(January 29, 2016 at 11:24 am)Mister Agenda Wrote:scoobysnack Wrote:Yes, he was not declared clinically dead, but that doesn't mean much. There's no evidence proving the crimes I committed and got away with as a youth, yet I can promise you they still happened. I'm far from a perfect person, and I know that no one can claim to be. Another aspect is perception of time, which is vastly different than how we measure it in the material world. One day equaling a rotation of the earth is only relevant to those on earth.If you say you committed crimes as a youth and weren't caught, I'll take your word for it. If you say you murdered an alien from Tau Ceti as a youth, I'll need more than your word to accept that you actually did it. Claims carry differing weights a priori, based on what we already know. That's what differentiates ordinary claims from extraordinary claims.
I tied my shoes this morning. There's no reason not to take my word for that, because a) We all have experience with people tying shoes so we know it's possible; b) I gain nothing from lying about it, not even attention, because it's trivial; and c) It's so trivial that you can't possibly lose anything by taking my word for it, even though it's possible that I could, for some reason, be lying.
If you know more about me, that could adjust your weighting of the claim. For instance, if you knew me to be paralyzed, you would be justified in wanting to know more particulars before accepting my claim at face value.
A claim that any NDE is real contradicts what we already know about biology and physics. It's an extraordinary claim. We should be very skeptical concerning them unless and until the empirical evidence that it is not just something that sometimes happens in people's brains in certain circumstances. One of the things that is evidence that it IS something that happens in some people's brains in certain circumstances is that persons of different cultures and religion have NDEs that align with their expectations. Hindus might meet Ganesh while having an NDE, for instance.
Thanks for the welcome by the way! Sure I agree it's good to be skeptical. I tend to research both sides of all arguments, and trust me I know the arguments against NDEs like the dying brain theory etc. I would also say that although we are an advanced species, we know a lot more now than we did 500 years ago, and will form different conclusions in science and physics 500 years from now.
The thing with NDEs is if you study them in mass, you would form a different conclusion than reading a few, at least from the perspective of the NDE. A common theme and message that comes back is the experience will be different for everyone, just as the experience here is different for everyone, and the beings that people meet give answers to the questions. One answer is that they provide you with the experience that you need, whether you need to meet your deceased relitives for comfort, or need time alone in the void for contemplation before moving on. That's one reason for the tunnel for example. Those in the tunnel are rushing towards the light, others go immediately into the earthbound realm and find themselves outside of their body wondering what's going on, and eventually moving into the void. I'll explain it further as we move on.