In several essays throughout the past decade, I have emphasized the idea of a gentle death.
But I am having doubts now.
Not because I wouldn’t like what commonly is understood as a gentle death: peacefully dying in one’s bed, without any awareness of what is happening.
But I doubt that many bed deaths actually are of that nature, regardless of what obituaries may say.
What are unforeseen bed deaths? The majority are heart attacks and strokes.
A heart attack is very painful, and one is unlikely to sleep through it if it happens in the night in one’s bed.
How quickly does it happen? Even if no blood at all is supplied to the brain, it takes about two minutes for unconsciousness to occur. But a heart attack will not usually shut off all blood circulation, not even a deadly one. So, it is still going to take some time.
And strokes? Hemorrhagic ones are probably more likely to cause unconsciousness than ischemic ones. But who knows.
Total unconsciousness would be good, but will that privilege be available?
Unless a stroke impairs the brainstem that controls vital functions like heartbeat and breathing reflexes, death is not a direct consequence of the stroke but a result of additional accidental impairment. And what would that impairment cause? Choking and suffocating to death, as Stalin did. And this can happen consciously or unconsciously. All sensations of pain, panic, and discomfort are in the brain. These sensations are not only in the parts of the brain that control vital functions, but may well be perceived in parts of the cortex that did not suffer any damage.
Witnesses to deaths by guillotine have reported that severed heads did not seem immediately dead. Maybe such a head could even still say something. But severed heads probably have other concerns than giving interviews to prepared microphones about how it feels, and whether it is painful.
People who are hanged are immobile immediately because of damage to the cerebellum and brainstem. But it would be hard to answer whether they feel anything or not.
I now believe that the surest way for a sudden death without any discomfort would lie in blowing one’s whole head up in one go. An explosive collar would do the job. If there were a company selling such devices, I would buy one, just to set it off alone in a forest. They can happily print a label on it: Do not use in the vicinity of other people! Safe distance 200 meters.
Anyway, I am far from becoming a politically motivated bomber. I would be content to be the only victim.