us any "room" for the concept of a creative or anthropomorphic force.

Perhaps, I should rephrase this statement; whether or not an ultimate creative force is present behind the phenomenon of existence itself, is a question, which our contemporary scientific insights can not answer, but, the belief that such a Creator has revealed Himself in one or other set of Holy Scriptures, becomes increasingly untenable, as we scrutinise the entire field of scientific knowledge and insights about the origins of living existence. As a result, these scientific insights have led to a loosening of the belief in the existence of a "Personal God"; of a Creator, Who cares for us individually; to Whom we can pray and ask for the forgivenness of our sins, and, Who will separate us into Heaven-goers and Hell-goers. This falling-away of a belief in a personal salvation, or a personal damnation, has a great influence upon the way we think about the phenomenon of dying and being dead.

I believe, that I have a great deal of respect and understanding for the religious reality perceptions, and, I know, why it is unavoidable to interpret reality in one religious way or another, especially, if people do not have the benefit of a thorough exposure to, and familiarity with, scientific insights. While I make fully use of these scientific images and insights, it would be erroneous to say, simply, that I have abandoned the religious reality perceptions in favour of a strict scientific interpretation of reality, denying the reality of a Creator to whom we can pray.

True, I am an "agnostic", in the sense, that I do not know about such a Creator, and, I share the conclusion, that it is erroneous to believe in the absolute truth of any of the Divine Scriptures that are worshipped amongst the millions of faithful. I do not believe, that any of these Scriptures can represent the Word of God, but, I have also come to the conclusion, that the scientific insights lead us, irrevocably and irresistibly, into a relativistic reality perception, where the concept of an absolute, knowable truth, is replaced with the idea, that all our truths, as well as all our beliefs, are products of our existence as a human being. The nature, form and contents of our beliefs, together with all the images we are so totally convinced of and believe in, depend upon the way our organism has evolved over many millions of years of natural evolution.

Our beliefs and mental images depend, also, upon cultural influences, as well as personal contacts and experiences. I assume, that you are more or less familiar with my ideas about a relativistic reality perception, and, I like to concentrate, here, upon the thoughts, feelings and emotions I undergo, as a thinking human being, living at my particular moment in history, when I concern myself with the certainty of death, and the stress of suffering and dying. I assume, of course, that my particular way of looking at reality, and my personal way of reacting to the experiences and impressions of my reality perceptions, will have some relevance for other people

I believe, quite strongly, that I am not totally unique, and, that a realistic and relativistic approach to reality, including the phenomena of life and death, will, eventually, be shared by many millions of people. Because of my faith in the essential correctness of these assumptions, I am writing this essay, and my somewhat personal thoughts are justified by the expectation that these thoughts will be less strange and unfamiliar to future generations. My own generation is less likely to be exposed to my writing, because it takes a long time, before the relevance of a philosophical insight is recognised, and a particular set of writings is widely distributed and read.

Perhaps, you want to question the reasons and motivations for thinking and writing about death. Perhaps, you would like to point-out, that it really does not help us very much to think about death. When it comes, it comes, and, often, there is very little we can do about it. Since we can never question anyone who has really died, we will never know from someone else's experience what it is like to be dead.

Those, who claim to have seen the Heavens open-up in front of them, or to have stood close to the gates of Hell when they thought they were dying, only confirm the notion, that we all die within the sphere of our own beliefs. If someone truly believes in the religious imagery of his or her Faith, it is very likely, that the severe stress and emotions associated with the belief that one is dying, (even, if this belief turns-out, in retrospect, to have been wrong), will give rise to a fusion of the contemporary reality experiences and the religious images, welling-up from the memory-banks, which the dying person has accepted as an unshakeable truth.

A blurring between contemporary sense-impressions and the imagery of a belief structure, occurs frequently, and, such an event is not limited to the stress of dying. We know, that, strong emotions, physical and mental fatigue, a variety of hallucinogenic drugs, as well as extreme and prolonged isolation, may lead to an inability to separate contemporary sense-impressions and evoked memory-traces. By definition, a hallucination is a condition, where an individual is unable to distinguish between mental images that represent a contemporary reality in the form of incoming sense impressions, and, images that "well-up" from the subconscious memory-banks into a focus of awareness. Evoked images are brought into a focus of awareness by analogous experiences, beliefs, hopes and fears, and, if an individual believes that he or she is dying, the memory-traces that are concerned with this particular category of reality, are brought to the fore and take precedence over contemporary reality experiences from the immediate environment.

Such a fusion between a sense impression and the evoked imagery gives rise to a certain distortion in the perception of contemporary reality. It may be merely an unusually strong enhancement of the sense of reality, whenever an actually occurring experience is supported by a kaleidoscope of vivid mental images coming from the memory-banks, but, the remembered or evoked images may become completely dominant, resulting in a "loss of contact" with the actual reality of incoming sense impressions, representing the contemporary reality experience.

However, the sense of reality may also be distorted, grotesquely, as a result of disturbed brain mechanisms, such as the actions of drugs on the central nervous system, or, a lack of control-mechanisms that keep the shape and sequence of the evoked mental imagery, at least, in the awake state, within limits that are acceptable to our sense of logic.

Let us not drift-off into the tempting field of distorted reality perceptions, hallucinations or nightmares, and, let us agree, here, as we have discussed before, that our sense of reality is very easily disturbed. Some of these disturbances are quite "normal", because they happen to all of us, and, we think, here, about the reality distortions and illogical mental sequences that are going through our mind when we are dreaming.

Then, there are many occasions, where we misinterpret reality; from a "mirage" in the desert to the miscalculation of a step. It is not surprising, then, to see, that people, who regain consciousness after a serious illness or accident, where they thought, quite naturally, that their final hour had come, will describe experiences that suggest the existence of a Heaven or a Hell. We do not deny, for one moment, the sincerity of these experiences, but, I think that you will agree, that such people suffered from a severe hallucination or a dream-like experience, as the ability to distinguish between a contemporary reality and the evoked imagery of a personality under stress, is always severely impaired by a serious illness and an impending loss of consciousness.

However, is this all we can say about dying? Is it sufficient to say, that we all die in a sphere of reality of our own making? What about the serious agnostic; the scientist, or philosopher, who has truly come to the conclusion, that there is no Heaven or Hell; who thinks that death is merely the absence of life; the breaking-apart of a chain of biochemical events that kept the whole body together as a functional unit. Sure, if such people "wake up" after a serious illness or accident, they will rarely tell you, that they "saw" Heaven or Hell, or any other experience that may indicate the nature of their particular reality perception when they thought they were dying. This does not mean, however, that the agnostic will be free from hallucinations, when he dies, or thinks he is going to die.

Whether or not an individual develops hallucinations, depends on a variety of circumstances. If death, or a loss of consciousness that turned-out to be reversible, occurs swiftly, or relatively free from stress, the experience may be little more than a forced "falling-asleep", such as we experience, when we are brought under anaesthesia.

True, if an agnostic "wakes up" after he thought he was dying, he may well suppress, consciously or subconsciously, any imagery of a religious nature which he may have experienced. It is also likely, that he will be somewhat embarrassed to admit, that he thought he was dying, while he was not. Nevertheless, the imagery evoked by the stress of the circumstances, may have shown all sorts of hidden and suppressed fears, or, it may have brought to the fore a religious or pseudo-religious imagery from childhood and an early cultural heritage, which the agnostic had long since rejected as superstition or nonsense. However, such imagery may well surface quite strongly during periods of stress and reduced control over the mental image sequences.

We are back to the question, whether or not the usefulness of thoughts about death and dying has been exhausted by a thorough analysis of active as well as hidden or suppressed beliefs, fears, hopes and notions. Can we explain all psychological manifestations of people, who thought they were dying, or, who thought that they had actually died, as a result of their particular experiences and beliefs?

There are many more aspects to dying than purely psychological phenomena, but it is true, that a good understanding of the mechanisms of reality perceptions and interpretations, together with the many fears and hopes we all experience, as well as the natural resistance to the process of death and dissolution, will help us understand most, if not all, the phenomena we can see when someone else dies. However, we would like to concentrate, here, on he fact, that we have to face, sooner or later, our own death; and, there is quite a difference, whether we have to cope with the death of someone else, or with the knowledge, that, finally, it is our turn to take this step into a mysterious unknown.

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Chapter 2

Content

The concept of a "natural death".
Natural death is not limited to the death of older people, who die peacefully at home, without any apparent illness.
Death after a serious illness may be a "natural phenomenon".
Death, due to "old-age", a disease, or a combination of both, will take place in spite of all efforts to prevent it.
In accidents, disasters or injuries due to acts of violence, the local environment changes suddenly to such an extent, that the mechanical, thermal or chemical conditions become incompatible with the existence of a living organism.
In accidental poisoning, we see a confluence of the concepts of accident and disease.
The faculties of fore-sight, and the chances to secure survival.
Why fore-sight is much more difficult for a group of people than a single individual.
Learning from early warning signs.
A thorough insight into the internal mechanisms and external relationships of a living organisation is helpful to prevent sickness, injuries and death.
The mechanisms of sickness and accident come together, as we face an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment.
Death under conditions of war-fare.
We have found innumerable ways of destroying each other.
When we have become trapped into a situation we have no control over.
We have to believe, that we are on the side of justice, and, that God is on our side.
If an intelligent life-form would be present and observe mankind, it would surely try to make an end to man's escalating capabilities of destroying everything.
The responsibilities for survival rest squarely on our collective shoulders.
The many ways in which we can meet our end.

It may be useful to classify the many different circumstances under which people may come to the final moments of their life, by looking at the component of stress. If we are fortunate to die at a reasonably old-age, after a life upon which we can look back without too many regrets, and, if we can die without a great deal of stress, pain or psychological turmoil, we may consider ourselves lucky, indeed. This type of fortunate death is considered "natural", and, it is often the target of slight envy, in particular, if an individual has become aware of the fact, that there are so many more unpleasant and painful ways to die.

I find it difficult to accept the definition of a "natural death" as limited to those, older people, who die, usually at home, without any apparent illness as the cause of death. If we look, closely, at the mechanisms of death at old-age, we see, that it nearly always occurs as the result of a failure of a specific organ-system. The boundary between a natural death, and, one that occurs due to a disease, is, therefore, vague, and, it is quite easy to argue, that such a distinction does not really exist.

At an older age, all the systems of the body become more brittle and vulnerable to a fairly sudden failure, and physicians are, justifiably, less inclined to diagnose and treat these elderly people vigorously. I fully agree with the policy to let elderly people die with a minimum of stress and discomfort, and, we know, that a vigorous medical investigation and therapy is, so often, associated with a high level of stress. However, we should realise, that death under such circumstances is not any more, or any less "natural", than the death that occurs as the result of a serious, incurable disease at a much younger age.

It seems justifiable to group-together all those instances, where death occurs as a result of ageing and irreversible disease processes, as "natural", because the susceptibility to, as well as the contraction of, a large variety of diseases by the human organism is just as "natural" as the processes of ageing, or the existence of a state of health. If death occurs by benign neglect and an emphasis upon comfort in old-age, we can justifiably say, that death comes, then, with a minimum of stress, because the anticipation and acceptance of death makes a futile resistance less likely, and, if there are stressful conditions such as pain and anxiety, we are able to alleviate these stresses with medication and psychological support. All forms of death due to old-age, disease, or a combination of ageing processes and pathological changes in normal physiological mechanisms, share the characteristic, that death occurs in spite of all reasonable efforts to prevent death.

This group constrasts, sharply, with deaths that occur as a result of accidents and disasters, because, here, physical conditions of the external, local environment, change suddenly and disastrously to such an extent, that the mechanical, thermal or chemical conditions of the immediate environment become incompatible with the existence of a living organism. The living organism is, then, unable to resist such force-fields and dies. Fortunately, as we see in the case of most accidents on the road, the moment of disastrous pressures is very brief, perhaps, nearly instantaneously, as we see in a head-on collision between two automobiles, but, in many cases, there are agonising minutes, even, hours or days, in which the individual or a small group of people is caught in conditions that turn-out, in the end, to be incompatible with further existence.

Here, I am thinking about the final minutes before the crash of an airliner, or the slow death of a group of miners trapped underground after an explosion or the flooding of a mineshaft, or, the slow and agonising death of a group of seafarers on a small, disabled boat or a life-raft. These people are likely to perish because of a lack of drinking water, while drifting helplessly at sea, far-away from land or shipping lanes, without the ability to communicate through emergency radio equipment.

All accidents have in common, that death occurs due to a fatal change in external conditions or circumstances, and, death is not the result of a change in the internal environment of the body, except, perhaps, in the case of accidental poisoning, where we see a confluence in the concepts of accident and disease. Most accidents could have been prevented, if due care and proper foresight had been applied, and, if the individual or group involved had not suffered from a lapse of attention or fore-sight. True, it is impossible to avoid all accidents, because we just do not have the ability to fore-see them all, nor, do we have the ability to agree amongst ourselves, whether or not a certain course of action will lead us into danger, and, perhaps, into a condition that will become fatal. Often, we do not know, whether or not some of the more cautious members of a group are exaggerating the potential for danger and miss, thereby, an opportunity for gain, pleasure, or long-term survival.

Occasionally, we are, indeed, faced with the difficult dilemma of having to choose between a course of action with short-term dangers and hardships, but long-term benefits and an enhanced chance to survive, and, the lure of a short-term gain; a temporary solution and avoidance of difficult choices, which leave conditions temporarily more comfortable, while long-term prospects for survival have been diminished.

