I am a two-time near-death experiencer whose life was radically and permanently altered by what I experienced. Even so, I encourage scientific research into NDE. I want to know what science thinks.
Science has yet to demonstrate that the brain produces consciousness, called "the hard problem". So to base any theory on a physiological cause of NDEs is already questionable at the foundation. What we DO know is that 96% of the Universe is invisible ("dark" matter and energy combined). That's a pretty big question mark, and a good indication of something else beyond the veil of physical reality. Not to mention that every NDE report I've ever heard of has described something more real than this world, not dream-like, and many times these individuals witness and can accurately recount events even miles away from the body during their flatline. What are these materialist "scientists" so afraid of? I'm guessing these people are corporate shills or atheists (who are btw often the most dogmatic and fanatical of fundamentalists) hired to brainwash and propagandize the public into accepting materialist-only views of reality in order that corporate law and the investors they serve can continue to run roughshod over our shared environment for profit. If everything is conscious, or if souls have to experience actual karma for their deeds in life (ie life review) the corporate-ruled kleptocracy that currently exists would crumble.
"If everything is conscious, or if souls have to experience actual karma for their deeds in life (ie life review) the corporate-ruled kleptocracy that currently exists would crumble." That's optimistic and not guaranteed. Some percentage of people are still likely to misbehave in service of worldly ends without regard to the consequences of a post-bodily conscious life.
Primarily, conscious "personhood" would open up the floodgates for lawsuits against corporate abuses. Psychologically, if people were to accept the karmic nature of life as a given, it would go a long way toward encouraging people to behave better.
If medical research ultimately leads to the conclusion that NDEs are the product of the brain's response to extreme distress and that such brain activity frequently leads to long-term changes in behavior and beliefs, do you foresee circumstances in which physicians - or other actors - would attempt to induce or advocate for inducing such changes through pharmacological means in the hope of causing such long-term changes in a subject? Are medical ethicists participants in this field of research?
I am a two-time near-death experiencer whose life was radically and permanently altered by what I experienced. Even so, I encourage scientific research into NDE. I want to know what science thinks.
Science has yet to demonstrate that the brain produces consciousness, called "the hard problem". So to base any theory on a physiological cause of NDEs is already questionable at the foundation. What we DO know is that 96% of the Universe is invisible ("dark" matter and energy combined). That's a pretty big question mark, and a good indication of something else beyond the veil of physical reality. Not to mention that every NDE report I've ever heard of has described something more real than this world, not dream-like, and many times these individuals witness and can accurately recount events even miles away from the body during their flatline. What are these materialist "scientists" so afraid of? I'm guessing these people are corporate shills or atheists (who are btw often the most dogmatic and fanatical of fundamentalists) hired to brainwash and propagandize the public into accepting materialist-only views of reality in order that corporate law and the investors they serve can continue to run roughshod over our shared environment for profit. If everything is conscious, or if souls have to experience actual karma for their deeds in life (ie life review) the corporate-ruled kleptocracy that currently exists would crumble.
"If everything is conscious, or if souls have to experience actual karma for their deeds in life (ie life review) the corporate-ruled kleptocracy that currently exists would crumble." That's optimistic and not guaranteed. Some percentage of people are still likely to misbehave in service of worldly ends without regard to the consequences of a post-bodily conscious life.
Primarily, conscious "personhood" would open up the floodgates for lawsuits against corporate abuses. Psychologically, if people were to accept the karmic nature of life as a given, it would go a long way toward encouraging people to behave better.
Having spent decades in the legal profession I am considerably more skeptical of that than you are. But it would remain to be seen.
If medical research ultimately leads to the conclusion that NDEs are the product of the brain's response to extreme distress and that such brain activity frequently leads to long-term changes in behavior and beliefs, do you foresee circumstances in which physicians - or other actors - would attempt to induce or advocate for inducing such changes through pharmacological means in the hope of causing such long-term changes in a subject? Are medical ethicists participants in this field of research?