How Long Does A Severed Head Remain Conscious? | Random Thursday 

I'll never forget the story I read, reported by a U.S. Army veteran who had been stationed in Korea, who watched his friend get decapitated in a car crash and apparently understood what happened to him before dying. I actually tracked down the story to make sure I didn't get any of the details wrong here: In June 1989 the taxi he and a friend were riding in collided with a truck. The man was pinned in the wreckage while his friend ended up being completely decapitated. Here's what he reported happened: "My friend's head came to rest, face up, and (from my angle,) upside-down. As I watched, his mouth opened and closed no less than two times. The facial expressions he displayed were first of shock or confusion, followed by terror or grief. I cannot exaggerate and say that he was looking all around, but he did display ocular movement in that his eyes moved from me, to his body, and back to me. He had direct eye contact with me when his eyes took on a hazy, absent expression... and he was dead." • So apparently the man who was decapitated was unlucky enough to have his head fall between his own legs in such a position that he was able to look up and actually see his own body and understand what had happened to himself before he died... True or not, I'll never forget it.

It musn't be forgotten that some heads remain unconscious though standing on shoulders.

"Don't get your head cut off, because your head will hit the ground, and that's gonna hurt." - Joe

That’s gotta be one of the most horrifying and bizarre things to see, a decapitated head looking at you and focusing it’s eyes on yours after you call their name.

If someone keeps calling my name after beheading me i would be really pissed, like dude just let me die in peace ffs

Anyone who has ever warmed up coffee in a microwave , knows 30 seconds is a long time .

If you die from blood loss you're aware you're dying, but after a time you cannot seem to summon the will to care about it. It's kind of peaceful. I almost bleed to death about 15 years ago, it was only 4 units of packed red cells that saved me. Much of what happened is lost to me, but I do remember realising I was dying but surprisingly didn't care. It was bloody odd.

"Lucid Decapitation" will be my next death metal band name.

Don't get your head cut off because your head will hit the ground and that's going to hurt. Well that's some life advice.

"Any last request?" "Yeah, would you mind setting a pillow down there for me?"

6:05 "You'll be in some state of shock". Yes. This seems very likely. The shock might also be fatal if not treated rapidly. The fact that your brain has been catastrophically separated from your central nervous system and irreparably severed from blood and oxygen supply might also prove problematic. But shock, yeah, that will be a big issue when it comes to recovery.

Imagine you gotta cut someone's head off, they step on your foot, and then they apologize. "It's alright don't worry about"

Ok I just discovered this channel about an hour ago & now I've gone down a helluva rabbit hole

If i called out a beheaded man's name right after being decapitated, and he looked at me, then closed his eyes, i would just leave him alone.

STORY TIME: So waaaaaaay back in the day when my grandma was a kid they obviously had no television or internet so her only form of entertainment was watching chicken get decapitated than run around while being headless, she wouldn't find this amusing now a days but back then she did.

“The First Deadly Sin”, a book by Lawrence Sanders, is an excellent read. The killer decapitates his victims, then holds their head up so they can look at their own headless body as they’re dying.

The 30 seconds demonstrated made me feel really uneasy and disturbed. Good job.

Sounds to me like Mr. Languille got very annoyed with Dr. Beurieux for disturbing him in the middle of his intense dying... twice!

"Giving you the impression your no longer in your body" Yes, that is kind of the reality of the situation...

It makes me sad to imagine those moments of terrors and sadness that those people had to feel. And it's unimaginable to think that those moments had to be endured by hundreds of thousands of people (at least). That's a huge amount of terror.

FYI: When Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1587AD, the axeman was so nervous it took something like six swings of the axe before her head came off. Brutal stuff.

"-He's still blinking!!!" "-What amI suppose to do? Kill him again?"

Wow, now Google is listening not only to everything going on in my life via my phone's microphone, but now they're listening to my thoughts as well! It was no more than 3 days ago when I found myself seriously (but silently) pondering how long a brain/mind/person can remain conscious after being severed from the rest of their body.... and then within a couple of short days this video showed up in my recommendations. I didn't do any sort of search to prompt this recommendation on any device, I didn't mention my curiosity to anyone, I didn't have a conversation resembling anything even close to this subject matter... it was a private thought. Another one of life's mysteries...

Jesus imagine trying to die and some guy keeps calling your name and is trying to make eye contact with you like Christ man can’t I die without being bothered

My history teacher in 1991 told the class that getting your head chopped of is a very COLD feeling. I thought, “How would you know this?”

Lucid decapitation, my kind of small talk at dinner.

I went to a market once and saw a headless chicken running around. That was traumatic in and of itself.

I recall this story when I was in middle school. Really glad you overviewed this. Sure it’s morbid, but academically stimulating.

"Ok Languille, blink once if you are dead and twice if you're alive"

I've wondered about this for years; it's nice to finally have an answer.

RU-vid has been suggesting this video for me to watch for YEARS since I stumbled on this channel YEARS ago and I would always skip it. Until today.

