NDE Question

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

You seem very fond of the shutting down hypothesis. Perhaps you are thinking of what happens in a computer, which shuts down in an orderly way ready for next time. For a better analogy, imagine something less controlled - coffee spilled into the machine, a lightning spike down the mains lead, or a memory chip malfunction.

Why? That's not what happens when a person undergoes surgery.

~~ Paul

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos

Why? That's not what happens when a person undergoes surgery.

~~ Paul

Well I suppose it is a closer analogy to what goes on in a heart attack! I mean shutting down suggests an organised process with a purpose, and evolution isn't going to equip us with anything organised at that point - because there is no evolutionary point!

David

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Originally Posted by David

Well I suppose it is a closer analogy to what goes on in a heart attack! I mean shutting down suggests an organised process with a purpose, and evolution isn't going to equip us with anything organised at that point - because there is no evolutionary point!

There may be no evolutionary advantage. It might just be the brain crashing.

~~ Paul

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos

There may be no evolutionary advantage. It might just be the brain crashing.

~~ Paul

Well exactly, and a computer crashing is not the sort of event where much useful computation goes on - unlike a computer shutdown! I mean the idea that a neat little NDE hallucination is created and stored in memory as part of a shutdown procedure is ridiculous, because we are talking about a brain crash!

David

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Originally Posted by David

Well exactly, and a computer crashing is not the sort of event where much useful computation goes on - unlike a computer shutdown! I mean the idea that a neat little NDE hallucination is created and stored in memory as part of a shutdown procedure is ridiculous, because we are talking about a brain crash!

Come on, David, you're taking the analogy too literally. It may be the result of the brain crashing, but it doesn't crash completely, so perhaps some memories can be stored. I don't think we have any anecdotes from people who actually died. Trying to draw any conclusions about the brain from a computer analogy is foolhardy. As is trying to decide exactly what the evolutionary advantage is of small details like this.

~~ Paul

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos

Trying to draw any conclusions about the brain from a computer analogy is foolhardy. As is trying to decide exactly what the evolutionary advantage is of small details like this.

~~ Paul

Well yes, except that using phrases like "shutting down" is drawing on that analogy. People with even mild head trauma generally forget the event. Memory deposition seems to go very easily. NDE's seem to be intensely remembered.

David

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Originally Posted by David

Well yes, except that using phrases like "shutting down" is drawing on that analogy. People with even mild head trauma generally forget the event. Memory deposition seems to go very easily. NDE's seem to be intensely remembered.

I think you're being selective in your counting.

~~ Paul

[David Bailey]

Paul,

Perhaps it would be interesting if you summed up your own views about what NDE's are, and what significance they have.

David

[Lekatt]

The questions being discussed has been answered by the physicians in attendance during an experience. There are hundreds of these experiences.

The AfterEffect, pg2, Pam Reynolds | Thoughtful Living

The International Association of Near Death Studies is now in the process of producing an on-line book that answers that question.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Originally Posted by David

Perhaps it would be interesting if you summed up your own views about what NDE's are, and what significance they have.

I think they are strange things going on in the brain during times of high stress.

~~ Paul