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Terminal Recursion – A Thought Experiment on Consciousness at Death
I had a post recently rejected for being too speculative (which I totally understand!). I'm 16 and still learning, but I'm interested in feedback on this idea, even if it's unprovable.
What if, instead of a flash of memories, the brain at death enters a recursive simulation of life, creating the illusion that it’s still alive? Is this even philosophically coherent or just a fancy solipsism trap? Would love your thoughts.
What if, instead of a flash of memories, the brain at death enters a recursive simulation of life
Excuse me, but is there actually any reason to consider this hypothesis? I don't have much experience with dying, but even the "flash of memories" despite being a popular meme seems to have little evidence (feel free to correct me if I am wrong). So maybe you are looking for an explanation of something that doesn't even exist in the first place.
Assuming that the memories are flashing, "recursive simulation" still seems like a hypothesis needlessly more complicated than "people remember stuff". Remembering stuff is... not exactly a miraculous experience that would require an unlikely explanation. Some situations can trigger vivid memories, e.g. sounds, smells, emotions. There may be a perfectly natural explanation why some(!) people would get their memories triggered in near-death situations.
Third, how would that recursive simulation even work, considering what we know about physics? Does the brain have enough energy to run a simulation of the entire life, even at a small resolution? What would it even mean to run a simulation: is it just remembering everything vividly as if it was happening right now, or do you get to make different choices and then watch decades of your life in a new timeline? Did anyone even report something like this happening to them?
tl;dr -- you propose an impossible explanation for something that possibly doesn't even exist. why?
You're absolutely right to point out that this is speculative I state up front that it's a hypothesis, not a proven model. The Terminal Recursion Hypothesis doesn’t claim to explain a common or well-documented phenomenon, but rather explores a possible interpretation of what the brain might do in a death scenario. While ‘life flashing before your eyes’ is anecdotal, there’s evidence for time distortion, vivid memory recall, and immersive mental experiences during trauma. I propose recursion as a potential mechanism the brain might engage in not because it’s efficient or practical, but because it feels like survival, even if it's ultimately futile. Thanks for the constructiv criticism, it helps me strengthen the idea or know where it falls apart