Can We Sense Death?

In our dreams we may be able to predict death by the different types of indicators our minds imbibe. I’ll give you one example of a dream an associate of mine had after experiencing a number of urgent phone calls one night. He missed the calls, realized that it had been missed seven times. On that night he dreamt about a relative dying. He noticed that he’d never dreamt like this prior to this dream and noticed its oddness.

On the next day, he was called by a relative and given the news of death. Perhaps the sheer randomness of his dream led to the unconscious non-random premonition of such a death? I say, perhaps.

On a more mythical level, spiritual experiences tell the story of death premonitions. Jesus of Nazareth, in the bible, is said to have felt his death coming on. To what extent was this common sense and to what extent was this a natural predisposition or instinct to death? To what extent was he conscious or unconscious? Are they both connected?

If we accept the tenets of psychology and evolution then it should not be difficult to see how we may be wired in a way that predisposes us to a consciousness of various patterns in the trials of self-preservation. Perhaps evolutionary psychology can assist me in my hypothesis, but if we are social creatures, then shouldn’t we be endowed with a capacity to, at least, experience the oncoming death of other people just as in ourselves? This question, I think, requires a careful study. Perhaps a science of pre-fatal psychology is in line? Perhaps it may be more physical and more neurological? I argue, let us not underestimate anything.

1 There are various epistemological problems here which I am addressing for that specific purpose. I sense certain difficulties arise when I speak of causal relations or unaccountable mental conditions. For the sake of intellectual progress, however, the show will go on.