We are thinking here, about the difficult decisions for a group of survivors, stranded in a remote environment. They face the difficult decision, whether to make a dangerous dash towards the inhabited world, or, wait, anxiously, for a rescue that may come too late, but, the same difficult choices apply also to a large society that is drifting into difficulties. Here, the real solution may involve too many hardships and unpleasant consequences in the short run, which will not be palatable to the electorate, while the electorate lacks the fore-sight to see, and know, that such "difficult medicine" is necessary to preserve the social environment.

However, most accidents and adverse conditions do not occur as a result of such an agonising but deliberate and well-calculated choice, but, conditions of disaster, hardship, accident and potentially or actually life-threatening circumstances, occur, usually, as the result of a lack of insight, a lack of concern, as well as a neglect of early warning signs. If we do not learn from minor accidents, near misses or potentially dangerous situations, we are much more likely to blunder into a really serious and, perhaps, fatal situation, while those, who are thoughtful and vigilant, cautious, but rational, and coolly calculating the odds, have a much better chance to avoid disastrous or accidental circumstances. Such rational and intelligent people are much better able to adapt, smoothly and continuously, to the changing circumstances, even, if these circumstances are difficult and full of dangers.

Here, we see a link with those internal conditions of disease that may lead to death. As we know more about a large variety of disease processes, which may affect us so seriously that they challenge our existence, we also know more ways to avoid contracting such fatal challenges to our existence, and we learn, better, how to apply the proper treatment, before a disease has really taken-hold in our body.

As the environmental conditions become more toxic and full of dangerous pollutants, we see, how a preventative attitude, and, in particular, a coordinated collective approach to controling our environmental conditions, is going to determine, whether or not we will survive, or, what disease processes and dangerous accidental poisonings may terminate our ability to live. Here, sickness and accident come together, as we are rapidly entering a phase of human existence, where we will have to excercise, continuously and collectively, a measure of vigilance, if we want to survive.

The answers can not be found, any longer, in a narrow, egocentric solution, because, as soon as I have found a safe place to live, it will become a target of envy and strife. If others are going to lose their lives, because they can not enter the safe spot, which I have found or have worked so hard for to build-up and preserve, it becomes immediately obvious, that I have no chance to hold-on to such a privileged position, and, that I am driven into a desperate act of defensive warfare, if I want to hold-on to it, regardless of the fact that I deserve this spot because of my fore-sight and hard work.

This brings us to the third, broad category of causes of death. Here, the environmental conditions for individuals, or, even, quite large groups of people, do not change towards unbearable and fatal pressures or stresses because of inadvertent events, accidents, natural disasters or unforeseen disease processes, but, the lethal pressures are evoked deliberately, as an act of hostility. In a condition of warfare, human beings are deliberately trying to make each other's lives, not only, as miserable as they can, but they try, actively, to create conditions for each other that are incompatible with life.

Originally, these techniques were rather crude; a blow with a club, a stone, or, even, a bare fist was designed to weaken and injure the opponent, after which it became easier for the uninjured party to deal a swift series of blows or stabbings with a spear or a sword. Now, we are a lot more sophisticated and skilfull in the ways we kill each other. We have a great variety of fire-arms, and, we kill each other with bullets and shrapnel from shells or bombs, dropped from planes or big guns. Or, we try to exterminate each other with intensive radiation, with chemical or bacteriological weapons, contaminating or poisoning each other's air, water or food-supplies. We may try to starve each other into submission by laying siege to cities, by destroying the lands and all the vegetation on it. In short, we have found innumerable ways to destroy each other, which is nothing more, and nothing less, than an intensive search to make life literally impossible.

If we are engaged in an open warfare, we assume, that both sides have roughly an equal chance of killing and being killed, and, our rough sense of justice is somewhat satisfied by such conditions. Some people seem to become lyrical about the cameraderie and friendship that can be found amongst soldiers, who are bound together in the grim task of killing the enemy, but such people seem stunned and completely taken by surprise, if their comradeship is suddenly destroyed; when a bullet from the enemy strikes their buddy dead. It does not seem fair justice, then, that the enemy soldiers are celebrating their victory, and, that they have developed their own intense bonds of friendship and acts of self-sacrifice, leading to success in an act of warfare.

Often, however, the power-relationships between combatants are not equal, and, if we are obviously the weaker party in a conflict, we have to resort to guerilla-tactics in order to harass our stronger opponent and kill-off a few hated enemies, here and there. If we are caught, we face torture and execution, just as we are likely to torture and execute those, who harass and try to exterminate us.

Warfare of one sort or another, and the killings, torture and executions that go with it, are a significant cause of human deaths, and, it is obvious, that, in all those cases where we deliberately try to make the stresses for our enemies lethal or incompatible with life, death occurs in a highly uncomfortable manner.

During a situation of warfare, most of us feel trapped into a situation over which we have no control, and, if we are drawn into a violent conflict-situation, we have to believe, unquestionably, that we serve the cause of justice, and, that our enemies are evil and dead-wrong. We can only face the possibility of sudden death, severe wounding or maiming, burning, or other horrible ways of dying, if we can sincerely believe, that we are on the side of justice, righteousness and God.

Therefore, we want to believe our leaders, who tell us, incessantly, that we are right, and, we do not want to think too deeply about the causes of this violent conflict; whether or not it is really necessary to try to find a solution to the conflict by killing-off as many members of the opposing side as we can.

If there is another species of life around with the ability to think consciously and observe the actions of this dangerous and completely dominant species of "man", the members must look upon human conflict with a sense of gratitude, because, it is the only mechanism left, whereby the species of mankind is weakened. However, the ever-increasing costliness of human warfare, the grave dangers to environmental conditions and the existence possibilities for other life-forms, should turn the glee over this human tendency to destroy each other, into a deep concern for the future of all the higher life-forms on earth.

If such an intelligent and observant life-form would exist in our environment, I am sure, that this life-form would make a serious attempt to disable the human ability to destroy the environment with the modern techniques of nuclear weapons and industrial pollution. So far as we know, however, no such intelligent life-form is in contact with our planet or observing the human species, and, we are back to the conclusion, that the responsibility for survival, for avoiding a partly accidental and unforeseen catastrophe and a partly deliberately induced series of disastrous events, will remain squarely on the shoulders of our collective insight and will.

Let us return to the topic of concern we have chosen to discuss in this essay. We know, now, that we can die under "natural" circumstances, where we, or the people in our environment, are unable to stop the disintegration of our existence. This may be the result of the fragility of our body at an advanced age, or, it may be the result of a disease process that can not be controled or reversed, but, everyone is making an all-out effort to soften the stress of this process of decay by minimising pain and anxiety.

We may also die as a result of a mishap or accident, where we find ourselves, quite suddenly, in a situation that is incompatible with life. The duration of such a highly stressful situation may be from a fraction of a second, to many days. Or, we may be in a situation of war, where we try to kill our enemy, but find ourselves, fairly suddenly, in a losing situation, because our enemy has been able to score a direct or nearly direct hit upon our body; or, we have been captured by an enemy, who hates and fears us intensely, and then decides to eliminate us permanently as a threat to their security. In the first category, the element of stress is being reduced as skillfully as possible; in the second category, the elements of stress build-up are rapid and inadvertent, while in the third category, the level of fatal stress is induced deliberately

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Chapter 3

Content

How stressful conditions affect our physical and mental functions.
"Elasticity", and the ability to yield.
The concept of an "optimum equilibrium".
Embryological differentiation and growth.
Infancy and childhood.
We are always exposed to some sort of stressful force or influence.
The concept of a "displacement force".
When stress reaches life-threatening proportions.
The psychological aspects of "suffering".
Psychological stress.
The stress resulting from miscalculations and disappointments.
Resisting and yielding to stress.
An avalanche of physiological changes that may become irreversible and a fore-runner of death.
An overall view, that is well within the grasp of inquisitive, non-specialised people.
A huge hennery.
The purpose of keeping the body alive after a majority of the brain-cells have died.
Why "brain-death" takes place after severe head-injuries.
When there is no possibility to regain consciousness.
A vital "missing link" in the coherence of organ-systems.
There are many path-ways leading to death and disintegration.

Let us review, here, briefly, how stress acts upon our physical and mental functions, because we can only grasp, clearly, what is happening during the process of dying, if we have a clear imagery of all the forces and events that are involved. As we have discussed, on many occasions, we can define life as a coherent but flexible organisation of complementary happenings and events, where relationships between the components of the living organisation, as well as between the internal parts of the components themselves, have a certain "elasticity" or capability to yield. There are always forces that act upon the status-quo of these components, and the conditions under which a group of components form together an organisation of life. Living systems are characterised by such an organised state of coherence and inter-dependence, and the conditions that bring the capabilities of such an organised state maximally to the fore, are defined as an "optimum equilibrium".

We know, that, all complex living systems start to grow and enlarge from the moment they have been conceived, because every multi-cellular organism has to start from the stage of a single, fertilised egg-cell. All multi-cellular life-forms unfold a complex pattern of differentiations, which characterises the fully developed, mature organism. After an organism has reached maturity, its rate of growth and physical change slows-down, because it is now maximally engaged in an inter-play with the forces that operate in the environment. During the phases of infancy and childhood, the organism needs a sheltered existence, but, at or near maturity, its task and purpose is to prepare for procreation, and to provide the next generation with a sheltered existence.

Almost never is an organism completely free from challenging stimuli and potentially harmful influences, and, we, as human beings, experience, even, a need to be challenged and stimulated; as long as we can cope easily and confidently with the challenges that are thrown at us. A state of optimum equilibrium means, then, in general terms, a condition of internal and external circumstances, allowing a healthy and vigorous development and functioning of a particular living organism.

If environmental or internal factors are "pushed-away" from such a vaguely conceptualised entity as an "optimum equilibrium", we define the forces that drive an organism away from this point of maximum well-being, or "homeostasis", as "stress". Because of its inherent "elasticity", the organism can partly resist these displacement forces, and, in part, it is able to yield to them. If the displacement is not severe, the new equilibrium does not correspond with the optimum equilibrium for a particular organism, but it is still compatible with a reasonably healthy mode of existence.

However, the displacement of the optimum equilibrium by yielding to adverse factors or force-fields is accompanied by an inherent tendency, and need, to resist such a displacement. Such a resistance is felt as unpleasant and stressful. If the displacement-forces increase in severity, the range of elasticity or adaptability is soon exhausted, and, the level of resistance increases sharply. Therefore, the measure of stress reaches, quickly, life-threatening proportions, if the organism can not get "out of the way", and the organism is, then, "suffering" severely.

Suffering has a specific mental or psychological connotation in addition to the physical stress we experience as pain. Forces that act upon our mental equilibrium, are felt as psychological tensions, doubts, anxiety, confusion or uncertain behavioural responses. Psychological stress may also result from broken promises, unfuflfilled expectations or disappointments. We have, then, made a miscalculation in our expectations about what was going to happen. Miscalculations and disappointments are most acutely felt in the inter-actions with other people, and, it is clear, that such psychological forms of stress are limited to a conscious human being.

However, even, if we are unconscious, our body can still resist severe stresses such as injuries or disease processes, but the body, just like any other living organism, can only tolerate a limited amount of stress. There comes a moment, or a point in the opposing force-fields of stress and resistance, where the resistance breaks-down. The body "gives-way", rather suddenly, but, this giving-way is like a dyke which breaks-down under the constant pressures of a swollen lake or river. There occurs a disastrous flooding, and, similarly, this "giving-way" of the organism's resistance to stress, sets into motion an avalanche of subtle physiological and biological changes, which become quickly irreversible and are the immediate fore-runners of a complete dissolution.

What exactly happens in the way of biochemical, physiological and anatomical changes, depends upon the severity and site of impact of a fatal stressful force. We do not want to retrace, in any detail, what belongs to the wide fields of medicine and pathology, but we can give an overall view, that is well within the grasp of inquisitive, non-specialised people. If we are, e.g., suddenly exposed to massive mechanical injuries, such as a severe car-accident, or being wounded in a military operation, we may have suffered extensive injuries to our extremeties and internal organs, or the head.

The severance of blood vessels and injuries to organs with major blood-vessels running through them, will lead to a severe blood loss; the circulation fails, and, the immediate effects of disruptions of tissues and organ-systems are often aggravated by mechanisms that prevent the exchange of oxygen and cabon-dioxide in the lungs. For example, the entry of air into the lungs may be obstructed, in severe face and head injuries. In short, all the cells of the body are quite suddenly deprived of the oxygen and food-stuffs they need, and, the waste-products of their metabolism are accumulating in the tissues, because it is an essential task of the circulation to remove these waste-products.

Imagine a huge hennery, where thousands of hens are kept in small cages in an effort to have an efficient egg-production. Unless food and water, light and fresh air are continuously supplied and the stale air, as well all the waste-products of the hens are contstantly removed, these hens will not be able to survive in a healthy and productive manner. Many cells such as those of the brain, heart and kidneys, are quickly damaged beyond repair by a "circulatory collapse", and, even, if it is possible, by artificial means, to get some sort of a circulation and oxygenation going again, the body-cells, in particular, the cells of many of the most important organs, such as the brain and the kidneys, may have been damaged beyond repair.

