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Harvard Neurosurgeon Confirms The Afterlife Exists

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Uwe

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http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/harvard-neurosurgeon-confirms-the-afterlife-exists/

Let’s take a look at 5 potential explanations he outlines in Appendix B of “Proof of Heaven”. Some are of his explanations would make no sense to us as laymen untrained in neuroscientific terminology, so here are the most common explanations he refutes, all of which are taken verbatim from his book: - See more at: http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphys...ms-the-afterlife-exists/#sthash.koslMSbQ.dpuf
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But you guys, he's a doctor.
 
its fucking bullshit
memory distortion occurs ( false memories)

from the article, first "point" in the article.
http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphys...ms-the-afterlife-exists/#sthash.koslMSbQ.dpuf
...
The experience of the afterlife was so “real” and expansive that the experience of living as a human on Earth seemed like an artificial dream by comparison.
...
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Here he is being confusing, either the experience was real or it was not and calling into question his humanity doesn't help the comparison.
Saying that living on Earth as a human is artificial is essentially saying that being human isn't real, his comment is essentially the same thing as saying I used to live as a reptile but now I am human.
There is no commitment in the statement either, it is vague gibberish word salad...
I mean come on "living as a human seemed like an artificial dream"?, really?
It looks like what this guy is trying to say is that his experience of living on Earth was real until an experience that was similar to being real came along.
It is wonderful that he has a memory of an experience that is similar to being real to compare his experiences to.
And this doesn't even include the subject of false memories....
 
I got as far as:
Trained in western medical school and surrounded by medical colleagues who are deeply invested in the materialism view of the universe, he thought that the idea of a soul was outlandish
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When i turned off.

I'd think the evidence of his testimony would be as valid or as invalid whether or not his peers were 'deeply invested in materalism.' Frankly, what do i care what his peers believed, if he has actual valid testimony? And refutations as strong as 'this seems most unlikely.' Golly that's compelling.
 
Wasn't that the guy who was facing numerous lawsuits and had lost his surgery privileges at some hospitals? According to this he was suspected of falsifying records as well. Even ignoring the inconsistencies that apparently were implicit in his stories (and the obvious problems with suggesting that there is any sort of 'afterlife'), he does not seem to be a reliable witness.

Peez
 
In his 'refutations' of the various suggested non-supernatural explanations for his experiences, he seems to depend heavily on his brain not being functional at the time the memories were recorded. Is there any way to time-stamp a memory?
Can it really be known when in the whole shutting down, reboot process certain memories were recorded?

I mean, if we're troubleshooting my fire control system, and we turn off the hard drive at time 1500, rebooting it at time 1530, and find messages that are time-stamped 1510 on the drive when it's all done, that's intriguing. But if the time-stamp is garble-zulu and thirty seconds, that doesn't make quite as compelling an argument that the Mass Memory subsystem was in operation when it was supposed to be down. We can' t fix garble:30 on the timeline.

And more general, the whole thing is presented as argument from respect for authority, figuring that a neurologist would know what a brain does. Okay, fine, but if we get information that seems counter to our understanding of the brain, is the typical SCIENTIFIC response to conclude, Must Be God? Or maybe should it be that we don't fully understand the brain, not like we think we do, and maybe concoct some experiments that might allow us to replicate the experience?
 
The man's sold over 2 million copies of the book. It's moneymaking fiction, presented as truth to make a buck from the credulous. The only thing it confirms is P.T. Barnum's famous observation.

A good article critiquing the book/author:

http://www.skeptic.com/insight/proof-of-heaven/

"◾Although Alexander claimed his coma was caused by bacterial meningitis, emergency room doctor Laura Potter told Dittrich that she induced Alexander’s coma medically to stabilize his condition. Contrary to Alexander’s claims, his brain was not inactive during the coma. As Dittrich notes, “a key point of his argument for the reality of the realms he claims to have visited is that his memories could not have been hallucinations, since he didn’t possess a brain capable of creating even a hallucinatory conscious experience.
” However, Dr. Potter told Dittrich that Alexander was actually “Conscious but delirious” during his days under sedation."
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And then there's Sam Harris:

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/this-must-be-heaven

I can't say it any better than this:

"Whether you read it online or hold the physical object in your hands, this issue of Newsweek ["Heaven is Real"] is best viewed as an archaeological artifact that is certain to embarrass us in the eyes of future generations. Its existence surely says more about our time than the editors at the magazine meant to say—for the cover alone reveals the abasement and desperation of our journalism, the intellectual bankruptcy and resultant tenacity of faith-based religion, and our ubiquitous confusion about the nature of scientific authority. The article is the modern equivalent of a 14th-century woodcut depicting the work of alchemists, inquisitors, Crusaders, and fortune-tellers. I hope our descendants understand that at least some of us were blushing."
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Mageth said:
The man's sold over 2 million copies of the book. It's moneymaking fiction, presented as truth to make a buck from the credulous. The only thing it confirms is P.T. Barnum's famous observation.

A good article critiquing the book/author:

http://www.skeptic.com/insight/proof-of-heaven/



And then there's Sam Harris:

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/this-must-be-heaven

I can't say it any better than this:

"Whether you read it online or hold the physical object in your hands, this issue of Newsweek ["Heaven is Real"] is best viewed as an archaeological artifact that is certain to embarrass us in the eyes of future generations. Its existence surely says more about our time than the editors at the magazine meant to say—for the cover alone reveals the abasement and desperation of our journalism, the intellectual bankruptcy and resultant tenacity of faith-based religion, and our ubiquitous confusion about the nature of scientific authority. The article is the modern equivalent of a 14th-century woodcut depicting the work of alchemists, inquisitors, Crusaders, and fortune-tellers. I hope our descendants understand that at least some of us were blushing."
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OMG: this stuff rises to the level of even pseudoscience? How about pseudo witchcraft, or pseudo-faith?
 
So a person of science is telling people that we don't need science to know something about the universe. I actually feel sorry for Harvard.

He says it's so great, but he continues to stay on Earth, hmmm.
 
I'm still trying to find a ghost writer to do my story, "Hell Is For Real -- An atheist turns to Jesus". 50/50 split on profits and I have a perfect mega church in mind that would launch it.
 
bilby said:
NobleSavage said:
I'm still trying to find a ghost writer to do my story, "Hell Is For Real -- An atheist turns to Jesus". 50/50 split on profits and I have a perfect mega church in mind that would launch it.
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Surely all books about the afterlife are, by definition, ghost-written?

:)
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Why? Couldn't they be transcribed by a living person who was speaking with someone in heaven or hell?
 
Keith&Co said:
Is there any way to time-stamp a memory?
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This.

Every NDE report like this falls apart when you ask the question, "How can we know that your experience occurred during the period of clinical brain death?"
 
Keith&Co and Connick. You got it. :thumbsup:

In psychotherapy it is known that patients telling dreams are reconstructing, not reporting. Its value is not because they are recounting an actual dream, but that they're disclosing a good part of their subjectivity, expectations about therapist wishes, etc. I'd classify this in dream-telling category.
 
Peez said:
Wasn't that the guy who was facing numerous lawsuits and had lost his surgery privileges at some hospitals? According to this he was suspected of falsifying records as well. Even ignoring the inconsistencies that apparently were implicit in his stories (and the obvious problems with suggesting that there is any sort of 'afterlife'), he does not seem to be a reliable witness.

Peez
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Yes indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eben_Alexander_(author)



In a wide-ranging investigation of Alexander's story and medical background, Esquire magazine reported (August 2013 issue) that before the publication of Proof of Heaven, Alexander had been terminated or suspended from multiple hospital positions, and had been the subject of several malpractice lawsuits, including at least two involving the alteration of medical records to cover up a medical error.[11][12] The magazine also found what it claimed were discrepancies with regard to Alexander's version of events in the book. Among the discrepancies, according to an account of the Esquire article in Forbes, was that "Alexander writes that he slipped into the coma as a result of severe bacterial meningitis and had no higher brain activity, while a doctor who cared for him says the coma was medically induced and the patient was conscious, though hallucinating."[12][11][13]

Alexander issued a statement after the Esquire article's publication: "I wrote a truthful account of my experiences in PROOF OF HEAVEN and have acknowledged in the book both my professional and personal accomplishments and my setbacks. I stand by every word in this book and have made its message the purpose of my life.
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A nut-case.
 
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