It was released a few months ago. It is not religious propaganda. Written by Dr Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon, who went into a coma for a week, and his subsequent journey into the afterlife. As a brain surgeon, he previously believed that any consciousness after the brain was dead was impossible. Because his neocranium was "off", not even dreaming was possible. Since he had no recollection of earth, himself, or his past, there was nothing to "pull him back", and he went deeper than anyone else on record. So it is written from a scientific standpoint. I've given away a few copies, and passed my own along to close friends. We enjoy discussing it. I feel his story is credible. Anyone else read it?
Proof of Heaven book - anyone read it?
by jay dubless 26 Replies latest jw friends
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QueenWitch
No, but now it's on my reading list.
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sir82
So it is written from a scientific standpoint.
A man describes a journey he took "in his mind" while in a coma and it is "from a scientific standpoint"?
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- K.
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Bella15
I have not read that one. I read one which name I don't remember as someone borrowed long ago - I need to get it back. Anyway, perhaps it was a coincidence but when that book came to me I had just been wondering about heaven and was talking to God about that. A lot of things that I had thought heaven was like were in that book. Weird. I know. But who knows...I am looking forward to life in heaven wherever that may be.
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cofty
I find anecdotal stories about NDEs to be thoroughly unconvincing.
Whether you read it online or hold the physical object in your hands, this issue of Newsweek 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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cedars
I've not read it, but I have read an article about it. Here's my thread on the subject...
Cedars
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jay dubless
A lot of pre-judging going on already. Please only jump in if you have read the book. Sir 82: his mind was off, non-functional. His spirit took the journey. Dig? Read the book, if you choose, then discuss. There is also a youtube version, if you don't like to read.
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cofty
Perhaps you could give us a reason to read the book when it clear from reviews that he makes fundamental scientific errors and groundless assertions.
For example, Alexander asserts that the cessation of cortical activity was “clear from the severity and duration of my meningitis, and from the global cortical involvement documented by CT scans and neurological examinations.”
In response Mark Cohen, a pioneer in the field of neuro-imaging who holds appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Science, Neurology, Psychology, Radiological Science, and Bioengineering at UCLA says the following...
This poetic interpretation of his experience is not supported by evidence of any kind. As you correctly point out, coma does not equate to “inactivation of the cerebral cortex” or “higher-order brain functions totally offline” or “neurons of [my] cortex stunned into complete inactivity”. These describe brain death, a one hundred percent lethal condition. There are many excellent scholarly articles that discuss the definitions of coma.
We are not privy to his EEG records, but high alpha activity is common in coma. Also common is “flat” EEG. The EEG can appear flat even in the presence of high activity, when that activity is not synchronous. For example, the EEG flattens in regions involved in direct task processing. This phenomenon is known as event-related desynchronization (hundreds of references).
As is obvious to you, this is truth by authority. Neurosurgeons, however, are rarely well-trained in brain function. Dr. Alexander cuts brains; he does not appear to study them. “There is no scientific explanation for the fact that while my body lay in coma, my mind—my conscious, inner self—was alive and well. While the neurons of my cortex were stunned to complete inactivity by the bacteria that had attacked them, my brain-free consciousness ...” True, science cannot explain brain-free consciousness. Of course, science cannot explain consciousness anyway. In this case, however, it would be parsimonious to reject the whole idea of consciousness in the absence of brain activity. Either his brain was active when he had these dreams, or they are a confabulation of whatever took place in his state of minimally conscious coma.
There are many reports of people remembering dream-like states while in medical coma. They lack consistency, of course, but there is nothing particularly unique in Dr. Alexander’s unfortunate episode.
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jay dubless
Cofty, sounds like you are still letting others do your thinking for you. Didn't we abandon that principal when we left the Society?
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ruderedhead
I've been working on reading it for about a month now. I find it dry, and I don't know where he gets some of the terms he uses. Core, the earthworm thing? In my opinion, he talks more about what was going on with his family and his body, among other things, than he does about his experience. But I do believe that something wonderful happened to him.