Modern medicine is able to keep bodies alive for a long time, even, if the brain-cells have nearly all died, because the oxygenation and breathing mechanisms can be taken over by a machine, and, even, the kidney functions can be taken-over by a machine that "cleanses or washes" the blood from its harmful and toxic waste-products.

It makes sense, under certain circumstances, to keep a patient alive on a kidney-machine, if the patient has suffered irreversible kidney damage from one cause or another, especially, if the patient still has normal brain and heart functions. Sometimes, it is possible to find a suitable kidney from another person, as a voluntary donation from a close relative, or from an individual who is about to die from other causes, such as a fatal head-injury. This donor-kidney can be implanted in the body and will perform the function of cleansing the blood, provided, it is not "rejected" by the immune mechanisms of the patient who has received such a "foreign organ".

However, it is not sensible to keep a body "alive" by artificial means, if a severe head injury, or other disease process has destroyed the brain beyond the point of recovery. Brain-cells are extremely vulnerable to a lack of oxygen, and, because the brain swells easily and is enclosed in a tight box, the skull, a severe head-injury or impairment of the circulation through the brain, leads, quickly, to a severe swelling of the brain, which then closes-off the capillary circulation through nearly the entire brain.

This is the reason, why a severe injury to the brain progresses, so often, to a complete "brain death", but, if the other organs are healthy, a respirator or breathing machine can keep the other organs alive for quite some time. Together with the artificial administration of food and water, either by a tube into the stomach or an intra-venous route, it is possible to keep such a patient with brain-death "alive" for many days. However, the patient is completely unconscious and has absolutely no possibility of regaining consciousness, because the organ in which the processes of consciousness are housed, does not exist anymore. It is logical, therefore, that the definition of "death" has shifted, at least, under such special circumstances, from the cessation of heart function to a cessation of brain function. The absence of "brain waves", or electrical impulses from the brain is, then, taken as an indication, that the brain-cells have died-off.

However, this condition is quite different from a deeply unconscious patient, who still shows brain-waves on a special test-instrument, the electro-encephalograph. Large areas of the brain are still being supplied with blood, and the loss of consciousness is due to bruising of those areas of the brain that provide a vital link between various parts of the brain. These bruised areas may prevent sensory stimuli from arriving at the proper place within the brain. Here, it is possible, after the bruising and the swelling of the brain settles-down, that a patient will regain consciousness. However, often, severe neurological, mental and personality defects become apparent, if a patient with severe brain damage regains consciousness.

The point we want to emphasise here, is the fact, that, any severe injury or disease process may result in the failure of a vital link in the many organ functions that are working together to maintain bodily integrity, and, if such a vital link can not be restored adequately, all the cells in the body are, ultimately, going to be damaged to the point, that they will die. As we described, the "missing link" may be a significant loss of blood and a disastrous fall in the "blood pressure", leading to the total collapse of the circulation, but, death may also take place as a result of the loss of a far more localised function. Such a localised failure may take longer to produce its widespread destructive effects, such as, e.g., the failure of the liver or the intestines. Then, it may takes weeks or months before the accumulated effects of organ failure become fatal.

For example, the break-down of certain foods, or the "burning" of certain fuels, such as glucose, or sugar, may be impaired, because a certain enzyme is lacking; insulin. Or, the detoxification functions of the liver are failing, leading to fatally high levels of toxic waste-products in the blood, or, there is a rapid accumulation of waste-products in specific tissues or organ-systems, such as the liver or the spleen. In cancers or neoplasms, we see a combination of mechanically disruptive effects, as well as the slow accumulation of metabolic disturbances, as more and more organs are affected and start to fail.

The process of dying is, therefore, difficult to define. If we look at the fact, that we all come into the world with a specific number of days and hours to live, (even, if this specific number is not known to us or anyone else, and is not predetermind, but depends on the circumstances of the moment), we may argue, that we are sliding towards our inevitable death from the moment we were born or conceived.

However, the initial phases of our existence are taken-up by a period of strong growth and differentiation. The period of maturity sees, indeed, an insideous onset of the ageing processes, which lead to a slowly increasing fragility and vulnerability, but, there is no constant deterioration taking place. Yet, from decade to decade, we notice that we have become older, but, during prolonged periods of time, we are healthy, vigorous and active, and we are functioning well within the physical and mental limitations of our existence, and, we often forget, completely, that we are getting older and are getting nearer to the moment of death.

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Chapter 4

Content

Life is slipping by, and we are continuously coming closer to the moment of our death.
A general increase in vulnerability.
We compensate for an increase in fragility by taking better care of ourselves.
A keen perception for the difference between productive excercises and undue stress.
Complexity, and the need for "summarising concepts".
Ageing processes, taking place at a cellular level.
The wear and tear of biochemical reaction-patterns.
Brittleness, and an increased vulnerability to injury.
The ability to think and act prudently is usually preserved in spite of a general trend towards ageing and physical deterioration.
Mental capabilities are not immune from ageing or deterioriation.
A decreasing ability to learn new things.
Wise, indeed, is the individual, who anticipates the reduced ability to tolerate stress at a later age.
When we have become dependent upon the powers and comforts associated with a privileged position in society.
The huge financial obligations we load, so lightly, upon ourselves.
Resignation, depression, and the lowering of resistance.
Death may not be a struggle, but the result of a relaxation.
Suicide; giving-in to the temptation to relax the struggle for existence.
If the stress of living becomes intolerable, it is logical, that the absence of life becomes preferable.
Suicidal tendencies are not always due to the subjective evaluation of unbearable stress; it may be caused by severe distortions in the perception of reality, or, accidentally, by a plea for help that "went wrong".
A deep depression; a feeling of worthlessness.
A quick and painless method to end all confusion.

Life is slipping by, and we are continuously coming closer to the moment of death. Not only are we getting older, but, an accident can always occur, and, sometimes, such an accident is fatal, bringing our life suddenly to an end, regardless of the phase of development we are in. As we are getting older, there is a general increase in vulnerability, as well as a lessened resistance and adaptability to stress. We are getting, literally, "less elastic", and, unless we recognise this, and compensate for it by taking better care of ourselves and avoiding unnecessary stress, we are likely to injure ourselves or increase the risk of serious accidents.

Certainly, there is no need to become overly anxious, because a chronically fearful attitude leads to a state of paralysis, which aggravates our vulnerability. We should simply acknowledge, whenever the time has come, that we can not do the same things we could do before. There is nothing wrong with admitting this fact of life, while trying to preserve our health, elasticity and endurance with patient and regular excercises. However, we have to be careful not to overdo such excercises in a futile attempt to prove to ourselves, or others, that "we can still do it". While a healthy and active life, with a keen awareness of the difference between excercise and undue stress, can slow-down the processes of ageing, we should remind ourselves, that we can not halt them all-together, and, we know, that there are other factors, such as our genetic constitution, which determine the rate of ageing, as well as our susceptibility to a variety of disease processes.

As we age, we are naturally more susceptible to diseases and disorders that take a long time of "silent action", before they manifest themselves. We are thinking, here, about such disease processes as neoplasms or cancers, a variety of arthritic conditions, as well as those diseases affecting the blood-vessels, the heart-muscle or the functions of brain-cells. The processes of ageing and disease are complex and intertwined, as we have mentioned, and, our scientfic imagery about these problems is still evolving. We are learning more and more about the essential biochemical and physiological changes that are taking place as we get older.

Even without considering the processes of ageing and disease, the physiological processes that are taking pace in our body are so complex, and so numerous, that we will always have to revert to "summarising concepts" about these mechanisms in order to grasp and understand them.

If we look at the ageing processes of the single cell, it becomes a little easier to understand what is going-on. Just as industrial production processes are eventually "ageing", because the machinery starts to wear-out, the factory buildings are getting delapidated, (and, perhaps, there have been changes in the demands and requirements for the products that are being manufactured, making them obsolete), so is it reasonable to assume, that the intra-cellular machinery is "wearing" somewhat, because the templates for the production of biochemical compounds, or the "presses" of the cell, so to speak, are relatively vulnerable biochemical compounds themselves. In addition, a cell may accumulate waste-products, because it may not be able to get rid of these waste-products completely. As a result of all these varying processes, the structural and inter-cellular substances of the multi-cellular organism become more brittle, less elastic, and they are more easily injured by displacement forces.

Indeed, one of the characteristic features of ageing is this brittleness and vulnerability to injury. As the elasticity of our body tissues and support structures begins to diminish, we are far more prone to break a bone compared to young people. Our movements are slower, and our coordination starts to deteriorate. Reflexes are not as brisk, and, we do not tolerate extremes of heat and cold as well. We are more easily fatigued, our breathing is shallower, as our lung capacity declines, etc., etc.

The only capability, and, indeed, a very important one, which seems to lag significantly behind this general physical deterioration, is our ability to think and act prudently. Of course, this ability to become more prudent and compensate for the reduced ability to endure physical stress, is a highly significant adaptative mechanism, because, without it, our life-span would be greatly reduced, as older people succumb much easier to a level of stress that is taken in stride by a younger person.

However, our mental capabilities are not immune from ageing and a general trend of deterioration. We become more forgetful, especially of recent events, and, our ability to be flexible in our approach to problems, including the perception of complex realities, declines. We may gain a certain strength of character by a more dogmatic and more clearly articulated opinion, but we also run the risk of becoming "out of touch" with reality. As we get older, it becomes much more difficult to learn a new skill, or a new way of life, and, if we get well into our senior years, our memory starts to suffer markedly, and, we begin to live increasingly in the past.

In a way, the older organisms, be they individual cells or entire multi-cellular communities, are "left behind", as the major tasks of adaptation to change and the challenges of survival are now starting to fall upon the younger generations. Let us concentrate, here, on those aspects of ageing that will be helpful to us, if we want to understand the processes of dying, as well as the state of being deceased.

As long as we are ageing, and, as long as we are able to compensate for the loss of endurance by the ability to live a life-style that is less stressful, we are doing really well. Wise, indeed, is the individual, who anticipates the reduced ability of carrying stress at a later age, and, who is able to make provisions for a reduced work-load, as well as reduced responsibilities and financial obligations. This does not mean, that we may not enjoy a position of power and responsibility well into the advanced stages of our life-cycle, but, we must be able to genuinely enjoy such a position, and, preferably, we should have the means to abdicate, gracefully, our position, whenever we feel tired, or, as soon as we come to the conclusion, that we have outlived our usefulness in a particular function.

Frequently, we have to cling to our job, our position of power and privilege which we have built-up over the years, because we are afraid to let-go. We are unable to find an acceptable level of security outside this social position. We have become dependent upon the power and privilege that goes with a particular status in society, and, we do not have the courage, the insight, or the financial means, to do something else, whenever we feel, and know, that we are in danger of stagnating.

In affluent societies, the problem is aggravated by the huge financial obligations we load upon ourselves, and, which rob us from the freedom to choose a simpler, more self-sufficient life-style as we grow older, and, perhaps, somewhat weary of the social environment we have to deal with. As we have outlined on a number of occasions, I believe, that future societies will channel the flow of peoples through the many official positions and functions of their societies with a much greater efficiency and insight into the normal phases of human existence. It will, then, be natural for people to retire gracefully to a simpler life-style of near self-sufficiency, especially, if younger and more vigorous people are "waiting in the wings" for a chance to shoulder responsibilities and make their mark in society.

As we mentioned, our resilience or elasticity declines gradually with advancing age, but, this inevitable process is compensated, to a remarkable extent, by the ability to display a more prudent attitude, as well as a greater skill of fore-sight and anticipation, which let us maintain, in general, our social positions, even, if the social environment is strongly competitive. While our resilience declines, our experience base and shrewdness may still be climbing, and, what we lack in the field of elasticity or short-term endurance, we may compensate for by a greater coherence of planning, as well as a more effective, long-term tenacity.

However, even, the most fortunate and healthy individuals will, eventually, become so frail, that the daily chores of looking after themselves, including the place they live in, become a severe burden. If we become crippled by an "old-age ailment" (which is always some form of a disease), we may become dependent upon other people, and, this decline of our independence may be a severe blow to our will to live. Often, we decide, instinctively or consciously, that this way of life is not worth anymore the struggle it takes, and, a mere resignation to the fact, that we have lived our life, is often sufficient to lower our resistance to the point, that a mild intervening infection pushes us over the brink and into this avalanche of precipitous changes marking the actual process of dying.

In such a case, death is not a struggle, and the onset of the sequence of irreversible changes, leading to a state of dissolution, does not evoke a painful, last, desperate struggle to cling to life, but, it is the result of a relaxation; a cessation of the continuous struggle to stay alive, which is often associated with life at an advanced age. The idea, that death may come-about as a final, partly conscious, and, partly intuitive decision to relax the fight against the forces that infringe upon us from all sides, trying to bring-about an entropic dissolution of our existence, is an important concept in understanding the motivations behind this deliberate act to end life; suicide.

If we think about it, carefully, it seems such a strange act to take one's life. The instinct for self-preservation is, apparently, so strong, and, we are all aware, how powerful our egocentric drives are. It seems so unlikely, that these drives can be overcome, even, if only temporarily, by an even stronger drive to commit suicide. Once this act has been set into motion, the victory over the drive to live is permanent, of course, because, once the flame of life has been extinguished, it is irrevocably gone for this particular organism.

