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Can you stop your own heart/breathing from being asked to?


LisaLiel

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Ìt isn't possible breathing is an involuntary reflex which will force you to breathe when the oxygen supply in the blood is getting low or the blood ph falls (CO2 increase in the blood causes a drop in ph)

Edited by fiveworlds
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OK, I'd like to map the ground we've covered here. Is there any more evidence needed to confirm that breathing is an autonomic function? That part is very well known.

 

As part of the parasympathetic system, the only thing that can override breathing is the sympathetic nervous system, for a fight or flight scenario, and that won't stop you from breathing, it will only make you breath harder to supply more oxygen. This should support further that it's incredibly unlikely that anyone could stop their breathing or heartbeat. The whole system is designed to prevent just that. Is there any evidence contradictory to this? Are there any documented examples refuting what we know about the autonomic system?

 

Because if there isn't, I'd like to discuss why people might believe things like this, from a unnamed 200 year old book, somehow trump what we actually know? What is it about this particular scenario that is appealing to entertain? Is it just because of the mind-over-matter control it implies?

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Because if there isn't, I'd like to discuss why people might believe things like this, from a unnamed 200 year old book, somehow trump what we actually know? What is it about this particular scenario that is appealing to entertain? Is it just because of the mind-over-matter control it implies?

Or maybe the horror that someone might be able to make you think yourself to death (in some fashion).

 

It's not a new concept in horror or science fiction.

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