Another fun fact - all those pictures of the executioner holding the head up to the crowd.....they are actually showing the head to the headless body, so you could argue that there was a little of the torture element, however it was psychological.

The part that freaked me out was when he called out his name and the eyes opened and fixed on the other man's eyes.That would just ruin my day.

A man was born with just a head and without a shoulder to stand upon. For several years as he gets older his loving parents gave him presents each time. But on the last one he got very upset and angry at both his parents over a birthday gift. "What?!" he says, "a hat again?!". The end.

This video pops up in my RU-vid feed every once in a while, it isn't my favorite but it still appeals to my morbid curiosity.

In the future, 30 seconds should be plenty of time to attach it to a super human robot

“Don’t get your head cut off.” Thanks, important safety tip.

This is interesting because it also seems to speak to how Alzheimer's patients go! They almost all return to dreamlike versions of their childhood, often muddling them up with more contemporary, but significant episodes of their lives! Bizarre? Certainly! Unexpected? Of course! But in retrospect and how one has dreams, maybe not so much... I've gone through dementia with my mother, and then full-blown Alzheimer's... She had episodes at 2:00 every afternoon where she had an uncontrollable urge/need to get home to babysit the 'twins'! She went to High School in a Catholic Convent overseas. She never babysat anyone as a teen, but DID have twins as her first kids! She would panic every day at almost precisely at 2:00 in the afternoon, no watch, nothing to make the time, and when she experienced this, she was living in the Caribbean and nowhere close to LA where she actually was! Before we'd found her this home, we were checking out suitable places in Nor-Cal, and my brother and I went to see the Activity room for the folks. There were wedding dresses for the ladies to do needlework or whatever in prep for their imaginary upcoming marriages! A tall guy standing next to me, starts talking about our last mission and what a bitch it was! It turns out that he was a Mustang Fighter pilot in WWII and somehow thought I was his wingman or something!!!! Now, I hardly look like a WWII pilot! I look like a guy with a ponytail who rides a Harley! I just went along with him because... what else are ya gonna do?!? "It was brutal, man and those fucking Krauts were giving us hell!!! I'm glad we got home though"! He shook my hand...! The mind is a lot stranger, and there are so many aspects about it that there is no AI that can outwit us! That's my belief! AI mat get intent on doing evil to humanity, but it can never match the human mind. IMHO...

After knowing this it would be savage not to vote for soft pillows under every guillotine.

I'm in "that part" of RU-vid again.

I know a 400 pound dude at work whose head I’m positive is over 8 pounds

In my near death experience. I was able to hear and see for a long long time. However, after leaving my body and falling backwards through, the only way I can explain a tunnel. A tunnel with such force that even jumping 360 ft by bungee, didn’t compare. I could still see. I saw from a far a light that was through my eyes on my body. So not sure if senses go first. Just my experience

There's a large section in a book by the Norwegian writer Jens Bjørneboe called Powderhouse ( Kruttårnet ), that descibes the history and methods of capital punishment in painstaking detail. It's the second part of a trilogy about Europe's generous contribution to death and suffering in the world, called The History of Beastiality. The other two are Moment of Freedom and The Silence. If you liked this video, you're gonna love these books.

Heck 30 seconds is a long time when you're alive

Fun fact, if you were to execute a noble in the middle ages and take more than 3 swings to do it, the penalty was death

Reminds me of Exorcist 3 when Brad Dourif said " A Decapitated head cam continue to see for approximately 20 seconds... so when I see one that's cocking... I always hold it up so it can see its body..." it was bone chilling to its core!

“Don’t get your head cut off cause your head will hit the ground and that’s gonna hurt” 😂 you have earned my subscription good sir

I almost got my head cut off but then a dragon interrupted.

Holy Guacamole Batman!!! Talk about "painting with words". That physicians journal entry was so visual!! Great Video, Joe.

Ive only seen movies of heads dropping into baskets. The ground. Ouch. Figured they were dead before hand. Love your Chanel. Funny and I formative. What a way to go! Wish we all go in our sleep!

I will remember this to be told in my late years to my grand-children... It is hilarious as it is informative!

When he said “or would it” I was expected VSauce music to start playing

Believe me, the only horrifying thing during that short time would not be the pain from the cut but the fear of death and leaving life forever.

This is the first Joe Scott video I ever watched. Today RU-vid recommended it to me again. Such is life. :)

RU-vid must REALLY like this video. Every few months it pops up in my feed.

"Dead is less like falling asleep and more like a quick journey through your entire life, before you get to your very last memory." This had me thinking.

The cells in the brain will have residual oxygen to respire with for a short while, but I think the drop in blood pressure will have a significant effect on consciousness and therefore lucidity. In other words, you may be conscious, but probably not fully aware. This can be seen in intensive care patients, where their conscious state seems to run in correlation to their arterial blood pressure, visible on a monitor. So it may not be as bad as is first imagined. It's just my opinion based on circumstances I have witnessed, but I hope I'm correct for the sake of the victims. It is a very different set of circumstances, so there may be mechanisms at play which I haven't considered. Great video, very interesting. 😀

Awesome. I just discovered this channel a couple days ago and I'm liking it more and more😂👍🏻💀

I got this video recommended before going to sleep. Cool. Great.

