Brain Wiring

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We have a brain as physical beings.
To participate in the physical world, we as beings who are relational in nature, a physical/psychological/spiritual unity require more “processing power”, if you will, than other physical creatures.
This is in the same way that animals are more complex than trees.
In spite of the complexity, it is very simple.
Having said that, the mystery of our existence seems to be celebrated with some very odd ideas.
 
Aloysium said:
We have a brain as physical beings.
To participate in the physical world, we as beings who are relational in nature, a physical/psychological/spiritual unity require more “processing power”, if you will, than other physical creatures.
This is in the same way that animals are more complex than trees.
In spite of the complexity, it is very simple.
Having said that, the mystery of our existence seems to be celebrated with some very odd ideas.
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What about the findings of rats seemingly having a burst of brain activity just after death, vs people who have NDEs ? I THINK it goes against findings by Mario Beauregard et.al.in Brain Wars, but I’m not sure. (You can find some of the findings online). I think the people reporting NDEs were out longer than the 30 seconds the article talks about.
 
Faith1960 said:
What about the findings of rats seemingly having a burst of brain activity just after death, vs people who have NDEs ? I THINK it goes against findings by Mario Beauregard et.al.in Brain Wars, but I’m not sure. (You can find some of the findings online). I think the people reporting NDEs were out longer than the 30 seconds the article talks about.
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People have been found alive while in the morgue. I don’t quite understand your fascination. Are you looking for a definitive answer in a purely scientific sense or an answer that shows this brain activity has a spiritual component? In the latter case, I don’t think any scientist could propose any spiritual aspect since science cannot study the supernatural in the way described. Any speculation that lights or tunnels or other visions are just artifacts is just speculation.

Ed
 
edwest2 said:
People have been found alive while in the morgue. I don’t quite understand your fascination. Are you looking for a definitive answer in a purely scientific sense or an answer that shows this brain activity has a spiritual component? In the latter case, I don’t think any scientist could propose any spiritual aspect since science cannot study the supernatural in the way described. Any speculation that lights or tunnels or other visions are just artifacts is just speculation.

Ed
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edwest2 said:
What claims? An increase in activity here or there results in guesses, not final conclusions. I’ve studied this and scientists just don’t know if this brain activity has any spiritual component at all.

Ed
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Their claims that a burst of neural activity and blood flow cause what some say are NDEs.
 
Faith1960 said:
Their claims that a burst of neural activity and blood flow cause what some say are NDEs.
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This would not stand up in a court of law. I’ve spoken to a person who had an elaborate near death experience. He was convinced that what he saw was real. I asked him a few non-leading questions to get additional detail. Based on my research, there is no conclusive scientific evidence of what NDEs are, just neural activity and blood flow.

In one case, a man who was awake and seconds from death, said, “I’m with God now.”

Brain wiring is not the whole answer. That answer is found in philosophy and metaphysical explanations, which include religious examples.

Best,
Ed
 
edwest2 said:
This would not stand up in a court of law. I’ve spoken to a person who had an elaborate near death experience. He was convinced that what he saw was real. I asked him a few non-leading questions to get additional detail. Based on my research, there is no conclusive scientific evidence of what NDEs are, just neural activity and blood flow.
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Did you mean it’s not just neural activity and blood flow?
 
Faith1960 said:
. . . I think the people reporting NDEs were out longer than the 30 seconds the article talks about.
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Near death experiences have to do with what happens near death.
Even before we were able to bring people back from the brink, I recall talk of seeing one’s life flash before oneself at these points.
Except in the case of Jesus and Lazarus, once dead, you are dead in this world.
If you have ever looked into the eyes of a dead body, you will know that the person is gone.

However, let’s see if this following bit of historical-science-fiction contributes in a positive way to our contemplation of the mystery of human existence:
Imagine Thomas Merton at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, Louisville, having emerged from his retreat, immersed in prayer and contemplation.
Wham!!
The world is alive, glowing with an inner brilliance. In the midst of eternity ever-present, time passes.
On the street, people shining like the sun, he has always known, because he sees them now for who they are in themselves. He smiles, they smile in mutual recognition.
What transpires on a spiritual level is manifested neurophysiologically in centres of the brain associated with attention, thought and emotion.
Those perceptions that connect us to the world, which here and now connect you to your monitor, to these words, would be in that state mentally/spiritually fully opened in loving relation to all that is.
A brain scan (which produces and isolates physical events which we can translate into an understanding of brain function), would merely show the presence of physical changes corresponding to the mental/spiritual state (a personal revelation of what is close to ultimate reality) of Thomas Merton.

What this is saying is that man exists as a unity - body and spirit.
The world of the spirit is obvious but some people do not see.
 
edwest2 said:
What claims? An increase in activity here or there results in guesses, not final conclusions. I’ve studied this and scientists just don’t know if this brain activity has any spiritual component at all.

Ed
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Did you read my link?
 
Faith1960 said:
What if the researchers are right and blood flow and increased brain activity causes NDEs?
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Then, I say good. That does nothing to change my faith.

I have often wondered if some of those NDE’s were just an operating table sort of altered consciousness.

If a near death experience is only an act of imagination, or stimulation then that is one more facet of the brain that I find interesting. This does not stop my brain from questioning what is greater than me, that which created all brains and more: God.
 
Faith1960 said:
Anyone else want to chime in?
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I just want to say that faith is really felt in one’s heart not one’s brain. All this reasoning and trying to find out how everything works in the spiritual realm is very cold hard science. When you pray and listen to God, you feel his presence in your whole soul. There’s a certain peace that comes through your being. I don’t really think analyzing the brain waves and the neuron activity is going to help anyone understand God or our relationship with him.
 
Auntie_A said:
Then, I say good. That does nothing to change my faith.

I have often wondered if some of those NDE’s were just an operating table sort of altered consciousness.

If a near death experience is only an act of imagination, or stimulation then that is one more facet of the brain that I find interesting. This does not stop my brain from questioning what is greater than me, that which created all brains and more: God.
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I read online about a guy who was unconscious, in a coma, found in a field. The estimate that he was out at least 30 minutes. He was able to describe the hospitals resuscitation. Guess that pretty much debunks the 30 seconds of brain activity theory, doesn’t it?
 
Faith1960 said:
I read online about a guy who was unconscious, in a coma, found in a field. The estimate that he was out at least 30 minutes. He was able to describe the hospitals resuscitation. Guess that pretty much debunks the 30 seconds of brain activity theory, doesn’t it?
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Many people think we have arrived at THE ANSWERS, especially because of contemporary scientific theories. But aren’t there more theories yet to come? Have we already arrived at conclusions? I still think that the age-old story of God accommodates the little theories as well as the bigger ones, yet to be discovered.

I can’t help but think of those who dismiss God as the ultimate Creator as being like children who see the meter reader as being the source of electricity, unable to grasp a much larger picture of an energy source.
 
c.f.
Auntie_A said:
Many people think we have arrived at THE ANSWERS, especially because of contemporary scientific theories. But aren’t there more theories yet to come? Have we already arrived at conclusions? I still think that the age-old story of God accommodates the little theories as well as the bigger ones, yet to be discovered.

I can’t help but think of those who dismiss God as the ultimate Creator as being like children who see the meter reader as being the source of electricity, unable to grasp a much larger picture of an energy source.
Click to expand...
That makes sense.
 
Faith1960 said:
I read online about a guy who was unconscious, in a coma, found in a field. The estimate that he was out at least 30 minutes. He was able to describe the hospitals resuscitation. Guess that pretty much debunks the 30 seconds of brain activity theory, doesn’t it?
Click to expand...
Anyone?
 
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