If a genuine suicide attempt fails, we see a great likelyhood, that the suicidal individual will try again, and, this points to the fact, that it is not rare, or a momentary aberration of our instinctive behaviour, which lets us seek a solution of our problems in a suicide. It points to the fact, that the circumstances of life have become, at least, in the interpretation of a suicidal individual, an unbearable stress. If, indeed, for one reason or another, life becomes intolerable, then, the imagery of the absence of life with its chronic stress and outlook of utter hopelessness and despair, is preferable than life itself.

However, to most of us, the living conditions of the victims of suicide are not that hopeless, and, we see, here, the powerful role played by the evaluation and judgement functions of our reality perceptions. If we are dealing with a diseased and chaotic mind, which is chronically wracked by unreasonable but irresistible fears, delusions, hallucinations or other forms of abnormal reality interpretations, we may see a strong drive towards suicide. This may be incomprehensible to us, unless we try to imagine, in detail, the reality perceptions and evaluations of such a diseased mind.

There are many different reasons, why an individual may suffer such a total collapse of mental functions. There are a variety of inborn or acquired disorders in the perception of reality, which may lead to suicidal tendencies, especially, if there is a large element of chronic fear or stress, but we should not forget, that an attempted suicide, or, an act of "pseudo-suicide", which may happen to succeed, by accident, is, often, an attempt to get attention. It is a muted plea for help.

True suicidal tendencies and attempts are by no means rare, however, and, often, the suicide occurs suddenly, in an apparently normally functioning individual. Certainly, a careful scrutiny of the utterings and life-style of such an unexpected victim of suicide will always show a variety of prodromal symptoms, which become more meaningful and noticeable in retrospect. At the time leading-up to the suicide, these prodromal symptons were usually ignored, as we live, frequently, in a rather unconcerned manner besides each other.

The reasons, why apparently normally behaving individuals may commit suicide, are varied and complex, but the immediate cause is a fairly sudden and deep "depression", where we feel, that life has no value; that we are a total failure; that our environment would be better of, or, even, quite happy, if we disappeared from the scene. In particular, if we are going through a period of "silent crisis", where our goals seem to evaporate or become meaningless; where we are caught-up in a shallow, hum-drum existence, which may appear to be a comfortable routine to others, but, which strikes us as utterly meaningless, then, we may be tempted to doubt that life has any meaning or value.

We may have lost our convictions and commitments. We do not believe, anymore, in the religious imagery and guidelines of our culture and up-bringing, and yet, we do not know, what to believe in stead. Frequently, such a depression is aggravated by an acute sense of having done something wrong or shameful. We feel, that we have to hide from other people, and, the combination of a meaningless existence, together with a series of failures, escapades or shameful acts, may be sufficient to drive a sensitive and intelligent individual to an act of suicide, in particular, if a quick and painless method is easily available.

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Chapter 5

Content

Suicide is a drastic but effective means to escape from external stress.
The strange and ruthless world of espionnage.
We all experience, trom time to time, an agonising feeling of doubt and despair.
We learn to regain, quickly, a more balanced view.
Learning to take a "detached view" of ourselves.
Transient suicidal feelings are not uncommon.
The awareness of death makes us search for a durable meaning of our existence.
Learning to see our own existence as "not all that important".
The awareness of death is a logical corollary of the vast time-span of our reality experiences.
No other species can visualise, so clearly, the inevitability of its own death.
The logic of the questions we can ask ourselves.
Can animals be suicidal?
Sensing the end, and wanting to make it come as quickly as possible.
Dying in privacy.
The grim reality, that a dying animal is shunned or actively driven-off.
An instinctive aversion for sickness and death.
The "mass-suicide" of certain animals is, probably, due to a generalised break-down in socially integrated behaviour-patterns, with a blind stampede that is fatal for a large majority.
An anthropomorphic interpretation of "deliberate self-destruction". The concept of a "mood"; an experience that is uniquely human in its verbalised form.
A strong, instinctive behavioural bias is possible in nearly all animal organisms.
All highly developed, flexible animals possess complex behaviour-patterns, and equally complex judgement functions.
When there is a bias towards the positive or the negative side of our judgement functions.

Sometimes, a suicide is not the result of a severe depression or a confused, chaotic mind, but a rather normal reaction to avoid extreme stress, such as is the case, when a terrorist has been captured by his equally ruthless enemies and is sure to lose his life anyway, after he has been mercilessly tortured. Or, in the pernicious world of espionage and counter-espionage, the cynical game of spying and leaking information may lead to capture, and, then, suicide may well be preferable to an extensive period of torture, which is, primarily, designed to get as much information as possible from the victim, before he or she is put to death. True, such extreme behaviour in the war of espionage is unlikely, unless the parties are actively at war with each other, but, in the lawless world of the struggle for power between warring civil factions in fragmented and polarised societies, there is always a place for the homicide and the suicide.

Fortunately, this is an utterly strange and unknown world for most of us, and, it interests us, only, as a fascinating and exciting story of entertainment. Rarely give we any thought to the deeper moral and ethical questions that are involved in the wars of intelligence and counter-intelligence. Most of us are quite familiar with a feeling of depression, however, and, we would not be human, or, at least, we have not grown-up, and, we have not become a fully mature individual, if we have not experienced, from time to time, an agonising sensation of doubt and despair, when we were utterly discouraged; when it seemed futile to live any longer, or try again.

Most of us get over such a feeling rather quickly, because it does not take us long to see the events in a broader perspective. We learn from our failures. We see, that not all is lost, and, we learn to see the value of our goals in a more relativistic light. An occasional mood of depression is a good spur to make us realise the value, and the beauty, of being alive, after we have gotten over our disappointments and set-backs. Then, we begin to appreciate the sensation of being alive, even, if we have not been able to accomplish all our ambitions and goals.

However, if we fail to develop such mental safety mechanisms, which let us have a more detached look at ourselves and let us see, that, we, or our goals, are not as important as we thought, then, it becomes more difficult to get ourselves over the hurdle of a severe depression. Those, who are less likely to get over such a feeling of depression by themselves, may be helped by concerned friends and relatives, who will make a serious and sustained effort to show, that such depressive thoughts and evaluations are incorrect and unjustified.

We want to emphasise, here, that, nearly every honest and perceptive human being should be able to acknowledge, that he or she has, on occasion, suffered from such depressive feelings and thoughts, and, it should be possible to recognise, that such feelings may lead to a suicide attempt, if these feelings are persistent or recurrent, or, if the reality perception and the circumstances of existence are, indeed, deteriorating rapidly and are placing a severe burden on the ability to sustain life.

For example, if an individual knows, that he or she suffers from a fatal illness, the thought of making the end come quicker than is strictly necessary from a physiological or medical point of view, is quite natural and normal, but, to our surprise, we see, that, most people in such a condition do find some sort of meaning in the short period of time that is left to them, and, during such a brief, highly motivated but essentially tragic period of existence, they may become a powerful example or beacon for the behaviour, goal-patterns and ambitions of other people, especially, young people.

Here, we touch upon an aspect, which is, perhaps, the most important reason of all to concern ourselves, intimately and intensely, with the problem of death. The knowledge of the fact, that we are going to die, in particular, if this awareness is sharpened by the knowledge that we are suffering from an incurable disease, will make us search for an attitude and perception of reality, which emphasises a quality of meaning in our existence; a meaning, that transcends an obsession with existential requirements.

We will later return to the theme of "meaning", and, we will explore the value, as well as the motivations for thinking about life and death. Let us come back, here, to the observation, that we all experience episodes of depression, even, if many of us "suppress" such feelings as being totally useless and unbecoming. Or, perhaps, we suppress such thoughts out of fear that they may bring-on a mental illness, if we "give in", or acknowledge, that we are prone to experience such feelings. The fact is, that we are all susceptible to depressive thoughts and attitudes, from time to time, and, we can accept it as a normal fact of life.

You may want to know, whether or not the experience of depressive moods and thoughts is limited to the human being. Certainly, we do not see a clear-cut case of a deliberate suicide in nature, even, if the behaviour of some animals, under certain circumstances, seem to come close to a "deliberate act" of taking their own life. First of all, let us remind ourselves, that, so far as we know, no other living species on earth, has developed the ability of conscious, verbalisable thought with the help of symbolic representations. At least, no animal species seems to use this capability so spontaneously and so continuously as the human species, and, certainly, no other spcies has become so dependent upon this capability for its survival.

Our closest evolutionary relatives may have a rudimentary ability to form concepts and use symbolic representations in some sort of a "language", but the anthropoid species', such as the chimpanzees, seem to develop this ability only, when stimulated by man in an artificial, laboratory environment. It seems quite reasonable to state, therefore, that no other animal is as conscious of death as the human being. At least, no other species can visualise, so clearly, the inevitability of its own death as man. True, the flexible animals can also anticipate, to some exent, what is happening, and, it seems logical that these animals "recognise" the fact, that a profound and, perhaps, irreversible change is taking place in their organism, whenever the processes of death and decay have begun their inexorable course.

The human being knows, from an early age, as soon as he or she can say "I", and, as soon as he or she is aware of the essential transitoriness of all living existence, that, sooner or later, death will come. We anticipate the possibility of death throughout our lives, and, we take frequently specific measures to avoid or minimise the risk of death and injuries. We also know, with an absolute certainty, that, at some time in that future, death is going to come to us and take us away, and, it does not seem to be extravagantly curious to ask ourselves, what it will be like to be dead.

What will we be thinking and experiencing, when these final moments have come? Will we regret that life is coming to an end? Will we have the nagging feeling, that our life has been a waste? Has our life been utterly useless to ourselves and others? Perhaps, we may, even, have been profoundly harmful to other people or the environment. Or, is it irrealistic to expect, that we will be able to think so clearly and succinctly, whenever this final moment has come? A moment we know so little about, because there are, by definition, no "recounts" of people, who have truly experienced the final moments before going into a state of death.

These are interesting questions, which we will explore more in detail, but let us, here, first, answer the questions we have raised about an animal's ability to sense and anticipate death. Let us, once more, look at the question, whether or not an animal does seek to end its life deliberately. We seem to see instances, where an animal, especially, a socially oriented, large mammal, living in a herd or a group, senses its impending death, and, we see, that such an animal, if it is not killed by predators on the fringes of the herd, may wander-off as a solitary individual, almost deliberately seeking death as quickly as possible.

We probably have to postulate, here, a strong instinctive behaviour-pattern, because the animal, obviously, does not think in conceptual terms, but, it may well sense, quite accurately, that its resistance to stress is fading quickly. It may sense, that it can not keep-up with the others, or, that it can not cope with the challenges and hardships of day to day existence, any longer. Why would it wander-off discreetly? Is this evidence for the experience of a sense of "privacy", where it wants to undergo this final act of the dissolution of its existence in solitude? Hardly, because seeking such solitude, away from the herd, would not be a natural way to seek comfort, and, it probably reflects the far more grim reality, that a dying and sick animal is shunned, or actively driven-off, if it does not disappear, quickly, on its own accord.

Normal, healthy organisms instinctively shy-away from diseased or abnormal life-forms, and the transition of a weakened individual into a state of death, is repulsive to animals, as well as human beings, especially, if it happens to a member of their own immediate, social environment. Of course, if such is the case in a member of its prey, the death of an animal may only whet the appetite of a predator, as it impatiently awaits the final death-throws of the wounded prey, ready to tear the flesh from its carcass in an instinctive sense of victory and fulfilment, but, we see, here, too, that a severely diseased animal that is dying, e.g. of an overwhelming infection, is shunned, even, by its predators, as the animal senses, instinctively, that eating such an infected prey may be hazardous.

Very likely, therefore, a sick and dying animal wanders away from the herd, because its instinctive behaviour-patterns have been sharpened by the awareness that death is repulsive to the survivors, and, it does not want to suffer the additional insult of being driven-off. We can not really say, that the animal is deliberately seeking an early end to its life, such as is the case in a human suicide, because such a search for death does not take place, untill the processes of decay have started, or, are about to begin. Let us not forget, that a human being who commits suicide, often dies many years before he or she would have died from natural causes. Such is not the case in the animal world, and, the only exception seems to be the mass suicide which may occur in certain species', if they are suffering from severe over-crowding, or, perhaps, a communal disease.

Again, to call this a "mass suicide" may be too anthropomorphic an interpretation of their bhaviour, because it is much more likely, that massive over-crowding causes a break-down in the normal, socially organised behaviour-patterns of such animals. In the confused and chaotic conditions of a break-down in social behaviour, large groups may brake into a stampede that is, essentially, a blind rush away from the existing conditions of disease or social abnormality. Such a blind rush is nearly always fatal, and, we interpret such a senseless stampede as a mass suicide, but, it is very likely that the animals are not seeking their death, and do not die, until they get into trouble on a massive scale, and, because of the utter helplessness of such a large crowd of animals in perilous conditions, it looks to us, as if they deliberately choose to destroy themselves.

We seem to come to the conclusion, then, that animals do not seek a deliberate end to their lives, prior to the time that the conditions of internal and external stress are starting to threaten their ability to survive. When an animal feels such stresses, its behaviour may change profoundly. An animal that feels death coming, may wander-off from its natural habitat and social grouping, probably, in anticipation of the response of fear and aversion which this process of dying evokes in the other members of the group, and, if the living conditions for a group of social animals deteriorates to the point of utter confusion and chaos, a wild, blind stampede may occur in an instinctive effort to get-away from it all, while the resulting massive deaths may be interpreted as a mass suicide.