The rapid eye blinking at first was him thinking ow ow ow my neck.

Languille at the second time was like "WUT ? CAN'T I JUST GO ?"

i'm glad it's only about 30 seconds. i can probably hold my breath that long.

'That dude listened to disco!' Absolutely priceless... Chris

I grew up with a guy who, while pretending to play Russian roulette, found out the hard way the gun was in fact loaded in the middle of a party no less. Friends seated at the table said he inhaled sharply as if shocked and got that heart just sunk/OH SHIT look on his face before slumping over. Stuff of nightmares.

Finally someone answers this question with actual information. I've read things referring to the doctor pestering Languille before without actually quoting the passage.Thanks, Joe. Now I'll be creeped out for the rest of the day.

Favorite video of yours so far. I’ve always wondered about this.

"Don't get your heads cut off." Me: "I mean, I'm sure as shit gonna try not to, but we'll see."

I travel to Tudor England. I commit some terrible crime for whatever reason and sentenced to death. A crowd of people walks up to the stand where I am about to live my last moments. The headsman asks me if I have any last words or wishes. I look to him, my head on the block and say with one last breath: "My ancestors are smiling on me, imperials. Can you say the same?"

I like talking about stuff like this at partys with random strangers..

Joe said, "Yeahhhhh!" I laughed so hard at this!

whenever I watch any of his videos I like to loop the intro bongos for like a minute straight to get a beat going, its actually kinda fun trying to get it perfect so it plays seamlessly, you should try it.

That's enough RU-vid for me today

Gread vid. Truly cutting-edge.

This stuff gives me such bad anxiety but for some reason i still wanna watch

its good to come back to this video after some time. this is the first video of yours that I watched. that is why you, in my mind, will always be "guillotine guy."

Now my neck hurts.

How the hell did this video end up on my recommend list? It was however fascinating (although very morbid). Instant sub lol 😁

Thank you for clarifying all of this; it was a concern of mine until last Wednesday....

youtube keeps recommending me this so sure ill watch it again

FWIW, I experienced a cardiac arrest a few years ago. The first sensation I had that something had gone wrong was dizziness, and I passed out within a few seconds. The doctors told me that my heart had probably stopped 30 seconds or so before I felt dizzy, because that's how long it takes for the oxygen levels in the brain to drop enough to lose consciousness. So, I have experienced this shutting down of all the different parts of the brain. My memories did not all play back. In fact I was completely unaware that my heart had stopped. During those 30 seconds, I was talking to my friends and gathering my belongings as we had just gotten out of the ocean, as if everything was normal. Of course, someone being executed would be painfully aware of what is going on, so the experience would be completely different. But I can say from experience that memory playback is not automatic, at least in one instance. And, just in case, no, I would not like to compare the two experiences, thank you.

"That guy listened to disco..." Which is why he was beheaded.

Just wanted to thank you for giving me such a heartwarming and truly lighthearted content 👍👍👍🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤣🤣

This is the video that sparked my interest in your channel. Thank you for sharing!

".. or would it?" *Vsauce music starts playing*

don't get your head cut off because your head is gonna hit the ground and that's gonna hurt.

I remember watching a doc about an Australian bound 747 passenger jet that blew open while over the Pacific Ocean. They were able to land the plane, but several passengers were sucked out because of the rapid decompression. They believed some may have survived and then fell all the way to the ocean. Almost 40,000 feet for four minutes.

So i just discovered this Chanel and i love it!

"JUST MAKE IT STOP MOVING" WHY AM I LAUGHING

Okay RU-vid. I'll watch it, you know, for possible future use.

Me eating: Thanks Joe I'm not hungry anymore...

*Joe good job on the video it's now more infamous then 2 girls 1 cup, congratulations.*

When you are sleeping and having a dream (which may last only a few seconds) the dream may seem like an eternity. Maybe the headless person spends 30 seconds in this physical world dying but in his/her mind it is a lifetime. How horrible would that be?

When I die I want to go quietly, in my sleep, like my great-grandfather. Not screaming and in a panic like the passengers of the car he was driving...

I love random head Thursdays

"Then came the reign of terror." superb delivery my friend

'a dull blade or a bad swing could quickly lead to a game of JUST MAKE IT STOP MOVING' hahahahahhahahaha im dying

'Ah hello Doctor Beurieux, what kind of research do you do?' 'Oh I talk to recently decapitated heads... wait, where are you going?... please come back and talk to me...hello...hello...'

Anyone who has waited 30sec through an ad for an extra life knows it’s long.

Ik this is completely besides the point but the "Kumbaya my Lord" really got me xD

Marie Antoinette's last words were, "I'm sorry, Monsieur. I did not mean to do it." And people trash Marie Antoinette. 😕 I love her. She was just clueless about how to run a kingdom. It wasn't her idea. She was thrown into it unprepared.