People on Reddit are sharing their theories about what happens when we die, speculating about everything from a 'deep sleep' to a 'rainbow bridge'.
One user called u/meltedwingz posed the question yesterday, writing on the forum site: "What do you guys think happens when we die?"
In less than 24 hours, the thread has racked up more than 27,000 comments as others wade in to the debate, offering up their ideas of what death entails.
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One person said they thought of dying as being 'like a deep sleep but with no dreams', and that you are 'completely unaware of yourself, where you are, or even that you exist'.
Another replied to the theory to say: "Having almost died myself I can verify. Basically it was like going to sleep. One minute you're there, keep it mind I was in and out of consciousness, then the next minute you're not.
"You lose perfusion to the brain and that's it, light out. No pain, no fear, just oblivion. People who ask me about it often seem disappointed. I think they are expecting some kind of experience for me to relate."
Sharing a similar experience, a third wrote: "I nearly died from an asthma attack when I was 14. That's pretty much what it was like at the end of it, I was lying on the ground looking up at the sky and everything just kinda faded away.
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"I eventually woke up of course and the overall thing was 0/10 do not recommend, but the actual going unconscious part really was just like going to sleep."
A fourth said they were hoping to meet up with their dog and cross the 'Rainbow Bridge' with him, saying: "But I'm afraid nothingness awaits."
Another simply offered: "Exact same thing as before we were born."
To which someone else chipped in: "Yep, you were already dead for billions of years. That's probably what happens when you die."
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They added: "If it were up to me, we'd reincarnate. Say the atoms that make up who you are eventually realign into some form of consciousness somewhere in the infinite universe.
"Being dead forever felt like nothing at all so the time that passes between when you die and reincarnate as some other consciousness would feel like nothing, too."
Another person suggested: "I like to think it's an afterlife reliving my life from the beginning, but as the actor and also director. Everything plays out the way it did, but at any point, I would be able to pause and rearrange whatever I wanted. People would say what I wish they'd said. I say what I wish I'd said. I just want a do-over, you know?
"I hope its something like a black void of nothingness where you get to choose what kind of life will your soul live next, like a character build in a dnd run, but as soon as you announce that you're 'Done', you will have no recollection of your previous life, so you basically get to start a 'new game'."
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Another, meanwhile, put forward a particularly 'trippy' theory, writing: "I like to believe that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. This is evident by observing dying people's brain activity and the hippocampus (memory bank) has a lot of activity. But because your body releases so much DMT (hallucinogen) when we die, it is slowed down to a perceivable rate.
"Therefore, how do you know if you're really living your life, or if you're dying somewhere in the future and just reliving it in your own head?"
MIND. BLOWN.
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Topics: World News, News, Reddit