5 ms·

I'm (only a little bit) sorry to be so pedantic, but I've grown weary of this modern misuse of death for hyperbolic effect. You didn't die. You weren't dead a

I'm (only a little bit) sorry to be so pedantic, but I've grown weary of this modern misuse of death for hyperbolic effect. You didn't die. You weren't dead and you aren't now resurrected. You experienced a very serious medical event, and you almost died, but didn't. Even metaphorically, you didn't die: you're still around. Robert Pirsig can claim that Phaedrus died; you cannot, because you're still here. I don't know why this small untruth bothers me so, but it really does.

gertef 14y ago
Because death is really serious business. Misinformation hurts.
hnriot 14y ago
Also, it wood be nice if peepol proof readed there blogs a little more often two.
- rosser 14y ago
  And their comments.
  - jontas 14y ago
    I didn't notice at first, but based on the number of obvious typos in the parent, I'm pretty certain it was intentional.
    - rosser 14y ago
      They also edited their comment to make it glaringly, unmistakably obvious. When I commented, the their/there mistake was the only typo.
rosser 14y ago
While I get the point you're trying to make, and even somewhat agree with it, there are two definitions of "death" in play. The problem isn't hyperbole; it's simply one of equivocating between them. There's clinical death, which the author of TFA very likely did experience. If VF continues for anything longer than a few seconds, asystole frequently occurs. Among other things, asystole is definitive of "clinical death." On the other hand, there's death death. This is the one where we bury you and mourn you and so-on. Yes, they're very much not the same thing. Yes, the author is probably equivocating between them, at least a little. But no, his describing what he experienced as "death" is not hyperbolic — at least not according to the clinical definition.
- jemfinch 14y ago
  > If VF continues for anything longer than a few seconds, asystole frequently occurs. Among other things, asystole is definitive of "clinical death." This isn't true. VFib can persist for a long time (at least 20 minutes, maybe more). Furthermore, defibrillators aren't applied to an asystole heart. Nor do practitioners typically continue working after clinical death has been declared.
  - rosser 14y ago
    "...asystole frequently occurs..." vs. "VFib can persist..." How are these incompatible?
    - SoftwareMaven 14y ago
      "In medicine, asystole, colloquially known as flatline, is a state of no cardiac electrical activity, hence no contractions of the myocardium and no cardiac output or blood flow."[1] vs "Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib or VF) is a condition in which there is uncoordinated contraction of the cardiac muscle of the ventricles in the heart, making them quiver rather than contract properly."[2] By definition, if vfib is occuring, asystole isn't. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asystole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asystole 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vfib https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vfib
      - rosser 14y ago
        I'm aware of what both mean, and that you can't be in both states. It's the highlighted words whose incompatibility I'm questioning. That VFib can last minutes in some cases doesn't mean that it doesn't quickly lead to asystole in others. In fact, quoting from the linked Wikipedia article on VF, "If this arrhythmia continues for more than a few seconds, it will likely degenerate further into asystole ('flatline')."
        jemfinch 14y ago
        The incorrectness in your claim was the use of the word "frequently". VFib does not "frequently" become asystole after a few seconds. It generally continues for several minutes. 2% of people who enter asystole ever recover; far more than 2% of people who enter vfib and stay there for more than "a few seconds" recover. Wikipedia seems to be missing an "eventually" in the sentence you quoted. The arrhythmia can persist for several minutes, but if it persists for more than a few seconds it will likely eventually generate into asystole without medical intervention.
baddox 14y ago
I quit my job yesterday. In the evening, I just walked out of my office and straight home. While at home, I did absolutely no work for my former employer. I was unemployed for more than twelve hours. Then this morning, I returned to work and am now employed again.
- Trufa 14y ago
  Unfair analogy, you could easily modify it to this: You walk out your office because you were fired, your boss calls you at night because it was a mistake, you go back to work in the morning. I'm not saying I disagree with your point. I don't think your analogy fits.
zachrose 14y ago
I was interested in what the author had to say about the experience of "dying," so I got what I paid for.

gertef 14y ago

Because death is really serious business. Misinformation hurts.

hnriot 14y ago

Also, it wood be nice if peepol proof readed there blogs a little more often two.

rosser 14y ago
And their comments.
- jontas 14y ago
  I didn't notice at first, but based on the number of obvious typos in the parent, I'm pretty certain it was intentional.
  - rosser 14y ago
    They also edited their comment to make it glaringly, unmistakably obvious. When I commented, the their/there mistake was the only typo.

rosser 14y ago

While I get the point you're trying to make, and even somewhat agree with it, there are two definitions of "death" in play. The problem isn't hyperbole; it's simply one of equivocating between them. There's clinical death, which the author of TFA very likely did experience. If VF continues for anything longer than a few seconds, asystole frequently occurs. Among other things, asystole is definitive of "clinical death." On the other hand, there's death death. This is the one where we bury you and mourn you and so-on. Yes, they're very much not the same thing. Yes, the author is probably equivocating between them, at least a little. But no, his describing what he experienced as "death" is not hyperbolic — at least not according to the clinical definition.

jemfinch 14y ago
> If VF continues for anything longer than a few seconds, asystole frequently occurs. Among other things, asystole is definitive of "clinical death." This isn't true. VFib can persist for a long time (at least 20 minutes, maybe more). Furthermore, defibrillators aren't applied to an asystole heart. Nor do practitioners typically continue working after clinical death has been declared.
- rosser 14y ago
  "...asystole frequently occurs..." vs. "VFib can persist..." How are these incompatible?
  - SoftwareMaven 14y ago
    "In medicine, asystole, colloquially known as flatline, is a state of no cardiac electrical activity, hence no contractions of the myocardium and no cardiac output or blood flow."[1] vs "Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib or VF) is a condition in which there is uncoordinated contraction of the cardiac muscle of the ventricles in the heart, making them quiver rather than contract properly."[2] By definition, if vfib is occuring, asystole isn't. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asystole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asystole 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vfib https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vfib
    - rosser 14y ago
      I'm aware of what both mean, and that you can't be in both states. It's the highlighted words whose incompatibility I'm questioning. That VFib can last minutes in some cases doesn't mean that it doesn't quickly lead to asystole in others. In fact, quoting from the linked Wikipedia article on VF, "If this arrhythmia continues for more than a few seconds, it will likely degenerate further into asystole ('flatline')."
      - jemfinch 14y ago
        The incorrectness in your claim was the use of the word "frequently". VFib does not "frequently" become asystole after a few seconds. It generally continues for several minutes. 2% of people who enter asystole ever recover; far more than 2% of people who enter vfib and stay there for more than "a few seconds" recover. Wikipedia seems to be missing an "eventually" in the sentence you quoted. The arrhythmia can persist for several minutes, but if it persists for more than a few seconds it will likely eventually generate into asystole without medical intervention.

baddox 14y ago

I quit my job yesterday. In the evening, I just walked out of my office and straight home. While at home, I did absolutely no work for my former employer. I was unemployed for more than twelve hours. Then this morning, I returned to work and am now employed again.

Trufa 14y ago
Unfair analogy, you could easily modify it to this: You walk out your office because you were fired, your boss calls you at night because it was a mistake, you go back to work in the morning. I'm not saying I disagree with your point. I don't think your analogy fits.

zachrose 14y ago

I was interested in what the author had to say about the experience of "dying," so I got what I paid for.