proof of Heaven

[Something completely different]

So it might have been real, or he was lying, or the scan was broke, or other. Which is more likely?

[Cinjin]

perhaps next time, he could bring us some video footage.




...


I once had this cool dream about my great great great great grandfather crossing the Delaware with a bunch of soldiers.
Proof that my distant grandfather was George Washington.
Hey it must be true ... I have a picture of George Washington.

[Cato]

It makes a difference because he spent time in detail how his meningitis made this experience real not imagined based on his brain scan. The parts of the brain he says responsible for some people imagining this experience was gone on his scan so it had to be real, anyway that's what he says

Manowar

Still, with this 'he says' bullshit. I was being polite when I posted links to articles written on the subject by a neuroscientist. The following quote, from the first linked article, is not from Sam Harris. I say this knowing that Harris has been controversial in other matters.

[quote] As is obvious to you, this is truth by authority. Neurosurgeons, however, are rarely well-trained in brain function. Dr. Alexander cuts brains; he does not appear to study them. “There is no scientific explanation for the fact that while my body lay in coma, my mind—my conscious, inner self—was alive and well. While the neurons of my cortex were stunned to complete inactivity by the bacteria that had attacked them, my brain-free consciousness ...” True, science cannot explain brain-free consciousness. Of course, science cannot explain consciousness anyway. In this case, however, it would be parsimonious to reject the whole idea of consciousness in the absence of brain activity. Either his brain was active when he had these dreams, or they are a confabulation of whatever took place in his state of minimally conscious coma. [/quote}

[KichigaiNeko]

A Postcard would've been nice

[KichigaiNeko]

i have posted this before so rather than necropost I give you

Is this your brain on god?

---

The original thread here: http://atheistforums.org/thread-13414.html

[The Grand Nudger]

Something that has always boggled my mind about these sorts of testimonials. How in the hell do these folks have any concept of time (or their place in it) in their dreamstate? The line always goes "my brain wasn't functioning [adequately] so how could this be explained"....wasn't functioning when? How long do you think you were dreaming this dream, and when do you imagine that this occurred?

[DeistPaladin]

Something that has always boggled my mind about these sorts of testimonials. How in the hell do these folks have any concept of time (or their place in it) in their dreamstate? The line always goes "my brain wasn't functioning [adequately] so how could this be explained"....wasn't functioning when? How long do you think you were dreaming this dream, and when do you imagine that this occurred?

Also, memory is stored in the brain and accessed through it.

If someone was really dead, how did the memories of what they experienced get recorded in the brain that should have also been, by definition, dead at that time?

Then again, if memory can also be stored in the disembodied soul, allowing said disembodied soul to retain memories of experiences in death, why can this soul-memory not be accessed while the bodily brain suffers from amnesia, Alzheimer's, etc.?

[Minimalist]

So it might have been real, or he was lying, or the scan was broke, or other. Which is more likely?

Religious delusion. Common among those asswipes.

[Cyberman]

A Postcard would've been nice

A slight diversion from topic, but since you reminded me I couldn't resist I'm afraid. From the original JNE forum: No Postcards in Hell.

You may recognise a few individuals in there, including yours truly under my original nom de forum AntiGodSquad.

[Cinjin]

Then again, if memory can also be stored in the disembodied soul, allowing said disembodied soul to retain memories of experiences in death, why can this soul-memory not be accessed while the bodily brain suffers from amnesia, Alzheimer's, etc.?

It's the Greatest American Hero Dilemma, like the Aliens, Jesus just didn't leave behind good enough operating instructions.