Yet, we should remind ourselves, that we have no clear-cut evidence to believe, that animals are seeking death for "psychological" reasons, and, if we emphasise in the concept of suicide the deliberate act of ending one's life, we see, that suicide can, really, only be committed by the thinking and manipulative human animal.

Does this mean, then, that the experience of a mood of depression, or its opposite, a mood of elation, can only be experienced by the conscious mind of a human being? Indeed, if we define the concept of a "mood" as the conscious awareness and verbalisability of a particular "bias" in our reality perceptions, then, the experience of a mood becomes a typically human experience, because we have no evidence, that other life-forms, even, our closest evolutionary relatives, the anthropoids, have the ability to express, consciously and verbally, the awareness of a state of psychological bias.

However, we also know, that such a state of bias is an organic phenomenon that developed long before we, human beings, developed the ability to form abstract and communicable concepts about it. We know, also, that the behaviourally flexible animals have a complex mechanism of judgement, where the significance of incoming sense impressions is evaluated continuously. An animal can, therefore, not verbalise a mood, but, there is good evidence to believe, that it can experience or undergo the same bias we interpret as a variety of moods.

We know, that these evaluations may emphasise the positive or beneficial aspects, if the animal is in a state of confidence, and, we know that the negative or threatening aspects play a dominant role in its evaluations and behaviour-patterns, if the bias of anxiety and defensiveness has been stimulated. We have discussed these mechanisms extensively before, and, we only recall their existence, because they provide the basis of our own "moods", together with their fluctuations, or "swings", as we go through life and are exposed to a large variety of experiences.

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Chapter 6

Content

The influence of a psychological bias on the experience of pain.
How animals experience pain.
Animals will fluctuate between a "mood" of confidence and anxiety, just like human beings, even, without the ability to be consciously aware of what is happening to them.
Psychological-neurological equivalents.
A review of the various behavioural axes of the human being.
The sliding scale between egocentric attitudes and a concern for other people.
How the sphere of conscious and verbalisable awarenesses influences our behaviour-patterns.
Structures of beliefs.
Why animals vary less in the perception of their realities
Some variability results from having been exposed to different experiences.
An animal does not have a structure of beliefs.
Sharpening a memory-trace collectively, by "talking things over", or individually, by reflecting upon an experience.
An enlarged time-span for anticipatory expectations.
The awareness of a "sweep of time" that extends well beyond our own existence.
The moods of hope and fear.
The physiological reaction of "fear" is a short-term experience in most animals because of their limited anticipatory faculties.
Is a chronic, obsessive compulsion to hold-on to an anticipation of stress and fear a typically human form of behaviour?
The consequences of chronic stress.
The art of a balanced approach to our expectations.
How we can avoid wide mood-swings.
When we are in the grip of depression and fear.
Thoughts and sensations that are likely to be present immediately preceding our death.
The problem of getting accurate information about this final phase of existence.
Sliding gently away from a sphere of conscious contact with the environment.
Entering a sphere of experiences that is uniquely our own.
Comparisons with reversible episodes, where our reality experiences "break-down".
Similarities and differences between death and falling-asleep.
Loss of consciousness, due to drugs or hypo-thermia.
Generalised hypo-thermia; a relatively painless death, compared to the severe pains of localised frost-bite.

To some extent, we can compare the mechanisms of a psychological bias, or mood, with the sensation of pain. We know very well, that animals can feel pain, and, we see the higher mammals react to pain in a way that is so reminiscent of our own experience of pain and our reactions to it, that we recognise, instantly and instinctively, that the animal is suffering from pain. In addition, we are touched, and we feel a sense of compassion, because we experience a surge of emotional synchrony, or identification, when we see an animal or human being suffer from pain. Yet, only we, humans, can put a verbal label on these sensations and awarenesses, while the animal only reacts in a physiological manner to the pain it experiences. However, we should remind ourselves that our primary reaction to pain is also a physiological response.

The higher, behaviourally flexible animals synthesise, just like we do, the most appropriate response of the moment by an extensive evaluation of the incoming sense impressions, as well as a careful classification of these data by checking and comparing them with the information contained in their memory-banks. These animals will fluctuate between modes of behaviour that range from aggressive confidence to anxious defensiveness. Animals can feel these changes taking place in the outlook or orientation of their behaviour, and, we can "see", consciously, these mechanisms and changes taking place, as we look at their behaviour, but, only we, human beings, can label and abstract these changes and conceptualise them into a communicable awareness or concept.

However, you may ask, whether or not it is sufficient to define a mood simply as the psychological equivalent of the same mechanisms that all the higher animals experience, as they are under the influence of one of their existential poles. Can we say, then, that our own feelings of aggression, exuberance, confidence and euphoria are simply the psychological equivalents of the positive or aggressive poles of our behaviour? And, are our feelings of anxiety, defensiveness, fear and depression merely a manifestation of the negative or defensive side of our behaviour? Yes, I believe, that it is, indeed, correct to see it this way, and, we have elaborated, before, how the aggressive and defensive axes of behaviour play a crucial role in unraveling the many complexities and contradictions of our behaviour-patterns.

However, the very fact, that there is such a large number of different words and concepts in use for the description of our moods, feelings and sensations, points to the fact, that we can not simply equate all the psychological awarenesses of changing moods and emotions, with fluctuations of the aggressive and defensive axes. First of all, we remind ourselves, that there is a third, extremely important axis, or pole, which influences our behaviour; nl. the pole, or mode, of sexually oriented behaviour. With the three poles of aggression, defensiveness and sexuality, we come a long way towards unraveling this web of psychological tensions and goal-patterns, in particular, if we translate the aggressive and defensive poles in terms of our existential needs; the need to seek and obtain food, to find shelter and security, to rest and recover, to mate and bring-up our off-spring in a shelter of relative security, within the natural, small-scale social grouping. This last factor points to a "fourth" pole or axis of behaviour; nl., the sliding scale between egocentricity and concern for others.

However, in order to understand, fully, the many subtle variations in feelings, which we associate with the many symbols of our psychological awarenesses, we have to keep in mind, that the development of a sphere of conscious and verbalisable awarenesses has an enormous influence on the variety and complexity of feelings, moods and emotions, etc.

Let us not forget, that the evolution of symbolic representations for our memory-traces, leads, quickly, to the development of a mental structure for the classifcation of this abundance of symbolic representations. We, as human beings, always grow-up in small communities or social groupings, and we develop a "structure of beliefs", which is shared more or less the same way by the members of the small community we belong to. However, as we know from the immense variety of primitive beliefs, as well as contemporary divergencies in belief structures between different groups, or individuals from different social groupings, there is an irrepressible trend to diverge in the way reality is being perceived. These varying belief structures pave the way for varying interpretations of a particular reality experience, and, therefore, we come to the conclusion, that one particular reason for the confusion and complexity of human psychological life, is the endless variety of beliefs and reality interpretations.

As we discussed before, animals vary much less in the perception of their realities. At least, members of the same species tend to behave in a way that is "standard", or characteristic, for their species, in spite of the fact, that some variability can be seen, whenever members of the same species have undergone widely different experiences in the past. However, these divergences do not lead to any sort of belief-structure with its continuous influence upon behaviour, as we see in the human spcies. These variations in behaviour are merely due to the fact, that the memory-content has become somewhat different, as the members of the same species have gone through different experiences. However, there is no "structure of beliefs", categorising, continuously, a stream of sense impressions in a way that is remarkably different from one group of individuals to the next.

The development of conscious awareness also led to a very marked increase in the time-span represented by the many memories and experiences we are capable of. Memories become much sharper as a result of continuous recall with the help of representative symbols, and, these memory-traces are retained for a much longer period of time, if they can be constantly evoked, or recalled, into a focus of conscious awareness by the mechanisms of symbolic representation. In other words, the human being can "talk things over", and, in doing so, he will sharpen and refine a memory-trace, or, a structure of knowledge and awareness, to an extent that is totally out of reach for non-verbalising animals. It is not surprising, therefore, that this vastly enlarged sphere of memories and experiences influences our behaviour to an extent that is unparalleled in nature, so far as we know.

As we have discussed, the ability to evoke memory-traces into a focus of attention with the help of a "symbolic trigger", outside the "normal" physiological and analogous circumstances or conditions, provided an opportunity to sharpen our past memories and awarenesses far beyond the level of awareness possible for a non-verbalising animal, because, a non-verbalising animal has to rely upon the stimulation of an appropriate memory-trace by experiencing an analogous or similar situation. The time-span of the anticipation of events was, therefore, greatly extended for the human species, because it developed the technique of symbolic representation and a voluntary recall of mental images.

As we have seen, even, the non-verbalising but behaviourally flexible animals learn to anticipate, to some extent, the outome of a familiar and recognised event, as we see in a successful hunt, a leap over an obstacle, as well as other forms of behaviour that include an element of anticipation and expectation. However, only the human being works constantly with a sphere of awareness, including a number of expectations and anticipations about future events, which spans many years, and, often, well beyond the life-expectancy of its own existence. This is the reason, why the phenomenon of our death is such a certainty for us, in particular, if we are used to think about happenings and events in a broad sweep of time. This "sweep of time" includes historical times, well before our own existence came into being, and, it also includes a period of time that extends far beyond our own life expectancy.

Since an animal does not have such a long and complex series of expectations or anticipations, it is also much less subjected to the sensations of long-term hope and chronic fear. Hope is such a typically human adaptation to chronic, long-term fears and negative expectations, that we are probably justified in saying, that an animal does not know hope the way we do. On the other hand, fear is a more primitive and basic physiological reaction to impending danger, and, we share with the higher animals a well-developed behaviour of fear, that is characterised by a pattern of profound physical and physiological changes in our body, preparing us for the anticipated severe rise in the level of stress. However, this physiological reaction of fear is a short-term expectation, and it is, therefore, shared by the animals.

Only humans are plagued by a long-term, chronic, sometimes nearly continuous level of fear or apprehension, if we are seeing the possibility of troubles for years to come. This chronic stress of fear for a long-term deterioration in our living conditions may lead to a somewhat obsessive concern with our safety, and, we lose, then, the ability to enjoy a moment of relaxation, or a moment of freedom from stress, because we fear, often, with some justification, that this moment is short-lived and will soon be replaced by a recurrence of stressful circumstances. This chronic, obsessive compulsion to hold-on to an anticipation of stress and fear, seems to be a typically human behaviour-pattern, and, it is, of course, the price we pay for our ability to anticipate and manipulate events on a very large time-scale.

This chronic stress is tiring, but, it also sharpens the ability to make use of long-term possibilities and opportunities, which are not available to those, who just live from day to day. This ability to live and look far into the future, and bear a stress of chronic anxieties, is often called a sign of intelligence, and, indeed, if we manage the stress of chronic uncertainty and negative expectations rather well, we may, indeed, chart a course through life that is prudent and viable. However, if we grow tired and weary of this chronic stress, aggravated, perhaps, with the stress of current circumstances and conditions, we may be overwhelmed by a feeling of hopelessness and despair, and, we may suddenly lose all desire to continue, what seems such a fruitless and unending struggle. Fortunately, most of us realise, that such a mood of depression is, not only, temporary, but serves as a precaution against complacency.

A mood of chronic caution is, in essence, a precautionary interpretation of our expectations. Even, if we can not see the "bright spots" clearly in this uncertain future, because we just can not see details that clearly far ahead, (and uncertainty is usually interpreted in a cautious and slightly apprehensive manner), we should know, from a careful analysis of the periods of time we have already passed, that there are always brighter spots, and, that our worst fears were often not justified.

A balanced approach with a rational analysis of our conditions lets us control such unwarranted moods of depression, but, if we do not have the ability to analyse rationally, or, if our moods are strongly influenced by the positive and negative stimuli that come to us from contemporary conditions or circumstances, we may swing widely between the confidently aggressive and anxiously defensive modes of behaviour. Such wide swings in mood are quite common, and, they are well recognised as a mental disease or abnormality, especially, if these swings reach crippling proportions.

Indeed, the mood of depression is not the same as a mood of fear and anxiety, but, these moods are closely related. Chronic fear and anxiety may lead to exhaustion, as well as a paralysis of the expectation that the conditions, giving rise to fear and anxiety, are going to improve. Chronic fear and anxiety indicate, that we are still fighting the impending sense of hopelessness and disaster, but, if we give-up the fight for a better future, or, if we relax the resistance to an impending disaster, be it real or largely imaginary, then, we slide into an attitude of despair and hopelessness. This, we conceptualise and verbalise as "a depression".

Let us move away, now, from these psychodynamic mechanisms, because we have discussed many of these aspects before, and, we will summarise them, again, in a later essay. Let us, here, come back to a survey of the awarenesses, thoughts and sensations, which are likely to be with us at the moment immediately preceding our death; a moment that is so mysterious to us, because, we, living members of society, have not, as yet, gone through this momentous change.

The moment is so mysterious, because we know so little about it, and, we have been getting so many contradictory statements and testimonies of those, who were able to communicate, at least, something of their sensations and experiences, as they were about to die. This has led to the logical conclusion, that our final moments are lived in a reality sphere, reflecting the experiences and beliefs of our particular personality. However, we have also discussed the fact, that our sense of reality is frequently distorted by the extreme stress that is present at the time of death. This leads to a severe weakening of our powers of concentration and observation. We seem to slide, gently, out of a sphere of conscious contact with a reality that is shared by the people around us, and, we enter a sphere of experiences that is uniquely our own, because it is dominated by evoked memories and the chance-stimuli of the moment.

