--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <authfriend@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "salyavin808" <fintlewoodlewix@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <authfriend@> wrote: > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "salyavin808" <fintlewoodlewix@> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > To us sceptics it was always going to be something like this, > > > > the only thing to raise my eyebrows here is the claim that 20% > > > > of heart attack victims report a NDE, is it that many? > > > > > > You don't wonder about whether experiments on rats can tell > > > us definitively what the story is with human beings? > > > > What's the difference? Do you think we evolved an afterlife > > but rodents didn't, how would that work? > > Huh? I don't think I said anything about an afterlife. > That would be way premature.
It's got to be the least likely explanation. How would you measure an afterlife from here anyway? Is an NDE a hand over of consciousness into another realm? I'd better stop giving new-ager's ideas... > > Rats are mammals, it might seem insulting but they are > > therefore virtually identical to us, the trouble is that > > the human race considers itself such a big screaming deal > > when the only difference is the intricate cerebral cortex > > where our ideas and speculations live. > > Right. But the cerebral cortex would be what generates > NDEs, right? I would say not, the cortex is what attaches meaning and explanation to experiences (among other things) Rats may very well have NDE's but they lack the machinery to sit around pontificating about it afterwards. Which is a shame, I'd like to know how a rat might experience a deeper spiritual outlook, less horsing around in the sewers perhaps or a monogamous lifestyle. Natural law for rodents, King Tony missed that. Since rats don't have a cerebral cortex > (and therefore, presumably, do not have NDEs), it doesn't > seem that we have any firm connection between what is > seen in the rats' brains at the point of death and the > human NDE. But what we do have is a connection between a time when the brain is traditionally thought to be dead and some unexplained activity. We'd have to measure it in humans before even guessing what the content might possibly be, depending on where in the brain it registers most. I was reading the other day that music is decoded from soundwaves by 4 different parts of the brain. One for the beat, one for notes, one for activating emotional response etc. A symphony all by itself that we experience as one thing. Very clever. > The research results are suggestive and definitely need > further study--including, somehow, in humans. But I > don't really think we can say the question of NDEs has > been answered. > > FWIW, I've read several reports of this study now, and > there seem to be quite a few qualified scientists who > are skeptical of the degree to which it tells us anything > about the human experience of death. Ah, that's why I put a "?" at the end of the post title.
