The Bullet

Today I was imagining being shot in the head again. I was playing through the scene very slowly and trying to create as much detail as possible. The plot of how I found myself daydreaming this scenario is irrelevant and honestly I don't even think the daydream had a situation attached to it. Anyway, I was stepping through the causal chain, imagining the sights and sounds but even more so - the feelings of being shot in the head. I imagined bone splintering as the bullet drove through my forehead; I imagined the compression and tearing of my frontal lobe. I realized that having a searing slug of metal rudely sublimate my cerebral cortex would destroy my abilities to form coherent language-based thoughts and I'd even lose the ability to emote. I ignored this because it made my fantasy more entertaining.

As the bullet continued, I thought about Newton's first law of motion; would the lubricated chunks of my brain affect the trajectory of the bullet at all? Of course they would, but by no means would it be measureable.

The bullet is now in the 'center' of my brain.

I imagined now that I'd start feeling the pain of the bullet. At first it's an abusive cigarette being extinguished between my eyes, almost metaphorical in a way, but that only lasts for a few millimeters at most. I tried to imagine the pricks of the bone as they gave way, but was suddenly stopped short by mathematics.

The Mathematics

Now wait just a minute; the velocity of a bullet from a modern handgun is far larger than the speed at which nerve synapses fire and transmit information. Let's pull out some numbers: the velocity of a bullet leaving the muzzle of a modern handgun is as low as 800 feet per second, up to about 3000 feet per second [2] [3]. They aren't fantastic sources, but it was only a quick google effort and the gist of the argument is there. For this discussion, I'll assume 800 feet per second, which it should be noted, is on the lowest end of the example spectrum. Now what about nerve impulses? They are in the neighborhood of about 110 feet per second, to between 115 and 197 feet per second. For this discussion, I'll assume 200 feet per second.

Now what does this mean? If we speculate that the average human head is two feet in diameter here are how the speed and times break down:

The slowest bullet will enter and exit the brain before the fastest nerve impulse will even make it one quarter of the way to the other side. There are a few things to make clear before letting this mental experiment soak in:

1. we're using a relatively slow bullet,
2. an exaggeratedly fast nerve impulse,
3. we're also using a two-foot diameter brain,
4. ignoring any influence of the brain on the velocity of the bullet (which I assume to be negligible) and
5. assuming that the nerve impulse would travel to the farthest point away from entry, along the imagined diameter of the brain

I don't know the path the nerve would take, but I assume it would be shorter, so if we assume that the nerve impulse had to travel to the center of the brain in a straight line, the nerve impulse would still have only been halfway. I don't know really anything about the biology or chemistry of how nerve synapses work and operate, so if my speculations are off, I'm welcome to adjustments based on sources that can be provided. Also, these quick calculations don not take into effect the caliber of the bullet, or the fact that the bullet would slow down on padding through a skull and brain matter. I assume the amount to be negligible, and think the numbers are close enough to make any differences unimportant. If need be, for the discussion, I could use a higher-powered handgun with a specific caliber, with a deliberate size so that friction would not be an issue.

The Consequences

Now where am I? I am facing the reality that a bullet can enter and exit my skull, before I'm even conscious of it. I'm assuming consciousness(or something even resembling consciousness) would even be possible. I want to keep exploring; MedicineNet.com describes death as

3. The common law standard for determining death is the cessation of all vital functions, traditionally demonstrated by "an absence of spontaneous respiratory and cardiac functions." 4. The uniform determination of death. The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1980 formulated the Uniform Determination of Death Act. It states that: "An individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem is dead.

The above definitions are obviously biological in nature. I'm a philosopher, so when it comes to the brain, the mind, life and death, I don't care what biologists have to say. Let's assume for this discussion that this is actually a fatal wound and that there is no way I'll survive (after all, this is my fantasy). Where exactly do I draw the line at consciousness? Brain activity? No, absolutely not. Somewhere between the epidermal cells being singed by the embrace of the bullet and the eruption of cerebral matter behind me, my consciousness dies or least degenerates. Consciousness is at least communication, and more precisely if you are an advocate of Berkeley's requirements for being (as I am), then you must also be perceiving. According the the mathematics above, I would not be perceiving the bullet.

What strikes me as even more bizarre is that the nerve impulses would still be following Newton's first law of motion! Nerve impulses would be traversing my brain matter even as it is ripped to shreds. What happens to these messages? Is my brain able to feel them, perceive them in a different way? Is not perception, or reception if you will, of these nerve impulses at some point necessary? If I am no longer perceiving, then what is?

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And so I stay, between quanta of time with a bullet in my brain, hovering precariously on Whitehead's fringe, not sure what to feel or think.