@mathewi The 19th century “phobia” about being buried alive was grounded in reality. Up till laws were passed late in the century requiring a physician or coroner to certify medical death, a lot of people in various coma-like states really *were* buried alive, as evidenced by scratch marks found on the insides of coffin lids when some were later exhumed.Physical death is actually a very tricky thing to define exactly.