Near Death Experiences

[michealdark]

Oh absolutely.

I'm not saying that our brains always figure things out correctly. What I'm saying is that the effect we experience is what goes on in our brains.

Hell, look at love. It's the most heart-renching, physically punishing experience we will ever experience. When you first fall in love, it's like the entire world is irrelevant, and all that matters is her (or him). Your whole body floods with hormones, your brain is all screwed up, focusing on a single part. And your entire world revolves around that person.

But, realistically? It's just hormones and neurons. Once you get rid of those, love is no more of a real emotion than anything else.

I understand what you're saying, and scientifically you're absolutely right, but at that same time I kind of hate having things reduced to those terms. How can one really enjoy emotions if they overanalyze them to just simple physical processes. How can one love someone if they can just go, "there's no such thing is love, it's all just a chemical reaction no different than mixing vinegar with baking soda." Or how can they enjoy happiness when in the back of their mind they're going, "there's no such thing as happiness, it's just my brain being flooded with endorphines."

[Morrison_Lad]

Actually by basic physical laws matter and energy cannot simply cease to exist: it can be transformed, broken down or reduced to lower energy states, but it's still there. By that model we exist and we will continue to exist even when we're broken down to component atoms.

As to our consciousness, well, if you believe that we can be here one day and *pffft* gone the next that's up to you. But I think that studies into OBEs and NDEs are just beginning to show us that there may be more to our present state than has been thought.

Yes. The entire universe will be nothing but photons. Can you be kidding me?

[Morrison_Lad]

I understand what you're saying, and scientifically you're absolutely right, but at that same time I kind of hate having things reduced to those terms. How can one really enjoy emotions if they overanalyze them to just simple physical processes. How can one love someone if they can just go, "there's no such thing is love, it's all just a chemical reaction no different than mixing vinegar with baking soda." Or how can they enjoy happiness when in the back of their mind they're going, "there's no such thing as happiness, it's just my brain being flooded with endorphines."

I'm sorry, that's how I feel.

If people actually had feelings, and people would actually exist for any amount of time, then it would be different.

[michealdark]

Well, that explains why you're always in the moods you're in. You're carrying too much existential angst, man. Sometimes you just gotta turn the brain off and just roll with things.

[Morrison_Lad]

Well, that explains why you're always in the moods you're in. You're carrying too much existential angst, man. Sometimes you just gotta turn the brain off and just roll with things.

True. That is how I feel.

[Shurato2099]

Yes. The entire universe will be nothing but photons. Can you be kidding me?

Actually stray atoms and quantum particles, most likely. And, no, I'm not kidding you.

[michealdark]

True. That is how I feel.

The existential angst part, or the rolling with things and trying to turn off the analytical part of the brain and just enjoying things without dissecting them?

[Tyr]

The near death experience is quite interesting and I've followed it for awhile. But it brings up a lot of questions. I would like to see more research done especially in non-Christian countries. One of the most common things I see in NDE's is an experience of feeling God. So I would like to see what non-Christians experience or at least report experiencing.

I'm sure they have their own research going, we just don't hear about it cause the idea is widely scoffed at. See the problem is that I think their is a certain train of logic here that says that if you validate life after death your validating religion, given that death and what comes after has been the cornerstone of any religion. This isn't to say that any religion out there is necessarily right about the subject. But religion has given us a explanation where science has failed to.