(November 20, 2021 at 10:52 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: I have never been to Russia but I trust the testimony of those who have been there.
This guy, Jeffrey Kripal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_J._Kripal
has done seriously good work on mystical and other experiences that seem impossible by current scientific standards. I read Secret Body recently, and I'd say it's a good introduction.
He says that descriptions of these experiences vary according to local vocabulary and habits of thought -- e.g., a Christian will describe what he sees as an angel, while someone else might call it a djinn or a UFO. But when these local contingencies are kept in mind, there is clearly something consistent and real going on.
He is an atheist and an academic, not at all a woo peddler. I was particularly interested in his account of how whenever he gives a speech at a university, people approach him afterward to say that they've had these experiences but refuse to go public with them because they know they will be scoffed at in academia.
None of this, of course, proves the Christian God. But I think Kripal makes a good case that the scientific explanations we have now are overdue for a serious paradigm shift.
