# Could a severed human head be kept alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023 "2011-10-27T23:55:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/21 "2011-10-28T20:30:24Z")
[Fear is an efficient tool of management.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n60N8EJ6rIw) (Warning: YouTube link. Safe for work.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/22 "2011-10-28T21:02:10Z")
If this is a long-range plan for Adam Sandler, I’m against it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/23 "2011-10-28T23:47:13Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Ask the [Soviets](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSrIkUXwsNk&feature=player_embedded). How much more successful would that experiment be with one of today’s heart-lung machines? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/24 "2011-10-28T23:51:25Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > It’s going to want a cookie. \> yields (actual LOL) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/25 "2011-10-28T23:55:55Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I should read other people’s citations more often.That pretty much answers the consciousness question, I think. How did the monkey know its body had been switched? For all we know it could have been snapping because it didn’t like being restrained. It seems like assuming that it knew that its head had been put onto a different body and that this particular scientist had done it is anthropomorphizing. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Ayebaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darth_ayebaw/32/9870_2.png) [@Darth\_Ayebaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Ayebaw)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/26 "2011-10-29T09:11:06Z")
Could have, yes, but monkeys can recognize other monkeys, including themselves. Not to mention new body smelled different and refused to move. How about putting the head on another human though, so we don’t have to rely on machines that can’t yet do everything? Say I had an identical twin (lets remove as many complications asap) who was in an accident and their body was failing but from the shoulders up they were intact. Is it theoretically possible to have my arm amputated and slap the head on there? I mean if the blood gets flowing, right? Or no? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/27 "2011-10-29T09:58:55Z")
It can’t be done. You might delude yourself into thinking you’re brilliant enough, but really it’s just the [devils fucking with you](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Hideous_Strength). ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/28 "2011-10-29T11:30:46Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > If the only thing we cared about was maintaining consciousness for twenty seconds or so – just enough time to prove consciousness via a morse-code message via moving the eyes – that would put the OP in a whole new light. _In a daring cross over between **House** and **24** …_ > [@msmith537](#): > > Do they give Nobel Prizes for creating monkey cyborgs? No, but Skald will set you up with a hookerbot. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > If this is a long-range plan for Adam Sandler, I’m against it. I thought Adam Sandler already was a monkey cyborg. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023/29 "2011-10-29T12:49:06Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Maybe we could mount it on top of a Roomba. Beautiful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-severed-human-head-be-kept-alive/601023.md?page=1)