To behead, or not to behead

I've been thinking lately [everyone runs out of the room in horror] about the Guillotine days. The days were you were taken to the gallows. Here's the thing, it was started because it was said to be humane, then ended because many considered it inhumane. What irony. So here's the argument; is it humane or inhumane. The reason it was later considered subhuman was due to a sketchy argument that once decapitated, the victim remained conscious for a short period of time. Many tried to prove/disprove this theory, but all we've left are a few inaudible whispers on the pages of some old, decrepite books. One man told of a tale in which he shouted the victim's name aloud, causing the head's eyes to snap open, then slowly close. The man repeated this gesture, with the same response. For a third time he tried this tactic, but nothing happened thereafter. This could all be speculation and rumors. Who is to say if they are rumors or truths? The only thing we have to rely on are the words of men themselves. During the end of its' rein, a certain country set up the blade of impending doom with a catapault-like design; throwing the head after decapitation in order for the head to see nothing but a blur of scenery. After it was all said and done, and nothing left to go on but rumors and sworn statements that had a chance of being sound, the invention in question was considered to contriversial to be left intact in a humane system. What are your thoughts on this? Do you believe that a human head can remain conscious after removed from the rest of the body? If so, for how long? The most common guess is twenty seconds. I myself believe it to be possible, but until it is proven, I guess we will never know. Thoughts?

Since the only way to medically kill a person is to suffocate their brain a guillotined head would live until the oxygen runs out. If you get them high enough on the brain stem then you might kill them instantly but if you're doing it at larynx level or lower you'd definitely get a few seconds of life.

It's actually incredibly hard to kill people instantly without a lot of mess. Unless you destroy the medulla oblongata you'll get at least a few seconds before the brain dies.

Lethal injection is a two part process where one injection kills pain/immobilises the convict and the other causes the heart to contract and not release. Your blood stops flowing, runs out of oxygen, and then the brain dies. It's painless (when done to code) but not instant. Unless they instated "Death by crushing" or a super-villain style saw blade across the brain stem/bisection down the middle of someone then it's just a question of balancing grossness and convenience.

I don't think guillotine is that bad an option. It was terrible back when it was first invented because some people took multiple shots (I think Mary, Queen of Scots took somewhere between four and seven) but a modern guillotine would probably be about as clean as cut as possible. It's probably gross enough to have to deal with people soiling themselves though so adding mopping up gouts of blood would just make it worse.

Currently the medical definition of death is 0 brain function, so that doesn't necessarily mean that the only possible way to come about this is through suffocation. I would call the guillotine humane for the time, since the alternative was beheading via a sword or axe, which was considerably less effective; obviously if the executioner screwed up the first attempt, he would have to do it again, in which case the criminal would definitely sense it. Is it humane in modern society, who knows. Some are questioning exactly how humane lethal injection is pretty much for the same reasons, which is still considered the most humane method around.

I would doubt that a person would be able sense or feel a guillotine. While the nervous system is definitely capable to registering the severance since it runs of electrical impulses you would probably die of shock first; the neck doesn't have many nerve endings, which is a good thing in the case. To see what I mean, take two reasonably sharp pencils and put them together and poke yourself (gently) on the hand and see how far they have to be before you can tell that there are two points. Now do the same thing on the back of your neck and see how much further it takes.

On an unrelated note; how come it seems like the a lot of the threads on serious discussion are morbid?

I didn't mean suffocation in the sense of holding a pillow over someone's face. Suffocation is used primarily to denote preventing air from getting to the lungs but it basically just means that oxygen is not getting somewhere. The brain can be kept from being effective without being destroyed (such as paralysis) but for it to stop functioning entirely it has to die. I suppose massive physical trauma works too but it's a rather exceptional situation to have the brain blown to pieces. Almost all causes of death (heart failure, illness, getting stabed, being shot) are a result of oxygen deprivation at the very bottom line.

:shock: [AT9 has more respect for Shaggy now, cause DAMN!]