Our powers of observation and logical tinking may also be influenced in the terminal stages of our existence, by large doses of pain-killing or tranquilising medication. There are many reasons, therefore, to believe, that our final reality perceptions are going to be distorted, and, it is likely, that we will be unable to distinguish in these final moments between the reality we are experiencing, and, the hopeful or fearful imagery that is welling-up from our memory-banks, including the deeper layers of our subconsciousness.

Perhaps, we can gain some useful insight into these mechanisms, if we compare the "break-down" of our reality perceptions at the moment of death, with those instances, where we lose contact with our reality in a situation that is reversible. The most physiological and common instance where we lose contact with reality, is the moment we fall-asleep, but, the process of falling-asleep is, in essence a "voluntary" event, in the sense, that we are "pulled-back" from the brink of falling-asleep, if we suddenly realise, that we are on the verge of falling-asleep; or, if we try to observe, consciously, what is happening to us in this fascinating moment of losing contact with reality. The fact, that we wake-up and destroy the process of falling-asleep, when making a furtive attempt to get a look at this process, is the main reason, why we have such an astonishing lack of observations about an event that happens, at least, once a day to us all.

We see, here, a remarkable difference with the process of dying, because most of us would certainly like to have the ability to pull ourselves away from the brink of death by a voluntary effort to observe what is happening. Yet, even so, we see a link, because, so far as we know, the death from exposure to cold, or hypo-thermia, is very much like a "falling-asleep". Certainly, in the initial stages, our body puts-up a severe fight against the strong stress of cooling-off. This is done by "shivering", as well as other measures to keep ourselves warm, but, if we have the misfortune to fall overboard, or to abandon ship in the icy cold waters of an ocean in wintery conditions, we will be quickly overcome by the cold, or, rather, the precipitous loss of heat. After the initial shock, it seems, that, quickly, an irresistible urge arises to "fall-asleep", and, we assume, that this is a dreamless sleep, since within minutes, or, at the most a few hours of bobbing, unconsciously, in a soaked life-jacket, the body cools-off to the point, that the heart beat becomes irregular and the circulation becomes erratic and stops all-together, following a complete cessation of heart function.

Of the many ways we can meet our death accidentally, this is probably one of the least painful, because the numbing effect of an immersion in ice-cold sea-water is not associated with severe pain, nor is it associated with the choking sensation that occurs when death is due to drowning or asphyxiation. Apart from deaths, where a loss of consciousness occurs instantaneously, death from generalised hypo-thermia and cardiac arrest seems to be a rather painless death.

This is, of course, totally different from the painful suffering of a localised frost-bite, which leads to severe injuries of the extremities or exposed parts of the face, followed by a severe infection or inflammation of the affected tissues, and, sometimes, death due to the complications arising from extensive frost-bite injuries.

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Chapter 7

Content

When we are brought under a general anaesthetic.
Why the experiences that occur just prior to the loss of consciousness are "wiped-out", and are lost for a later recollection.
My own experiences with a general anaesthetic.
The "twilight zone" between sleep and wakefulness.
The perception of the flow of time is severely altered.
In a dream, we experience a stream of images and sensations, which seems, in retrospect, to have been strangely out of control, haphazard and illogical.
Fragile reality experiences, that can easily be altered by different "filters" or moods.
It is likely, that natural psychological mechanisms will help us choose the most appropriate response at the time of our death.
Perhaps, as human beings, we too, undergo death without really knowing what is happening.
The final feeling may well be one of relaxation and a vague sense of bliss, as we realise, to some extent, that it is "all over".
The dissolution of the body is accompanied by a simultaneous and irreversible dissolution of our mental faculties.
A comfortable, "natural-medical" way to die.
It is fortunate, when we have become prepared for death.
Painful episodes of resistance and rebellion.
Most people are able to face death consciously.
The vision of an everlasting bliss in Heaven is bought at the price of having to fear condemnation to an everlasting existence in Hell.

Perhaps, then, we see a more comparable situation to the process of dying, if the faculty of consciousness is deliberately, but reversibly abolished; against our will, but not against our consent. This happens, when someone is brought under the influence of a general aneasthetic drug in preparation for surgery. Because of a chronic anxiety about the operation, and, to a lesser extent, about the aneasthetic procedure itself, the patient is re-assured by the attending medical personnel, that "everything will be fine". Therefore, little attention is paid to the subjective experiences of patients who are brought under a general aneasthesia. All worries and questions are considered to be "natural anxieties", and, they are alleviated, to a large extent, by potent sedatives, which are administered prior to the aneasthetic. This has the additional advantage that less general aneasthetic medication is required to "put the patient to sleep".

Few people will remember details about the final moments, before they "went under", and, people tend to dismiss any particular sensation as insignificant, or, as a result of anxieties and fears they are afterwards somewhat ashamed of. Besides, there is the problem of "retrograde amnesia", which means, that the final moments, just before a patient is brought under a general aneasthetic, are "wiped-out" from memory, or, perhaps, they have never been recorded properly, and, they are, therefore, not available for analysis or reminiscence, afterwards. Yet, if a perceptive and non-sedated individual would be brought under aneasthesia, somewhat slowly, so that he or she has a chance to observe and communicate what is happening when consciousness is being lost, we could get a better insight into the processes of losing contact with the world of reality.

I have undergone a general aneasthetic for a tonsillectomy, a long time ago, when I was a teen-ager, and, the technique of aneasthesia consisted, then, of an "ether mask". This was a mask that had been saturated with ether in order to allow the inhalation of an ether vapour. I remember, vividly, a strong anxiety, before the aneasthetic was to take place. I was a tense and highly sensitive individual, but, in addition, the art of pre-operative sedation and relaxation had not been perfected to the point it is today. I remember, that I had the feeling of a severe pressure on my ears.

A severe contraction took place of my sphere of reality and the feeling of identity became a "point source" of existence. This was probably an indication of the fact, that all my sense-impressions were blocked-out, but, because of the, subjectively, short duration of this period of unconsciousness, I had the impression that I never lost consciousness completely. The sense of contraction only lasted momentarily, probably, because the peception of time disappears under a general aneasthetic, and, I experienced, therefore, the beginning and the end of the period of aneasthesia, back to back.

In the case of a tonsillectomy, there may, indeed, be only a few minutes between the beginning and the end of an aneasthetic, but all patients, who underwent a prolonged period of aneasthesia, will tell you, that it seemed to them, as if they were only "under" for a few moments. If the recovery from the aneasthetic is slow, and, if the patient exists in a "twilight zone" between wakefulness and sleep, he or she may have vivid dreams and hallucinations, which are then projected into the period of "being asleep". As we have discussed before, the projection of a vivid dream may give us the feeling of having dreamt for hours, while, in reality, the period of dreaming may only take place for a few moments.

We see, therefore, that the perception of the flow of time is severely altered during reduced levels of conscious awareness. Dreamless periods of sleep, or a deep aneasthesia, will take place without any perception at all, and, we then lose all awareness of time. This means, that we may have lost hours, or, even, days from our conscious awareness, in particular, if we have been unconscious for a period of several days after a severe head-injury, which allowed us a sufficient recovery to bring back an intelligent and perceptive level of mental functioning after the brain recovered from its injuries. If such a recovery would not take place, we would have no way of communicating, what sort of experiences we went through.

These observations seem rather scanty, but, I believe, that we can draw far-reachhing conclusions from them, as well as from the general insights we now have about the relationships between an intact, functioning human being, and the sphere of awarenesses and communicable experiences, which such an intact, conscious individual creates around himself; at least, during the periods, that he or she is alert and fully conscious.

If we look only at the level of conscious experiences and sensations, we see, that we lose this consciousness every night for prolonged periods of time, especially, when we are in a dreamless sleep, but, we are also aware, from time to time, that we experience a stream of images and sensations when we are asleep. This stream of images and sensations seems, in retrospect, after we have woken up, to have been strangely out of control, haphazard and illogical. We realise, then, that these images constitute a dream-sequence, with a rather haphazard, uncontroled and illogical progression of the mental imagery. This brings us to the conclusion, which we have discussed many times before; nl., that our sphere of reality perceptions is quite fragile, and, that we lose the ability to perceive reality quite easily. We lose it, not only, when we fall-asleep and dream, but, also, when we are carried-away by thoughts and wishful dreams, by inattention, or, by a deliberate neglect of a portion, sometimes a large portion, of this stream of incoming sense impressions.

We know, now, why these sense impressions are, not only, fragile and easily disturbed, but, they can be interpreted quite differently, depending on the mood or emotional bias we are in. We may see our reality, either, in a rosy, positive, optimistic light, (and we like the feel of such a positive, buoyant mood), or, we may be gripped by a chronic anxiety that distorts all the reality perceptions into a negative atmosphere or feeling.

It is not surprising, therefore, that we ask ourselves what reality really is, whenever we come to think about the mechanisms behind our reality perceptions. Does reality exist as we believe it to exist, or, do we always have to be satisfied with the notion, that reality only exists as we see it; at this particular moment, and for our particular circumstances? The fragility of our reality perceptions, as well as the tenuous reliability of our evaluative functions, is underscored, if we see, how easily and quickly these functions can be disturbed by fatigue, isolation, or a large variety of drugs and other chemicals.

Let us now aks ourselves the question, what, if any, psychological equivalents there are for the impending dissolution of our physical existence, if we are facing imminent death. We have seen, that our moods and our reality perceptions are products to help us make an appropriate behavioural choice, and, it is not illogical to expect, that the natural psychological mechanisms will help us choose the most appropriate response at the time of death.

However, we know, that we also behave in many fundamental or instinctive ways, without an obvious psychological equivalent or counter-part. We may be able, in part, to verbalise our sensations and awarenesses, as we are tossed about by our emotional and instinctive behavioural reactions, which have been stirred, in turn, by one or other existential concern, but, it seems logical to assume, that, in many ways, we "undergo" these behavioural reactions, without really knowing what we are undergoing, and, here, we resemble, again, the behaviourally flexible animals.

Perhaps, then, we undergo death without really knowing what is happening, and the similarity with animal behaviour is then complete, because they undergo everything, since these non-verbalising animals do not have any ability to form mental abstractions or concepts.

To a large extent, we will always "undergo" our death, because we do not have the intellectual capability, certainly, not at the time of our death, to analyse, and conceptualise, what is happening to us. We always will have, to some extent, the feeling, that we are drifting-away on an unknown sea, and, that we seem to merge imperceptibly with this sea, as we become oblivious of time, pain and anxieties, and, even, our own existence. This final feeling may well be one of relaxation and a vague sense of bliss, as we are able to think, very vaguely, with the last remnants of our conscious awareness, that it is "all over".

The dissolution of the body is accompanied by a simultaneous and irreversible dissolution of the mind, including the faculties of conscious thought, but, we should remind ourselves, that the dissolution of conscious awarenesses and coherent thoughts has taken place many, many times before; in the form of a reversible process, such as falling-asleep, being brought under aneasthesia, losing conciousness due to a head-injury, or being overcome by toxic fumes, or the effects of a dramaticallly lowered blood-pressure in a faint.

Even, day-dreaming, wishful thinking, as well as obsessive pre-occupations, may distort, to a large extent, our conscious awarenesses, without coming to a complete loss of contact with reality. Perhaps, we should add, here, the occurrence of hallucinations as a special form of loss of contact with reality, which is, of course, an abnormal state of awareness. During hallucinations, the reality distortions become so vivid, that we believe them to be real, and, we can not distinguish them from sense impressions representing the realities in which we find ourselves. We see, therefore, time and again, how fragile our sense of reality is, and, we never know for sure, whether or not we perceive a reality that is shared with and agreed-upon by the people in our environment.

The most comfortable way to die is the "natural-medical" way, where the internal stresses, or lack of resistance to those stresses by old-age and a variety of disease processes, finally, make it impossible to keep the functional integrity of the body intact. In the mean time, we have had plenty of time and opportunity to resign ourselves to the impending dissolution of body and mind.

During old-age, as well as in the later phases of an incurable, terminal illness, we see, that the maintenance of, even, the most basic functions of life, is becoming a struggle, and, the crippling infirmity of old-age, or an incurable disease, prepares us quite well for the occurrence and inevitability of death. Certainly, the experience of this gradual but inexorable deterioration of the body, and, perhaps, the mind, is often punctuated by painful episodes of resistance and rebellion, and, such episodes constitute a measure of suffering, but, modern medical techniques can keep us relatively free from pain and stressful experiences.

For those, who are not able to settle-down and face death consciously, the end may come during a gradual but deliberate lowering of the level of awareness by increasing doses of sedatives and analgesics. However, I think, that most people are able to face death consciously, in particular, if they have given some thought to the fact, that, at some time in the future, they have to face this inevitability. It is logical, that a majority of people will seek religious solutions for the problems of accepting and coping with their impending death. In particular, if our culture is strongly pervaded by a religious reality perception, we see, that many people who did not participate in an organised form of religious practice and worship, (by going to church), still profess their faith, and, still accept the reality images of their religion, especially, when they are close to death and are compelled to face the end of their existence on earth.

