Note: This is my original hypothesis, which I call Terminal Recursion. I'm sharing it to explore feedback, not claiming it as a proven model. I'm 16 and still developing my understanding, so thoughtful criticism is very welcome.

The Terminal Recursion Hypothesis proposes that at the moment of death the human brain initiates a comprehensive and immersive replay of the individuals life experience. This process is much different from the fleeting "life flashes before your eyes", I theorize it to be rather a detailed, real time reconstruction of memory, the mind subconsciously combs through the entirety of one's past in a last desperate attempted to locate a path yo survival. (like when falling and remembering how to catch yourself before you fall) To maintain psychological stability the brain disguises this recursion as present moment awareness, creating the illusion that the individual is still alive. Although biological futile this cognitive once accuring loop grants the person to experience a life already lived without knowing it, they remain unaware that they are merely slipping through memories. The hypothesis Introduces a speculative but somewhat grasable framework for understanding near death experiences (or rather death itself).

Intro: 

Terminal recursion intro:

Reports of NDEs often include vivid memories, altered perception of time, and a sense of detachment from physical reality. These phenomena the brain may respond to  the threat of death with a flood of cognitive activity. The terminal recursion hypothesis expands on this idea by proposing that the brain does not merely flash through important life moments, but instead enters a full scale memory simulation. In this recursive state, consciousness is immersed in the past, reliving it with such fidelity and detail that the boundary between memory and the present effectively dissappears. This process is not driving by nostalgia or reflection but by survival. The brain, in its final effort to preserve life, scours every know experience for a possible escape (like when falling and recalling how to catch yourself from past experience) unable to find one, it instead had a trade off of such a deep search by allowing the individual the sensation to continue life an internal reality indistinguishable from the external world (they don't know they have lived before it'll seem as though it's their first time living)

Core Concepts of the Hypothesis:

● Recursion as Cognitive Response: in the final moments before death the brain activates a recursive loop of consciousness, replaying stored memories in high quality and real time 

● Purposeful Illusion: the simulation functions as a psychological coping mechanism, shielding the mind from the terror of death by preserving a sense of control and continuity 

● Temporal Distortion: from the dying perspective this recursive life feels like genuine and forward moving time. The illusion is so seamless that the person remains unaware that they are reliving the past

● Inevitability of Termination: despite the brains best efforts it will never find a solution, the recursion cannot prevent death since there at that point will be no stopping it. Eventually the simulation ceases and with it consciousness.

Philosophical and Psychological Implications:

If life as we experience it can be simulated  in memory with perfect replication this raises questions about the nature of reality itself. Are we living in now or is our sense of the present merely a construct of the mind even under normal circumstances? The hypothesis touches on themes of solipsism, identity and the fragile boundary between perception, memory and existence. It also parallels  certain interpretations of time in theoretical physics where all moments exist simultaneously and linear progression is an illusion of consciousness.

Limitations and Considerations: 

This hypothesis is by nature  untestable. The experience it describes takes place in the final moments of consciousness and leaves no trace once the brain ceases to function. Nonetheless it aligns with known phenomena such as:

• time dilation under stress

• Deep memory recall in near death states

• brains capacity to simulate sensory experience 

Conclusion:

The Terminal Recursion Hypothesis offers a speculative but psychological plausible model for what the mind may experience at the moment of death. It reframes the common metaphor of "life flashing before your eyes" into a final act of consciousness, a recursive simulation of one's existence that feels in every way like continued life. Whether or not it reflects a literal truth it challenges us to maybe think to reconsider the boundaries of reality, memory and what it means to be alive.

Another quick note: This is not ment to challenge religion of any sorts but merely a lengthy interpretation of my world view on death, if there's any questions or things are unclear feel free to ask, although I ask you to be don't outwardly rude in your questions or criticism but criticism nonetheless welcome as long as it is structured and well ment.