Life on Mars (General)

by Carl, Wednesday, August 06, 2008, 18:42 (5951 days ago) @ David Turell

David describes studies in the literature of near-death experiences as support for an afterlife.
I have since read all the posts on this site to the thread of near-death experiences, and there is not much I can add except the following.
Cases described would imply another dimension of existence which is effectively invisible to us, but which allows perception of our world from that dimension. Here I refer to the patient recognizing the nurse who removed his dentures, as well as other cases I have heard of where the patient reported details of the room that could only be viewed from an elevated position above the scene. 
The idea of another dimension which only rarely allows communication back into our dimensions, and even then under anecdotal circumstances, has never been persuasive to me, but I cannot rule it out. The prospect of having an entire dimension able to peer down at me at all times is disconcerting. I suppose that is why the old time Christians were so nervous about their behavior.
One other thought. Consider what a memory is in the current theory of the brain. It is a network of synapses connecting neurons that the mind interprets as a recalled event. This does not mean the event happened. False memories are a common problem to some of us. The synapse network could be formed in an instant under anoxia stress, and could be sufficiently uniform that it would be interpreted by minds in a similar manner from one case to the next. This does not explain the missing dentures, but could explain the light, peace, relatives, etc.