Global Near Death Experiences Scientific Study

Surfer · 18 Sep 2008 at 11:08

Should be interesting...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7621608.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7622000/7622456.stm

You see we know the mind and consciousness are affected by the brain.

But whether the former is utterly dependant on the latter for its actual existence is the question. In other words is consciousness a property of the physical functions/connections in the brain OR is it distinct from it?
(e.g. we drink water from a cup..the cup shapes the water but the water ISNT the cup - horrible example i know)

If it is the latter then i cannot imagine a more remarkable and genuinely earth-shattering revelation to today's world.

maybe time to dig out my old mind-machine as well

Hellsmk2 · 18 Sep 2008 at 11:12

I can answer this one in one word: Ketamine.

Adsta · 18 Sep 2008 at 11:14

woah thats quite interesting

CaptainComedy · 18 Sep 2008 at 11:28

LOL morriston swansea

Snakedoctor · 18 Sep 2008 at 11:31

I had a near death experience when I was 11, I nearly drowned.

sambo_joseph · 18 Sep 2008 at 11:37

has anyone in here read "The Holographic Universe" in here? it is really fascinating

~J~ · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:03

codec said:
LOL morriston swansea

I can see that hospital from here, what's wrong with it? They do an incredible amount of research into things.

Radiation · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:05

Here's something no one has yet to sufficiently explain as far as i know.

We use new energy constantly from the food we eat, our body's matter is also used and replaced over short to long periods, we pretty much become physically different to who we were, so if this is the case how is it the consciousness we are is always the same, im not talking memory's and processing and the structure of the brain, im talking that spark of awareness that is undeniably you and always is, i trust you know what im saying, how is this possible scientifically speaking?

Surfer · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:11

How would you know it was the same or different??!!! From your perspective everything would be fine. You = you even if you are different. (different in the sense of having a different personality e.g. after an extreme accident e.g. car crash relatives of victim report said person evidencing behaviour differences ...its like their personality was different after the crash...but are they still the same ? same person? THEY might feel the same because all they have access to is their own consciousness.)

the problem with subjectivity is that the view from that window is quite limited

sambo_joseph · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:18

Radiation said:
Here's something no one has yet to sufficiently explain as far as i know.

We use new energy constantly from the food we eat, our body's matter is also used and replaced over short to long periods, we pretty much become physically different to who we were, so if this is the case how is it the consciousness we are is always the same, im not talking memory's and processing and the structure of the brain, im talking that spark of awareness that is undeniably you and always is, i trust you know what im saying, how is this possible scientifically speaking?

A very trusted nutritionist and Doctor (Vernon Coleman) says that every 2 months our bodily cells are completely restored to their original and natural states. I may have mis-interpretted the specifics of this but it is something to look into

Masterdog · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:20

Interesting experiment, though I'm not sure if were floating out of my body I'd stop to admire some pictures. Be incredible if they actually confirmed something is going on tho.

MookJong · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:28

There are a few cases of people who were blind from birth able to see during a Near Death Experience. These cases are the most credible as far as I'm concerned.

Surfer · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:40

sambo_joseph said:
has anyone in here read "The Holographic Universe" in here? it is really fascinating

have it! - not got round to reading it yet. Too many books! currently reading The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World.

edit

if you are blind from birth what are your dreams like?

Radiation · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:46

Surfer said:
How would you know it was the same or different??!!!

Exactly, how do we know?

I personally always feel like me but is my consciousness an illusion and am i not the same as i was a second ago, minute, hour, day, week and so on?

Im willing to bet everyone here thinks they're the same as always, how can we know for sure?

Russinating · 18 Sep 2008 at 13:01

Surfer said:
if you are blind from birth what are your dreams like?

They have normal dreams, but they're usually based on what they're used to ie. smell, taste, touch and sound. Makes sense seeing as you usually dream about something that happened recently or something you were thinking about before you went to sleep.

They also see a mish-mash of colours and shapes apparently - sort of like a crazy eye picture mixed with a water colour, and a bit like what you see when you close your eyelids but more vivid.

How would you know it was the same or different??!!!

You wouldn't, the same as children don't know that they're blind or deaf until they're told or figure it out. Had an interesting talk from one of the deaf models who was on Britains Missing Model. She was talking about things I'd never thought about, like she didn't know wtf was going on when people came up to her moving their mouths, and she thought they had a magic door because everytime her parents opened it someone would be there (obviously couldn't hear doorbell).

D.P. · 18 Sep 2008 at 13:03

Radiation said:
Here's something no one has yet to sufficiently explain as far as i know.

We use new energy constantly from the food we eat, our body's matter is also used and replaced over short to long periods, we pretty much become physically different to who we were, so if this is the case how is it the consciousness we are is always the same, im not talking memory's and processing and the structure of the brain, im talking that spark of awareness that is undeniably you and always is, i trust you know what im saying, how is this possible scientifically speaking?

Your brain doesn't really change much and even when neurons are replaced this doesn't effect the processing in your brain.

So there is no scientific question.

Your question presuposes the existence of something outside the realms of science. Therefore science can't answer your question. Only people of your belief system could, perhaps ask a a buddist or something.

D.P. · 18 Sep 2008 at 13:04

MookJong said:
There are a few cases of people who were blind from birth able to see during a Near Death Experience. These cases are the most credible as far as I'm concerned.

How are they credible though. No of them have been proven to be actually sensing the real environment.

Blind people can still visualize and imagine. the visual-cortex is still active in blind people. Its just not grounded in the visual world.

Zogger · 18 Sep 2008 at 13:05

Surfer said:
if you are blind from birth what are your dreams like?

Stevie Wonder said on Jonathan Ross that he doesn't see in dreams.

People who go blind later in life though normally do I think

D.P. · 18 Sep 2008 at 13:05

Radiation said:
Exactly, how do we know?

I personally always feel like me but is my consciousness an illusion and am i not the same as i was a second ago, minute, hour, day, week and so on?

Im willing to bet everyone here thinks they're the same as always, how can we know for sure?

Continuality of space-time.

MookJong · 18 Sep 2008 at 13:25

Can I just clarify that the blind people having the NDE's saw the operating theatre they were in and later described things in the room that only a sighted person could have seen.