Life on Earth: Is This a Dumbed-Down Existence?
The case for a better life…somewhere
For at least 40 years I have believed that science and the scientific method offered the best way for acquiring knowledge and the surest means for advancing the human condition. I still do. Moreover, what science cannot answer we are better off suspending judgments about until the day when we can make observations and measurements about them. And although science uses logic and critical analysis in arriving at sound conclusions, neither is a substitute for empirical evidence. Verification is the key. If something cannot be verified, it does not belong in the domain of science.
Until now a life after death has been unverifiable, hence this issue has been considered to be outside the domain of science. But evidence is accumulating which suggests certain aspects of another existence may become verifiable. I cannot predict when our state of knowledge might make such a revelation possible. But it is not too early to begin to develop an intellectual argument about its implications without venturing into the occult or by relying on those who already claim to “know the truth” about such matters. That is the purpose of this essay.
The vast majority of those who have experienced near-death experiences (NDEs) reveal an elevated consciousness in which they experience greatly expanded abilities to see, hear, touch, feel, understand, contemplate, appreciate, love, and communicate with others. According to
Wikipedia as many as 8 million Americans claim to have experienced such an NDE. In their “elevated” states, they had no sense of time, and the joy of being there was so overwhelming they did not want to return to their earthly states of being. This new place, they felt, is their natural state, their permanent destiny, while life on Earth is but a diminished diversion from it. Many called that other place heaven.
The existence of such a place could already be of interest to science and to our quest for knowledge. We bump up against the existence of God in trying to understand the singularity; it intrudes into M-theory that posits 11 dimensions; evidence for it would give rise to the question of immortality; it would awaken a new sense of what is just in this world; it would appeal to our need for intellectual, emotional, and spiritual fulfillment; and it would correspond to the natural course of evolution along many of those dimensions. It would also embody the fundamental objective of science in that it could allow us to define the antithesis of ignorance—or Nirvana, the ultimate state of enlightenment. A scientific breakthrough lending support in any of those areas would be celebrated universally.
Let’s look at a few issues that need to be surmounted first.
The fundamental rule of science is “first, be a skeptic.” And that is followed by “the more profound the assertion, the more compelling the evidence must be in support of it.” And that is followed by “the burden of proof always falls on the asserter.” Scientists are a tough bunch.
This essay is not a defense of anything that smacks of religion. Put another way, an afterlife can exist without an earthly religion. This inquiry merely taps into the sense of awe and wonder and beauty described by those who have experienced them in their altered states, compares and contrasts these elevated sensations with those that we here on Earth find in our day-to-day consciousnesses within the constraints of what we call reality. And it tries to tie together a few of the elements mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.
Life on Earth is marked by the need for sharing and cooperation. How else might we all participate in fulfilling our unlimited biological, safety, and emotional needs while using a finite amount of land and resources? By fighting? By murder? Intellectually and humanely, we know that the strongest must produce more to help those who cannot help themselves. But to do so requires a sense of compassion by the strong, an attribute that must be taught; it does not exist as an artifact of birth. Greed, however, can replace compassion. We often can and do seek an advantage over others by using force, by acquiring power via rules and laws, or by torture and in hundreds of other ways. We impose our will on others simply because we exist physically in time and space. Take away those dimensions, and all forms of control and coercion cease. An afterlife in which all forms of physical suffering, domination, and control cannot exist among equals instantly appeals to our intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs. These theoretical questions come to mind: Where might the 7 other dimensions posited by the M-theorists be? Could our “spirits” exist there? What are the implications for us?
One aspect of NDEs is that many of those who recalled them also had “out of body” (OBE) experiences in which they floated above their physical bodies. Following an automobile accident, for example, while their physical bodies were unconscious, they are able to see and hear the activities going on from a position overhead. Similarly, during operations in hospitals some patients have been clinically dead while on the operating table, yet they witnessed all activities while hovering overhead. They described in great detail all those who were present, and procedures use to restore their heart beat, even the conversations that took place. Many of their observations occurred while they were hovering near the ceiling of the operating rooms.