Perhaps, it is comfortable for many people to believe, that death is not the end of their existence, but, rather, a transformation of their earthly and, sometimes, sorrowful life into an existence of Glory and Bliss, close to their Creator and God. However, these traditional religious images are more difficult to sustain in view of scientific and evolutionary insights, and, the agnostic view is, therefore, gaining ground. Yet, people, who have abandoned the traditional religious hopes and beliefs of their culture, face difficulties at the time of their death, unless they have come thoroughly to grips with the problem of death, and have developed a clear imagery about the essence of life and death. Even so, the stress of the circumstances of death may arouse strong emotions and instinctive behaviour-patterns, which may disturb the intellectual belief structures and undermine the peace of mind of a dying agnostic.

Let us not forget, however, that the religious believer also pays a heavy price for his Faith in an ever-lasting existence after death. Together with the possibility of gaining entrance into Heaven, in company with the "selected few", the faithful worshippers have to suffer through periods of severe anxiety and doubt, when they are not sure about their ability to "make it into Heaven". The vision of an ever-lasting bliss in Heaven, is bought with the fear of being condemned to an ever-lasting damnation in Hell.

.......

Chapter 8

Content

The religious perception of reality is, probably, on the rise again.
The "satanic fruits" of science and technology.
Potentials for a widespread relativistic interpretation of reality.
We are the creator of our sphere of reality perceptions.
It is impossible to be aware of the fact, that we are dead.
To think about death is an excercise in living wisely and appropriately.
Integrating death into an appropriate life-style.
It is useful to be reminded about the transience of our existence.
How we like the social environment to react to our death.
A spur to sharpen the imagery of our meta-physical realities.
There is no evidence for the concept, that a "residual awareness" or consciousness can exist after death.
The concepts and assumptions behind the concept of "the soul".
Why we experience a need to believe in an immortal soul.
The beneficial aspects of being fully aware of the transience of our existence.
Avoiding a waste of time.
The biological meaning of stress and suffering.
Natural selection is unthinkable, without the limited life-span of each life-form.
We can not visualise living existence without the phases of birth, growth, maturity and death.
Our existence has been made possible because of the transience of all life-forms.
Physiological difficulties associated with our attempts to come intellectually to grips with the imagery of "being dead".
The religious imagery reflects our desire to cling to life.
The strongly egocentric and fanatic features of a fervent belief.
The trend towards polarisation and conflict.
Building-up an imagery we all can believe in.
Disseminating the ideals of social justice.
Any attempt to create a condition of social justice without a thorough understanding of our psychological mechanisms, is doomed to failure.
Let us be satisfied with a less spectacular form of immortality.
Being satisfied with a measure of "anonymous immortality".
A monument to "the unknown citizen".

It seems, that religious explanations and interpretations of reality are on the rise again, because there is a rapidly increasing anxiety about the dubious, or, even, "satanic" fruits of science and technology, and, we may well be experiencing a revival of religious fervor and fundamentalism, in particular, of militant Islam and Christianity. However, let us hope, that calmer and broader insights will prevail in the long run, because these insights allow us to separate, carefully, the useful fruits of science and technology from the dangerous ones. Common-sense and rational behaviour will also allow us to evaluate, carefully, the contradictory aspects of religious ideas and practices, and, by doing so, we will improve our grip upon reality.

Those of us, who believe in a relativistic truth, where we see the function of conscious awareness as a product of natural evolution, will be able to come to a reasonably clear idea about the nature of death. We have developed some insights, that show us the nature of the living organisation and the essence of death. The latter is the break-down, or absence of, this organisation of life.

We have also discussed, on previous occasions, why man's reality perceptions are instinctively inclined to make him believe in some sort of an existence after death, and, we have discussed some of the more physiological reasons, why it is so difficult for us to imagine being dead. We realise, now, how we give a quality of existence to everything that exists as an awareness in our world of imagination and reality experiences. Since this world is a sphere of mental images, created and carried by ourselves as the central creator, spectator and judge, we automatically give existence to everything we imagine to be true or to be possible.

This applies, not only, to the images of the past, but, also, to the image of death. While we can observe death in others and extrapolate these observations and ideas to our own death, it is useful to remind ourselves, that it is physically impossible to be aware of the fact, that we are dead. Therefore, our awareness peters-out, somewhere, in the belief or knowledge, that the end has come, but, after this, all awareness of time and existence ceases to exist. We do not know that we are dead, or that we existed, before we died, and, we have no perception of anything, not, even, of time, individuality, existence or anything else.

To think about death, and, to speculate, what it will be like to die, is an excercise for the living individual. The thoughts and ideas about our death are, therefore, only relevant to give meaning and direction to our lives, and, to make the process of dying, or, the knowledge that we have to die, at some time in the future, as acceptable as possible. Most of us will be spurred to think about death, when we are confronted, from time to time, with the death of a friend or a close relative, and, the shock of seeing a lifeless corpse, so different from the personality we knew and loved, is a valuable experience, because it reminds us of the transience of our existence.

Primarily pragmatic considerations will come to the fore, as we start to give some thought to the way we like to die and be buried, and, we may also think about the way we would like people to react to our death. If we are vain, we like the idea of a grandiose funeral, with numerous people attending and thinking well of us. Most people will oblige and speak only well of the dead. Whatever religious or superstitious reasons may lie behind this custom to speak only well of the dead, we also see a pragmatic reason, because the dead are no competitors or rivals, any longer, for those who live. Most of us have lived a quiet and unobtrusive life, and, we would like to be buried this way, as well.

Death also forces us to really think clearly about our religious beliefs. Do we believe the religious imagery into which we have been brought-up? Do we believe, that, at least, something of us remains "alive", or, at least, that something remains conscious, in one way or another, as our "soul" departs from the body at the moment of death? The natural inclination to believe that something of our essence remains intact, after death, makes a resurgence of religious beliefs all the more likely, when we have to face death, because few of us dare to throw-out, with determination, the notion, that the soul does not exist. We feel, that this is a question beyond our jurisdiction, just as we do not like to decide the question, whether or not God exists. It is so difficult to be sure about these questions. Who really knows, whether or not something does remain "alive" or in existence, after we have died...?

Yet, in contrast with the fundamental inability to rule-out the existence of God, or, at least, the existence of a Superior, Creative Intelligence, somewhere in this vast Universe, we can state, quite definitely, that all our observations about the existence of life and the existence of conscious awareness, point to the fact, that conciousness, (all forms of consciousness, including every form of memory or awareness of ourselves), is related to, or, rather, strictly dependent upon, the existence of an intact, functioning human being. If this human being disappears, because the coherence of the cells and the integrity of the body has broken-down, then, there is no evidence at all to support the notion, that some sort of a "residual awareness" or conciousness can exist.

If we look, closely, at the concepts or notions that surround the idea of a "soul", we see, that this concept always implies some sort of memory and awareness function. The minimum function or capability the soul must possess in order for the concept to remain meaningful, is the awareness of the identity of the soul. A soul has to be aware of the fact, that the soul was so and so during its earthly existence. We see, then, that awareness, as well as memory-functions, are attributed to an entity that exists outside an intact, functioning and "cerebrating" organism.

One of the fundamental conlusions of the biological studies and interpretations of the phenomena of life, is the fact, that no such residual entity of awareness or memory has ever been demonstrated, and, that, therefore, all notions and ideas concerning an immortal soul, have to be rejected as erroneous.

In spite of the fact, that these conclusions are based upon complex scientific observations and philosophical thoughts, and, in spite of the fact, that these observations run counter to our emotional need to believe that there is an immortal soul, it is possible to teach, clearly, the many reasons, why these older notions, hopeful expectations and imprecise religious images are out-dated, and, why they are leading us astray in our search to formulate viable answers and responses to the many problems of modern times.

The thoughts about death, or, the concerns with the transience of life, as well as the way we like the people we leave behind to dispose of our body, are highly valuable and pragmatic results from the realisation, and acceptance, that, we have a limited life-span; that our life is often fragile and haphazard, and, that our existence is subjected to many sudden and unforeseen fluctuations in the level of stress we have to cope with.

However, I believe, that we can derive more far-reaching insights and profoundly viable attitudes from our meditations and thoughtful considerations about the phenomena of death and the transience of life. An acute awareness, that our life is short, and, may be much shorter than we may reasonably expect, makes us aware of the preciousness of the time we have been allotted by the circumstances of our existence. A full awareness of the fact, that, each minute and each second are irrevocably lost, after they have slipped-by, may spur us to reconsider our activities and our goals.

Perhaps, when we come to think about it, we are wasting our time and efforts in a most futile or harmful way, and, perhaps, the goals we cherish as unquestionable truths and values to be obtained at all costs, are nothing more than thoughtless aspirations, or the promptings of primitive and instinctive drives. On the other hand, the lazy, undisciplined, somewhat chaotic mind, may also come to the shocking discovery, that time is slipping-by quickly, and, that we still do not know what life is all about; that we do not know what we should or could accomplish, and, that we are a will-less slave of our desires, our lazy nature and indecisive attitudes, always seeking an easy way-out; shunning responsibilities and tough decisions.

In other words, without an active and full awareness of death, the transience of our existence, and the limited time we have to do something worthwhile, would not be apparent to us, and, we would remain an "eternal child". Religious thinkers have captured the imagery of eternal life quite well, and they have always pictured the absence of death and suffering as an attractive, but, also, as a somewhat life-less image of human capabilities and atitudes.

Life, as we know it, now, from our biological and scientific observations, would not be possible, without the ability to yield to, and resist, a large variety of stressful circumstances and conditions, and this, in a nut-shell, shows us the reasons, why the existence of life, in particular, the higher and conscious life-form, is necessarily associated with the experience of suffering, pain and existential anxieties. The entire process of evolutionary change, together with the shaping of a genetic code by the forces of natural selection, would be completely unthinkable and incomprehensible, without the limited life-span of each life-form; without the phases of birth, growth, maturity and death.

Without the severely stressful pressures upon the existence possibilities of a species, none of the myriad of life-forms would ever have developed, and, the conscious awareness of the human life-form, including the ability to experience happiness, love, friendship and compassion, would never have developed, if the human species would not be heir to a long lineage of evolutionary pressures, which induce chronic anxiety and severe stress for many successive generations of every evolving species.

Without the search for better living conditions, such as a measure of security in social togetherness, the human being would never have evolved, because, as we have seen, the "social anlage" in man's behaviour was reponsible for the fact, that man could survive and hunt successfully in small, nomadic groupings, amidst formidable natural ennemies and competitors. This social anlage; this instinctive drive to behave in an atmosphere of cooperation and togetherness, was needed to give the experiment with symbolic recall of memory-traces a chance to succeed and prove its usefulness. We realise, now, that this faculty of conscious awareness and symbolic communications has become the principle factor, which will decide the long-term viability of mankind.

The awareness, that death, means, a cessation of this faculty of conscious awareness, as well as a cessation of all mechanisms of life, has always been, and still is, difficult to accept. This is due, not only, to the "technical" or physiological difficulties associated with our attempts to come intellectually to grips with the imagery of being dead, but, it also affronts our instinctive urge to cling to life. Life has been made possible because of the successful genetic coding of this strong instinct to preserve life, at least, to preserve our own life, and, to acknowledge the fact, that death conquers, irrevocably, this principle of life, seems a defeat. It is, therefore, not surprising, that the religious imagery has found several highly effective ways to construct an interpretation or a belief, that totally denies the obvious fact, that death is final and irrevocable.

By clinging to the belief in an immortal soul, (often, elaborated by the explicit belief, that, ultimately, all bodily functions and capabilities will be fully restored by the "resurrection" of this body in an immortal form), man has found a powerful way to "conquer" the conqueror of all living existence; death. Yet, if we think about it, such a negation, or denial, of the essence of death, has become untenable in the light of modern insights, and, it is not surprising, that the fundamentalist religions consider these modern insights as a severe challenge, or "evil threat", to their credibility.

The most decisive battles between the religions and the scientific belief-structures still have to be fought, and, I hope that the relativistic, scientific insights are not going to lose this battle as a result of a strong emotional reaction to those dubious fruits of modern science and technology; the nuclear war-heads and the disastrous effects of massive industrial pollution. It would be ironic, if man's proudest technological and evolutionary achievements of conscious awareness and precise manipulability would, ultimately, be responsible for a suppression of these scientific insights in a blind rage of hatred and fear.

Indeed, the relgious attitude towards death is, often, a complete denial of death as we know it and understand it in a biological context. Rather than inducing a mellow attitude and an awareness about the need to spend our time well, and, in stead of showing us the relative importance of ourselves as an individual who will soon dissolve into non-existence, the fervent religious attitude tries to secure eternal happiness in an imagery that transfers the world of battles and fights to a super-natural order of existence. Such a transformation of death into victory is a powerful psychological weapon in the struggle for survival, if it can be truly believed-in.

My main objection to this search for eternal happiness and the safeguarding of one's personal immortal soul, is the strongly egocentric and fanatic orientation, which results, so easily, from these religious beliefs and objectives. True, the teachings of the major religions emphasise the moral and ethical principles of behaviour, and, they insist that one's acceptance by God depends, primarily, upon one's attitudes towards fellow human beings. However, these social concerns contract, often, to a small nucleus of fervent believers, while the other members of the society at large, are written-off as doomed sinners, or "lost sheep".

The zeal of fundamentalist believers to spread the Word of God becomes, all too often, a scourge for other people, especially, if their fervent militancy has brought them into a position of military power. Here, we see the need for a truly global system of ethical values and social concerns, where the rights of belonging to society are not limited to a small number of religious or political faithful. The criteria for membership in the societies of mankind will have been fulfilled in the global society of the future, simply, by having been born a member of the human species, somewhere on earth.

