How people perceive the minds of the dead: The importance of consciousness at the moment of death.
Cognition September 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104308 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental psychology studies (seven studies) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | Across seven studies, people attributed more postmortem mind to the deceased when death occurred during greater wakefulness, awareness, or lucidity, a pattern the authors call "conservation of consciousness." This effect was robust across designs and contexts, was driven more by perceived awareness than fear of death, and increased the moral weight given to dying wishes. |
Abstract
Immortality is thought to be achieved through heroic deeds, reincarnation, and the afterlife. The present studies reveal an alternative path to transcending death: dying while conscious. Seven studies demonstrate that dying while more awake, aware and/or lucid leads people to see a richer postmortem mind-an effect we call conservation of consciousness. People see more mind in the deceased when they die with their eyes open (Study 1), and while awake (vs. in a coma), while suffering from ALS (vs. from Alzheimer's), while on hallucinogens (vs. sedatives), and while dreaming (vs. in a deep sleep; Study 2). This effect is robust, holding even in a between-subjects design, and even when participants are explicitly encouraged to interpret the mind perception items literally (Study 3). Perceived conservation of consciousness after death is driven more by general perceived awareness than by fear of death (Study 4) and predicts perceptions of mind beyond having a vivid (vs. dull) life (Study 5). The last wishes of the dying are also given more moral weight if made by those who ultimately die while conscious (Study 6). Perceived conservation of consciousness also occurs in the real-world context of a historic cemetery (Study 7). These results reveal a simple way to increase your influence after death and highlight both the power of endings and the subjective nature of mind.