near to death episodes: latest study (Endings)

by dhw, Tuesday, October 24, 2017, 12:03 (2585 days ago) @ David Turell

QUOTES: "However, there’s evidence to suggest that there’s a burst of brain energy as someone dies.
In 2013 researchers at the University of Michigan looked at the electrical signals inside the brains of nine anaesthetised rats having an induced heart attack.
They saw activity patterns which are linked to a “hyper-alerted state” in the brief period after clinical death." (dhw's bold)

David’s comment: Consciousness survives brain death for a few minutes. It is obviously separate from the brain itself, and if so dualism is correct.

dhw: Sorry, but if the researchers saw a burst of brain energy “in the brief period AFTER clinical death”, what evidence does that provide for dualism? In the context of NDEs, I would suggest that the evidence for dualism is patients' experiences AFTER the cessation of brain activity, and particularly any information they could not have known at the time. One should perhaps also note that "a few minutes" won't bring much support to those who, like yourself, believe in an afterlife.

DAVID: Brain energy is a material matter, not consciousness which is not matter. They are seeing a last gasp phenomenon, nothing to do with the patient's experiences described in the article. Afterlife is after life is fully established when the transition is complete. Parnia is studying an inbetween period.

You claimed that the article supported dualism, but the experiences described ONLY refer to events that happened around the patient during the final few minutes of brain activity. This implies that awareness of what is going on around the patient still depends on the brain. That is why I suggest that the evidence for dualism comes from patients’ experiences AFTER the cessation of brain activity.