Let us nurture these ideas and social concepts, so that they are able to bring-about a global organisation of mankind, with justice, transparence and a sense of responsibility for every member. Let us, then, reserve our fervent militancy for those, who deliberately and knowingly want to revert to a position of privilege and exclusivity, but, let us not adopt hastily one or other existing social system as the ultimate model upon which this global system has to be based. Let us first try to agree, in a world-wide consensus, what the essential outlines of a just society should be, and, what sort of guidelines we need to accomplish this global society. Once a great majority of mankind can enter, voluntarily, into a global federation, then, we have the moral authority, as well as the right and the obligation, to ensure, that such system of global justice and equality of opportunity can not be subverted again.

Here, too, the full awareness of our transient existence may help us to curb our instinctive drive to fulfill our dreams and ideas by the force of the sword. It still seems so difficult to understand, that force can never sanction the justification or the acceptability of an idea. On the contrary, as soon as a worthwhile and nobel idea has been appropriated by a militant minority, it becomes, quickly, an instrument of oppression, and, even, the noblest ideas of equality and fairness for all, will then only create resentment and suspicion. Yet, the global society will, eventually, have to learn, how to keep the sense of justice alive, and, it will always be necessary, here and there, to up-root criminal, anti-social elements. We can only hope, that the processes of judgement and rehabilitation will then be far superior than they are now.

Let us slowly disseminate these ideas of social justice, and, let us not forget, that it is so necessary to be thorough and totally convincing. Any attempt to bring social justice without a most thorough understanding of our psychological mechanisms, is doomed to failure, because it will lead to an unjust suppression of dissent and questioning. A thorough awareness of the transience of our existence, as well as this curious combination of a shared essence and a somewhat irrelevant uniqueness of our particular personality, may help us to find a different way of conquering death. Rather than denying death in an anxious attempt to preserve the instinct of self-preservation in the idea of an immortal soul, it would be much better, if we could be satisfied with a less spectacular form of immortality; a form of immortality, where we are satisfied to be remembered, to some extent, by those we leave behind.

Let us consider, here, not only, those exceptional individuals who have been able, by lucky circumstances and hard work, to create a valuable work of art, a spectacular scientific discovery, a remarkable athletic accomplishement, or, who have been a highly valued political leader at a crucial stage in the evolution of their society. Let us, also, be satisfied with a measure of anonymous immortality, which comes with having been a good parent, a good friend, a good member of the community, a thoughtful and careful individual who has done little harm to other people or his environment.

Our future generations will honour him or her in this most important monument of all, dedicated to the memory of the "unknown citizen", because such anonymous attitudes of concern and foresight contributed to the ability of these future generations to find a reasonably comfortable way of life; to live in reasonable happiness and harmony; with fresh air, clean water, and a safe environment.

.......

Summary

1. A pre-occupation with the phenomenon of death.
   What will it be like to be dead?
   When we know, that death will come soon.
   When it is too late to think about it seriously.
   Is death "the end", or a transitional stage?
   A brief review of the religious reality perceptions.
   The scientific view is dominated by the assumption, that there is no "Willed Force" or "Creator", interfering with the "natural force-fields" of the environment.
   An audacious evolutionary imagery.
   The presence or absence of a belief in personal salvation has a strong influence upon the interpretation of our existence.
   The natural background of our belief-structures.
   The assumption, that my feelings, thoughts and experiences are not unique, and may have some relevance for others.
   Is it useful to think about death and dying?
   We all die in the realities of our beliefs.
   When memories, belief-structures and contemporary sense-impressions fuse into a single, undifferentiated imagery.
   The hallucination.
   When we lose contact with the spheres of reality of the people around us.
   The experience of reality is easily disturbed.
   Misinterpretations of sense-impressions; the mirage.
   Even the "agnostic" will not be free from hallucinations or anxieties, when he knows, or believes, that he is dying.
   Death may come as a relaxed "falling-asleep".
   The stress of impending death may evoke hidden anxieties, and re-activate images from a cultural heritage.
   The stress associated with dying may evoke commonly shared and perfectly logical psychological mechanisms.
   
   
   
2. The concept of a "natural death".
   Natural death is not limited to the death of older people, who die peacefully at home, without any apparent illness.
   Death after a serious illness may be a "natural phenomenon".
   Death, due to "old-age", a disease, or a combination of both, will take place in spite of all efforts to prevent it.
   In accidents, disasters or injuries due to acts of violence, the local environment changes suddenly to such an extent, that the mechanical, thermal or chemical conditions become incompatible with the existence of a living organism.
   In accidental poisoning, we see a confluence of the concepts of accident and disease.
   The faculties of fore-sight, and the chances to secure survival.
   Why fore-sight is much more difficult for a group of people than a single individual.
   Learning from early warning signs.
   A thorough insight into the internal mechanisms and external relationships of a living organisation is helpful to prevent sickness, injuries and death.
   The mechanisms of sickness and accident come together, as we face an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment.
   Death under conditions of war-fare.
   We have found innumerable ways of destroying each other.
   When we have become trapped into a situation we have no control over.
   We have to believe, that we are on the side of justice, and, that God is on our side.
   If an intelligent life-form would be present and observe mankind, it would surely try to make an end to man's escalating capabilities of destroying everything.
   The responsibilities for survival rest squarely on our collective shoulders.
   The many ways in which we can meet our end.
   
   
   
3. How stressful conditions affect our physical and mental functions.
   "Elasticity", and the ability to yield.
   The concept of an "optimum equilibrium".
   Embryological differentiation and growth.
   Infancy and childhood.
   We are always exposed to some sort of stressful force or influence.
   The concept of a "displacement force".
   When stress reaches life-threatening proportions.
   The psychological aspects of "suffering".
   Psychological stress.
   The stress resulting from miscalculations and disappointments.
   Resisting and yielding to stress.
   An avalanche of physiological changes that may become irreversible and a fore-runner of death.
   An overall view, that is well within the grasp of inquisitive, non-specialised people.
   A huge hennery.
   The purpose of keeping the body alive after a majority of the brain-cells have died.
   Why "brain-death" takes place after severe head-injuries.
   When there is no possibility to regain consciousness.
   A vital "missing link" in the coherence of organ-systems.
   There are many path-ways leading to death and disintegration.
   
   
   
4. Life is slipping by, and we are continuously coming closer to the moment of our death.
   A general increase in vulnerability.
   We compensate for an increase in fragility by taking better care of ourselves.
   A keen perception for the difference between productive excercises and undue stress.
   Complexity, and the need for "summarising concepts".
   Ageing processes, taking place at a cellular level.
   The wear and tear of biochemical reaction-patterns.
   Brittleness, and an increased vulnerability to injury.
   The ability to think and act prudently is usually preserved in spite of a general trend towards ageing and physical deterioration.
   Mental capabilities are not immune from ageing or deterioriation.
   A decreasing ability to learn new things.
   Wise, indeed, is the individual, who anticipates the reduced ability to tolerate stress at a later age.
   When we have become dependent upon the powers and comforts associated with a privileged position in society.
   The huge financial obligations we load, so lightly, upon ourselves.
   Resignation, depression, and the lowering of resistance.
   Death may not be a struggle, but the result of a relaxation.
   Suicide; giving-in to the temptation to relax the struggle for existence.
   If the stress of living becomes intolerable, it is logical, that the absence of life becomes preferable.
   Suicidal tendencies are not always due to the subjective evaluation of unbearable stress; it may be caused by severe distortions in the perception of reality, or, accidentally, by a plea for help that "went wrong".
   A deep depression; a feeling of worthlessness.
   A quick and painless method to end all confusion.
   
   
   
5. Suicide is a drastic but effective means to escape from external stress.
   The strange and ruthless world of espionnage.
   We all experience, trom time to time, an agonising feeling of doubt and despair.
   We learn to regain, quickly, a more balanced view.
   Learning to take a "detached view" of ourselves.
   Transient suicidal feelings are not uncommon.
   The awareness of death makes us search for a durable meaning of our existence.
   Learning to see our own existence as "not all that important".
   The awareness of death is a logical corollary of the vast time-span of our reality experiences.
   No other species can visualise, so clearly, the inevitability of its own death.
   The logic of the questions we can ask ourselves.
   Can animals be suicidal?
   Sensing the end, and wanting to make it come as quickly as possible.
   Dying in privacy.
   The grim reality, that a dying animal is shunned or actively driven-off.
   An instinctive aversion for sickness and death.
   The "mass-suicide" of certain animals is, probably, due to a generalised break-down in socially integrated behaviour-patterns, with a blind stampede that is fatal for a large majority.
   An anthropomorphic interpretation of "deliberate self-destruction". The concept of a "mood"; an experience that is uniquely human in its verbalised form.
   A strong, instinctive behavioural bias is possible in nearly all animal organisms.
   All highly developed, flexible animals possess complex behaviour-patterns, and equally complex judgement functions.
   When there is a bias towards the positive or the negative side of our judgement functions.
   
   
   
6. The influence of a psychological bias on the experience of pain.
   How animals experience pain.
   Animals will fluctuate between a "mood" of confidence and anxiety, just like human beings, even, without the ability to be consciously aware of what is happening to them.
   Psychological-neurological equivalents.
   A review of the various behavioural axes of the human being.
   The sliding scale between egocentric attitudes and a concern for other people.
   How the sphere of conscious and verbalisable awarenesses influences our behaviour-patterns.
   Structures of beliefs.
   Why animals vary less in the perception of their realities
   Some variability results from having been exposed to different experiences.
   An animal does not have a structure of beliefs.
   Sharpening a memory-trace collectively, by "talking things over", or individually, by reflecting upon an experience.
   An enlarged time-span for anticipatory expectations.
   The awareness of a "sweep of time" that extends well beyond our own existence.
   The moods of hope and fear.
   The physiological reaction of "fear" is a short-term experience in most animals because of their limited anticipatory faculties.
   Is a chronic, obsessive compulsion to hold-on to an anticipation of stress and fear a typically human form of behaviour?
   The consequences of chronic stress.
   The art of a balanced approach to our expectations.
   How we can avoid wide mood-swings.
   When we are in the grip of depression and fear.
   Thoughts and sensations that are likely to be present immediately preceding our death.
   The problem of getting accurate information about this final phase of existence.
   Sliding gently away from a sphere of conscious contact with the environment.
   Entering a sphere of experiences that is uniquely our own.
   Comparisons with reversible episodes, where our reality experiences "break-down".
   Similarities and differences between death and falling-asleep.
   Loss of consciousness, due to drugs or hypo-thermia.
   Generalised hypo-thermia; a relatively painless death, compared to the severe pains of localised frost-bite.
   
   
   
7. When we are brought under a general anaesthetic.
   Why the experiences that occur just prior to the loss of consciousness are "wiped-out", and are lost for a later recollection.
   My own experiences with a general anaesthetic.
   The "twilight zone" between sleep and wakefulness.
   The perception of the flow of time is severely altered.
   In a dream, we experience a stream of images and sensations, which seems, in retrospect, to have been strangely out of control, haphazard and illogical.
   Fragile reality experiences, that can easily be altered by different "filters" or moods.
   It is likely, that natural psychological mechanisms will help us choose the most appropriate response at the time of our death.
   Perhaps, as human beings, we too, undergo death without really knowing what is happening.
   The final feeling may well be one of relaxation and a vague sense of bliss, as we realise, to some extent, that it is "all over".
   The dissolution of the body is accompanied by a simultaneous and irreversible dissolution of our mental faculties.
   A comfortable, "natural-medical" way to die.
   It is fortunate, when we have become prepared for death.
   Painful episodes of resistance and rebellion.
   Most people are able to face death consciously.
   The vision of an everlasting bliss in Heaven is bought at the price of having to fear condemnation to an everlasting existence in Hell.
   
   
   
8. The religious perception of reality is, probably, on the rise again.
   The "satanic fruits" of science and technology.
   Potentials for a widespread relativistic interpretation of reality.
   We are the creator of our sphere of reality perceptions.
   It is impossible to be aware of the fact, that we are dead.
   To think about death is an excercise in living wisely and appropriately.
   Integrating death into an appropriate life-style.
   It is useful to be reminded about the transience of our existence.
   How we like the social environment to react to our death.
   A spur to sharpen the imagery of our meta-physical realities.
   There is no evidence for the concept, that a "residual awareness" or consciousness can exist after death.
   The concepts and assumptions behind the concept of "the soul".
   Why we experience a need to believe in an immortal soul.
   The beneficial aspects of being fully aware of the transience of our existence.
   Avoiding a waste of time.
   The biological meaning of stress and suffering.
   Natural selection is unthinkable, without the limited life-span of each life-form.
   We can not visualise living existence without the phases of birth, growth, maturity and death.
   Our existence has been made possible because of the transience of all life-forms.
   Physiological difficulties associated with our attempts to come intellectually to grips with the imagery of "being dead".
   The religious imagery reflects our desire to cling to life.
   The strongly egocentric and fanatic features of a fervent belief.
   The trend towards polarisation and conflict.
   Building-up an imagery we all can believe in.
   Disseminating the ideals of social justice.
   Any attempt to create a condition of social justice without a thorough understanding of our psychological mechanisms, is doomed to failure.
   Let us be satisfied with a less spectacular form of immortality.
   Being satisfied with a measure of "anonymous immortality".
   A monument to "the unknown citizen".

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