He never stopped searching for truth, right up to the end. He even made his own death into a philosophical experiment. His philosophy teacher walked with him to the execution site. They were near the hill where people made daily sacrifices to Caesar when the teacher asked, "What are you thinking about now, Kanus? What's going through your mind?" Kanus replied, "I've decided to use that split second — the fastest moment of all — to watch whether my spirit will be aware of leaving my body." He even promised that if he discovered anything, he would somehow return to his friends and tell them what happens to souls after death.
Nor did he up to the very end cease his search after truth, and raised arguments upon the subject of his own death. His own teacher of philosophy accompanied him, and they were not far from the hill on which the daily sacrifice to Caesar our god was offered, when he said, "What are you thinking of now, Kanus? or what are your ideas?" "I have decided," answered Kanus, "at that most swiftly-passing moment of all to watch whether the spirit will be conscious of the act of leaving the body." He promised, too, that if he made any discoveries, he would come round to his friends and tell them what the condition of the souls of the departed might be.