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Comment by fatnoah | Hacker News Reader

My interpretation was that he was expressing amazement at the number of people that came to see him. Friends, relatives, co-workers from 15+ years ago, etc. It was the topic we were discussing at that moment.

Of course, it may have been something else, too.

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>>Of course, it may have been something else, too.

Is it possible that the brain prepares us for a peaceful ending? Showing paradise or whatever we like as we breath one last time?

That would be comforting, but I can think of no evolutionary purpose for such a mechanism to emerge...

The carrot to those still living of a beautiful afterlife and the mythos surrounding that seems incredibly useful evolutionarily.

That said, it could also just be an implementation quirk. There’s some interesting work out there on what exactly happens in the brain during the moments surrounding death, and it relates in an interesting way to the neural correlates of consciousness.

Also related to the state of being conscious without attentional content.

In the event of a body's catastrophic system failure (i.e. serious injury / dying) the brain spikes the endorphin levels since pain no longer serves a useful purpose: the damage is done but it does serve a useful purpose to reduce the pain levels to allow us to function at a higher level than writhing on the ground in agony so that in some circumstances we might live to see another day.

Think of it this way: a bear just ripped/slashed/whatever your arm off... which is more useful: 'arrgggghhh!' or for the brain to pump out endorphins so that you at least concentrate and have a chance of fighting back or running/limping away or hiding? I doubt the brain differentiates between serious injury and dying, it's just wired at a certain point to try to minimize the pain. That would seem to be a very useful evolutionary purpose.

And even if it did differentiate between serious injury and dying, considering mankind’s history of warfare, being able to continue to perform while mortally wounded is definitely beneficial to the survival of the clan.

My take: Fear and stress are useful in some circumstances, but should not be increased in others. Populations that are not afraid of death could then be healthier, since they focus their struggles on the current pressing issues instead of worrying about a matter which will never be resolved.

Personally, I am christian, and my faith is a huge source of relief when thinking about big questions and personal crisis.

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