(November 17, 2016 at 1:23 am)Violeta-1998 Wrote: I am currently an agnostic, and I do believe in evolution, the big bang, I am a big fan of Richard Dawkins, Laurence Krauss, Hawking, just to name a few atheists. I think that for the most part, science does its job when explaining the universe, and the world in general. However, the concept of Near Death Experiences and Out of Body Experiences cause me to scratch my head. Recently, Dr. Jeffrey Long published a book where he analyzed 1600 cases of NDEs and he claimed that they were all strikingly similar, regardless of cultural differences. For example, many people reported seeing a bright light, feeling a lot of love, meeting deceased relatives, having a life review. I am wondering if anyone on this site ever read the Dr. Jeffrey book proof of afterlife? In his book, he even debunks the ideas of the brain hallucinating, and the idea of chemicals being released in the brain to cause these experiences. About 95% of participants thought that these experiences felt more real than real life, and hallucinations cannot feel that real. Also, many claim to see A god, but without a particular title. If 1600 experiences are very similar, would you say that it could mean that these are in fact snapshots of an afterlife? I just don't know how they can be so consistent, and how they can be so life changing if they are not real.
People, please go easy on me! This is my first day and I am not an atheist, but an agnostic. I just want to know your opinion on Dr. Jeffrey Long, and on NDEs and OBEs in general!
Thanks,
Violeta :-)
Violeta,
The NDE cases are interesting. I haven't looked into them that deeply, but from my understanding, a lot of what is described as similar; is only similar in the generic, and not the specific. When you look at the specific, it becomes much more difficult to believe that they are describing a common thing.
If this is the case, and they are subjective, rather than objective; then I do think that it is reasonable to consider that they are just an effect of the brain shutting down (being starved of oxygen).
The ones that I think are more interesting (and of greater consideration) are the ones that describe things that could not have been known by the person who was effectively brain dead. Those that describe accurately the events of their own surgery, events in other places in the hospital, and I heard of one the other day where a woman who was blind from birth, accurately described her doctors appearance. This speaks to a different subject than the other examples of NDE... which would be dualism. And the problem here, is that while I have heard a number of these, I haven't seen any original testimony, or reports from those who can corroborate them. It has all been second hand, and more of what I would consider anecdotes, which are general and lack much specifics.
