Human Consciousness: how we observe (Humans)

by David Turell , Thursday, August 18, 2016, 23:26 (3017 days ago) @ dhw


> dhw: Note the headline: “There IS life after death.” What a cop-out! There is life after death, and it lasts for three minutes! This study and your own comment only deal with out of body experiences in which the “dead” patient witnesses actions that have taken place in his presence. But you know as well as I do that this is far from being the only type of NDE, and there are some in which patients claim to have entered another world where they commune with other “souls” and, above all, acquire information they could not otherwise have known (e.g. the very recent death of a relative).-Agreed, the headline is wildly hopeful and not called for, but the point of my presenting the article was not the headline, but Parnia's work results seen during resuscitations. You are correct, this study does not cover the other kinds of NDE's whose evidence in veridical instances is very supportive of 'souls'.-> dhw: It is this ability to think and communicate with others (not just passively observe) that supports the theory that mind and body are separate, which is the essence of what is known as substance dualism (property dualism makes mind and body interdependent, and so offers no possibility of life after death).-You know more about the philosophy of dualism than the extent to which I am educated in it. I accept your observation, and now see your point. For me our consciousness is what contains our soul and can separate from the body to enter afterlife.-> dhw:If you believe human souls also survive our physical death, and if you believe they are conscious (not much point in having an unconscious soul, is there? You might as well be dead), how can you also believe that consciousness requires a brain to be “received”, unless you accept my suggestion that the brain is only required so long as we have a body?-I think we can agree there are the two types of near to death episodes, out of body and down the tunnel to light. When separated into those parts we are in full agreement. Both shed light on how our consciousness/soul might work. We also know of other instances that are not near to death but veridical: Pam Reynold's surgical experience mentioned in my books and online:-http://neardth.com/pam-reynolds-near-death-experience.php