I've been wondering this for years.

If you cut a person clean in half, vertically, fast enough, which side would he still be conscious from before the brain processes the cut?

This post has been edited by Alone: Jul 16 2010, 12:05 AM

If it is fast enough to have any consciousness it should be both sides.

I dont think a person is conscious anymore.

We human are different from chickens and fishes. Chicken and fishes still can move a bit after being slaughtered. Those are just muscle reflexes

if you decapitate a person there may be a few seconds that the person can still remain conscious , but as for vertical cut , i think consciousness would vanish right away

This post has been edited by ComposMentis: Jul 15 2010, 03:08 PM

That is interesting, Compos. Why vertical cut is an exception? Can you give further explaination.

Having no medical background whatsoever, I'd go with faceless. He'd mercifully be conscious for only a split second though (I hope!).

yes, that split second is my point. which part of him for that split second will he be conscious from?

as for Compos, please explain why the consciousness will vanish straight away.

i think the brain's activity will cease instantly if it's severely damaged , try to compare it with head gunshot cases , the victims always die on the spot , right ?

This post has been edited by ComposMentis: Jul 16 2010, 01:32 AM

vertical is imposible. horizontal yes.

Hm, I think both will be conscious.

Have you encounter case of being badly wounded but feel not pain at the moment the injury is inflicted? The pain is only felt much later. In such case do we say there is no consciousness because we are not aware of the pain. Or that there is conciousness becasue you are alive and kicking?

It's all in the mind. If his eyes are blind folded, he might not be able to distinguish what had happened, by the time his brain processing what had happened, he died.

There isn't pain because the body is in shock- when the body recovers from shock you'll feel the pain of the wound.
Nothing to do with consciousness I believe.

If you asking whether it is possible for a person's brain work as 2 separate consciousness, then the answer would be yes-Split Brain. Just cut off the bridge between the 2 halves of the brain, no need to split the entire person.

wow.. nice info.. but not what I was looking for.. but could be in the right direction of the answer i'm looking for

and that also includes most of the people that replied here, most don't really understand the point of my question.

maybe if you try to picture it as yourself. you're cut right down the middle, and your left body is thrown at the left side, while your right side of your body is thrown to the right, all within a split second. so before you die in that split second, which side would you be conscious from?

there has to be ONE side that you're looking from/feeling from/conscious from/thinking from.

I think the pain is too severe that will shock the brain to blackout, fainted.

I get what you mean now.

Unfortunately, I don't think there will be an answer until someone personally does it to tell us.

there's a thought experiment which is VERY similar, where someone's brain was chopped in half, and both halves regenerated into whole beings once again. But the question revolved around who is considered to be the "original" and the "clone", rather than which physical portion would a consciousness be inside.

This post has been edited by VMSmith: Jul 18 2010, 02:26 AM

i didn't know brains can regenerate.. is this true? even if it's true, i doubt the person would still be alive... but if the person isn't alive, then it'd be impossible to regenerate... so...

Question is.... is the brain our consciousness?

Brains can't regenerate.

It's a thought experiment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_experiment