DW wrote:
Oh and hanging is an awfully inhumane way to end somebodies life... especially at this point in civilization.
hanging is a very rapid way to die. the cervical vertebra (c2) is displaced leading to complete and instantaneous bodily paralysis as well as unconsciousness that results from........ermmm hang on.
now that i think about it it may not be so humane. i am not going to edit out what i started to say.
if the body is totally paralyzed (which it is because of the disection of the spinal cord at C2), then breathing is not possible, but maybe it takes some minutes for the lack of oxygen to render one unconscious. in events like decapitation by guillotine, the sudden loss of blood pressure in the brain results in immediate loss of consciousness, but i wonder if the blood pressure in the brains of people who have had their c2's snapped by a hanging drops rapidly. i cannot see any reason why it would, so i would think it takes a few minutes for the head to lose consciousness after a successful hanging. i would welcome any speculation to the contrary because i am almost too tired to investigate the matter further.