I am scheduled for a hip replacement, a surgery in which I will receive propofol as my general anesthetic.
I find propofol—and all general anesthetics—are interesting at a practical, scientific, and medical level. They are a miracle of modern medicine, and it is hard to conceive of surgery without them.
Yet they are also amazing as a philosophical window into consciousness, unconsciousness, and death. For example, I wonder what metaphysically is happening at that moment of transition from consciousness to unconsciousness, and how similar will this be to my future death?
With that in mind, when the anesthesiologist counts down as he injects, I will do my best to think of the most lovely things I know: my wife, my parents, and my cat. After all, you never know.