"11:00 PM had my first bout of nausea; Rx took care of it. I feel wonderful. Absolutely no pain, I can't finish a sentence or remember words so Cary, Laura and Laurie did their best to understand what I am trying to convey. I usually get enough…"
 |
The World's Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!
Neurosurgeon's after death trip to heaven.
I guess meningitis, fever, and drugs wouldn't cause a pleasant hallucination, it had to be actual heaven.
*
I don't know. I never know what to think of a man in a bow tie.
*
I'm glad he enjoyed "death", but an entirely subjective, meningitis-induced memory doesn't exactly give me confidence.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on -
I find it astonishing that people trust their senses or perceptions ESPECIALLY when their physiology is malfunctioning! It's like no one ever read that line from Dickens' Christmas Carol:
"Why do you doubt your senses?"
"Because," said Scrooge, "a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats."
If a blot of mustard or an undigested bit of beef can twist the senses, then how about dangerously low blood pressure or O2 saturation much less than 100% or any one of a hundred other untoward conditions? Should we also mention the psychotropic effects of the medications which may be administered at the time?
I'm not even a doctor, and I can think of the above just off the top of my head. This guy is a neurosurgeon and he can't be bothered to look at this critically and objectively???
[BTW, Charles Osgood wears bow-ties, and he's a decent sort ... but I'm not relying on him to deal with a tumor in my cerebellum, either!]
-
Permalink Reply by Regina M on -
Isn't Bill Nye a bow-tie wearer? I'd trust him to be suitably skeptical about such silliness.
-
Permalink Reply by nick cox on -
Why is it that all these guys who go to Heaven when they die (or don't die) and come back again,never come back with anything interesting? They see angels on fluffy clouds etc but couldn't they pick up something interesting,such as a cure for cancer,or how is Elvis?
-
Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on -
You are absolutely right. Maybe that's where he learned to tie the bow tie. it's not easy.
-
Permalink Reply by Luara on -
NDE's are probably where the stories about heaven and hell come from in the first place.
-
Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on
-
That article is a KEEPER, Luara, and a must-read for anyone who has to deal with a believer in near-death experiences.
-
Permalink Reply by Luara on
-
Yes, and this neurosurgeon is making a giant leap in his "reasoning", using only his apparently very minimal knowledge of neuroscience. It suggests that the hyper-reality of this kind of experience is very convincing to people. Terence McKenna also said he believed in the reality of the ketamine experience.
I wonder how this neurosurgeon claims this kind of experience couldn't come from a drug, since he's most likely never tried DMT himself.
I had a very mild experience of hyper-reality when I started taking a choline supplement. I wonder what's known about what is going on in someone's brain when they have these intense experiences of hyper-reality.
I wonder if it's possible for stories of the afterlife to be true, in the sense that the dying brain would experience this merging into the light etc. as an eternity.
Sam Harris says that these vast experiences can happen in a very small time, so maybe a small time could seem like eternity. One couldn't have an infinite number of thoughts, but perhaps an ultimate version of a meditation experience of merging into bliss.Dead people have a seraphic smile, at least sometimes - maybe this smile corresponds to an experience.
Nature would be less cruel if this were so - animals get torn to pieces without anesthesia, and they probably have some kind of consciousness. Maybe bliss at the end of life, evolved for some reason.
I'd love to believe that the soul can exist independent of the body, and could survive, at least if the survival doesn't follow the grim rules of many religions. I've heard that some hospitals put pictures facing towards the ceiling where someone's spirit, if it really was up there during an out of body experience, could see them. But not that anyone did describe what was in the picture after an OBE. It would help if this were routinely done in hospitals, someone has an OBE and one can check whether they saw the picture ...
-
Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on
-
Excellent response!
CONNECT WITH ATHEIST NEXUS
Latest Activity
- Top News
- Everything
John Hutcheson posted a blog postAre the media too giddy over the Pope?
With all the media attention the on the Pope, important stories are being missed, human rights violations, Monsanto protection act, Russia march to blasphemy laws, and of the big story this week did Harry Potter vanquish dementors?See More
Ian Mason commented on Ruth Anthony-Gardner's group Hang With Friends"The medical profession seems to have improved in some areas at least. Personally I think some of that is due to the higher level of education of society as a whole. We know too much to put up with bad treatment now. I saw a documentary last year…"
Nerdlass replied to Ruth Anthony-Gardner's discussion Cicadas taste like asparagus in the group THE KNIFE & FORK"Thanks. Now I have "Glory of Love" stuck in my head. ^^;
I'm not sure if I could get used to eating bugs. It's like... if they're mudbugs or sea-bugs, that's one thing, but it's hard to imagine them tasting good…"
Nerdlass commented on Debra Stevenson's blog post Some Wiccans and their seeking approval from Christians"I converted to paganism (through wicca, but didn't stay there) from xianity. During that conversion period, I tried to reconcile the beliefs, which ultimately, I couldn't. There are some who find a way (probably used to cherry picking, so…"
Hiram replied to Hiram's discussion Epicureanism: a Secular Doctrine for Happiness"There are currently two Gardens of Epicurus: one in Chicago and one in New Jersey. Please visit if you're in the vecinity!"
Hiram commented on Maruli Marulaki's group Epicurean Atheists"There are currently two Gardens of Epicurus: one in Chicago and one in New Jersey. Please visit if you're in the vecinity!"
© 2013 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: Richard Haynes.