A practical scientific test to verify such observations could be made with relative ease. Artificial OBEs could be imagined or medically induced. An actual OBE, however, would be evidence for consciousness outside the body. Investigators could install plates perhaps two feet from selected operating room ceilings with random messages, perhaps with pictures, on them observable only from above the plates near the ceilings, but not observable from the floor. Those who reported NDEs while “floating” near the ceilings could be questioned if they had noted anything on the plates. In time their responses could lend support as to whether they had an actual OBE or just some form of medically induced OBE.
I would now like to refer interested readers to two different accounts about NDEs as reported by two extraordinary individuals. One is from a lady living in Singapore who was in an advanced stage of cancer with no possibility of surviving. She told of an OBE in which she named the persons and their conversations around her and down the hall from her while she was unconscious, as well as a journey to a place that was enveloped with peace, love, and enlightenment. She was given the choice to return to her body, which she accepted, and fully recovered. She is alive and well today. She travels and writes about her experience. Her words, her tone, her eyes, and her smile all convey truth and beauty. Listen and watch her as she tells her remarkable story by
clicking here.
The second account is from an American neurosurgeon who also had an NDE. Prior to his account, he did not believe in them. He suffered a very rare form of bacterial meningitis. He was and remains an authority on these kinds of diseases. By his analysis of all the facts, and after several years of studying them, he is convinced that the part of his brain that accounts for consciousness was completely shut down during his NDE. Yet he went on the most remarkable journey that was likely ever recorded. In it he met his sister that he did not know and had never met prior to his illness. His tale of wonderment and beauty and enlightenment is much like all the others, but he was and he remains a trained scientist. I had the temerity to use his words in the title to this essay, namely, that we live in a “dumbed-down” world. His full account can be watched by
clicking here.
I welcome comments...
I believe the human brain is a marvelous device filled with information that we have put away during our lifetime, some of that rarely revisited. During a traumatic experience, particularly one that damages the brain, our mind goes into a kind of “failsafe mode” to protect us from the trauma that is happening. This mode could be described as a bright light, comforting and warm feeling, and other images drawn from our collective memory.
While we are scientifically investigating NDE and OBE to prove them, we could be also proving the theory I just provided above that it is only the brain protecting us from the awful that is happening.
As a scientist, I am always skeptical. I am always pursuing the proof of the good theories, like if there really are black holes (as yet unproven), and willing to throw off old theories like the earth is flat and the center of the universe (because God says so), in favor of newer more provable theories. Eyewitness experiences have become less and less viable as scientific tools like smart phones with digital cameras and other devices evolve. The mind has played tricks on us all. There is no need to chase after a mind trick as some kind of scientific reality.
Ron
I Have 4 NDE's Only In #3 (To Avoid/Boxed In 5 Lanes)Broadsided Car Accident 1999 Summer I - ** Me As My Car Disappeared 7 Minutes
(Watch On Wrist)Only I Went Into Like Sponge Atmosphere Contain Static Electricity, Pounding Noise You See In Your Minds Eye!
**It Happened Again On 1-23-2013 In Approx Same Street Area!!
Proof Everything Is Molecular Matter,i.e. Body Human Or Material Wise Is Same Thing!
I Still Write More People (You) Psychos & Skeptics Should Die And You Get To Meet Man (God),i.e. If He Lets You Come Back Tell Your Experience(s)!
Etal: Watch Unsealed Conspiracies On CH 5 TV KTLA On Saturday Nights At 11:00 P M...Editors Tell Of Like Worm Holes Even In Your Apt/Home/Street Wherever You Too Can Disappear Into,i.e. Like Star Gates(USA Army CIA) Found In IRAQ!!
TRASK...
IN ADDITION: I Will Not Reveal Vivid Details 4 NDEs Simply Those Who Cannot Conceive What Reality Really Is!
As For Brain It Is Mere Similarity Of Robot What You Feed Into It Is What It Sees (Logic) Absolutely Nothing Else!
SKEPTIC Becomes His Own Best Believer In = It Did Not Happen To Me = So I Can Not Believe It Happened To Anyone Else!
Prime Exp. Go Recycle Cans/Bottles- Retard-Illiterate In 2000's Van Sees My Corvette--He Yells I'll Trade You For My Van-I Said Car 44 Years Old You Wouldn't Know What The F--k To Do With It Not Alone Drive It,i.e. Brute Horsepower---Asshole Step Gas Pedal
(To Him Its Childs Toy)Wrap Around 1st Telephone Pole...
Need I Say Anymore In Lieu Above?