4 ms·

Just thinking about that outcome yesterday caused my blood pressure to skyrocket. Dark, cold, cramped, fetid, hungry, thirsty, knowing oxygen is running out.

Buttons840 3y ago
In that scenario, as long as they could keep CO2 levels down, running out of oxygen isn't so bad (ignoring the other troubles). The human body can't detect a lack of oxygen, you just get tired and light headed and pass out.
- taylodl 3y ago
  Yes, but as you hinted at the human body can detect a rise in CO2 levels and it doesn't take much for things to start getting really uncomfortable and fast. To your point, if you could somehow manage the CO2 levels then you would just peacefully fall asleep and die.
- 2-718-281-828 3y ago
  i understand what you are basing your statement on (a cleaner version would be asphyxiation by breathing an inert gas) but you are very wrong. as a matter of fact people with an impaired amygdala who can't experience fear will panic when forced to breathe co2. also your breathing will get very shallow and cause co2 to accumulate triggering those very receptors you argue will stay silent. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.12350 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.12350
  - meepmorp 3y ago
    What the does that have to do with what OP said? OP, correctly, pointed out that we don't detect the lack of O2, we detect a buildup of CO2 (because it causes respiratory acidosis). If the CO2 is removed, there's nothing to cause the panic response, the situation itself notwithstanding. It's still nea that it works with an impaired amygdala, though.
    - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
      first of all - the co2 isn't removed ...
      - WithinReason 3y ago
        It is, they had CO2 scrubbers
        2-718-281-828 3y ago
        but not endlessly. those scrubbers are saturated after a while. that's the whole point. otherwise suffocation wouldn't be a threat to begin with. why do i have to argue here with so many people about something so simple to understand?
        WithinReason 3y ago
        The CO2 scrubbers were in masks which could be replaced and there was enough for 96 hours
        2-718-281-828 3y ago
        how is that even relevant to the question here? i'm out, have a good day
      - meepmorp 3y ago
        It's called a hypothetical.
  - uppiiii765 3y ago
    But kids and people die regularly due to having a barbeque thing lit in a close space and the coals consume the oxygen and make CO2. Wouldn't that wake them up? I also assumed that too much CO2 fast is the key not the super slow version of what those people in the sub have experienced
    - Wojtkie 3y ago
      You're confusing CO2 (carbon dioxide) with CO (carbon monoxide). CO doesn't cause the same physiological fear response that CO2 does.
    - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
      what you mean is CO - not CO2
  - slau 3y ago
    You are arguing for the exact same thing as the person you’re replying to—while attempting to disagree with them. They said that provided you can keep CO2 levels down, lack of oxygen will cause drowsiness and cause you to pass out. This is true. You then argued that breathing increased levels of CO2 will trigger survival instincts. This is also true, and exactly what grandparent said.
    - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - flangola7 3y ago
        That's not what they did at all
- legitster 3y ago
  > The human body can't detect a lack of oxygen Unless you know you are trapped and running out of oxygen.
  - welder 3y ago
    No, you really won't notice even if you know it's coming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw
legitster 3y ago
These kind of long, agonizing, pointless deaths are all too common when dealing with the ocean. There was a horrifying case after Pearl Harbor where bodies were found in the airpocket of the USS West Virginia. They had flashlights with batteries and fresh water and had marked off 16 days on a calendar. Legend has it that sailors could hear banging for weeks knowing they could not cut through the thick battleship armor in time and just drowned out the noise.
- detaro 3y ago
  an article about it: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/16-days-to-die-at-pearl-harbor-families-werent-told-about-sailors-trapped-inside-sunken-battleship/ https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/16-days-to-die-at-...
- cafard 3y ago
  A sometime co-worker's father was on a salvage crew at Pearl Harbor, and apparently heard the banging.

Buttons840 3y ago

In that scenario, as long as they could keep CO2 levels down, running out of oxygen isn't so bad (ignoring the other troubles). The human body can't detect a lack of oxygen, you just get tired and light headed and pass out.

taylodl 3y ago
Yes, but as you hinted at the human body can detect a rise in CO2 levels and it doesn't take much for things to start getting really uncomfortable and fast. To your point, if you could somehow manage the CO2 levels then you would just peacefully fall asleep and die.
2-718-281-828 3y ago
i understand what you are basing your statement on (a cleaner version would be asphyxiation by breathing an inert gas) but you are very wrong. as a matter of fact people with an impaired amygdala who can't experience fear will panic when forced to breathe co2. also your breathing will get very shallow and cause co2 to accumulate triggering those very receptors you argue will stay silent. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.12350 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.12350
- meepmorp 3y ago
  What the does that have to do with what OP said? OP, correctly, pointed out that we don't detect the lack of O2, we detect a buildup of CO2 (because it causes respiratory acidosis). If the CO2 is removed, there's nothing to cause the panic response, the situation itself notwithstanding. It's still nea that it works with an impaired amygdala, though.
  - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
    first of all - the co2 isn't removed ...
    - WithinReason 3y ago
      It is, they had CO2 scrubbers
      - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
        but not endlessly. those scrubbers are saturated after a while. that's the whole point. otherwise suffocation wouldn't be a threat to begin with. why do i have to argue here with so many people about something so simple to understand?
        WithinReason 3y ago
        The CO2 scrubbers were in masks which could be replaced and there was enough for 96 hours
        2-718-281-828 3y ago
        how is that even relevant to the question here? i'm out, have a good day
    - meepmorp 3y ago
      It's called a hypothetical.
- uppiiii765 3y ago
  But kids and people die regularly due to having a barbeque thing lit in a close space and the coals consume the oxygen and make CO2. Wouldn't that wake them up? I also assumed that too much CO2 fast is the key not the super slow version of what those people in the sub have experienced
  - Wojtkie 3y ago
    You're confusing CO2 (carbon dioxide) with CO (carbon monoxide). CO doesn't cause the same physiological fear response that CO2 does.
  - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
    what you mean is CO - not CO2
- slau 3y ago
  You are arguing for the exact same thing as the person you’re replying to—while attempting to disagree with them. They said that provided you can keep CO2 levels down, lack of oxygen will cause drowsiness and cause you to pass out. This is true. You then argued that breathing increased levels of CO2 will trigger survival instincts. This is also true, and exactly what grandparent said.
  - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - flangola7 3y ago
      That's not what they did at all
legitster 3y ago
> The human body can't detect a lack of oxygen Unless you know you are trapped and running out of oxygen.
- welder 3y ago
  No, you really won't notice even if you know it's coming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw

legitster 3y ago

These kind of long, agonizing, pointless deaths are all too common when dealing with the ocean. There was a horrifying case after Pearl Harbor where bodies were found in the airpocket of the USS West Virginia. They had flashlights with batteries and fresh water and had marked off 16 days on a calendar. Legend has it that sailors could hear banging for weeks knowing they could not cut through the thick battleship armor in time and just drowned out the noise.

detaro 3y ago
an article about it: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/16-days-to-die-at-pearl-harbor-families-werent-told-about-sailors-trapped-inside-sunken-battleship/ https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/16-days-to-die-at-...
cafard 3y ago
A sometime co-worker's father was on a salvage crew at Pearl Harbor, and apparently heard the banging.