# Afterlife Belief Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afterlife-belief-poll/593290 "2011-08-19T06:03:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afterlife-belief-poll/593290/61 "2011-08-25T01:04:43Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > So she heard what the surgeons said after having the blood drained from her head & having had her ears plugged with devices that drowned out all other noise? She saw the tools that were used during her surgery in spite of them having been concealed until she measurably dead & then accurately described those instruments afterwards? > > Oooookaaaaay… There is a presumption in these kinds of tales that what was experienced occurred during periods of “death.” In actuality, it is not possible to say at one point during the proceedings the brain event occurred. This is also not exactly a scientifically rigorous example. It’s merely an anecdote on youtube. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afterlife-belief-poll/593290/62 "2011-08-25T03:27:49Z")
Except for the fact that there are actual scientists and physicians backing up everything that is said in the video. Your’re also completely skipping the question about how she heard and saw all of these things while _her surgery was already underway._ Look, for my part, I’m not even going off the assumption that everything put forth in that video is true; I’m just saying that, if it is real, then at some point all these harsh skeptics need to take a seat & say to themselves that “yeah, something else is going on here.” Whether the explanation is supernatural, metaphysical, or even magical, I don’t know, and that’s for each individual to decipher. But the bottom line is that I believe in an afterlife, yes, and I feel that that belief is only strengthened by NDE accounts such as this. Moreover, when you think about it, the idea of simply ceasing to exist upon death really is a disturbing & hopeless predicament. How does a person experience nothingness anyway? Is that even possible? Eh, I could go on for hours about topics like this haha. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afterlife-belief-poll/593290/63 "2011-08-25T03:31:39Z")
Please try to remember-this is a poll about beliefs, not a debate about the truth. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afterlife-belief-poll/593290/64 "2011-08-25T23:12:13Z")
I’m lapsed Catholic, deistically agnostic, and believe/hope that some part of our consciousness survives death, and achieves some kinda oneness with a universal consciousness while retaining a bit of individuality – and maybe we get to choose whether or not we want to go back for another round, or just bliss out as part of the Oneness. So I checked: still pondering. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afterlife-belief-poll/593290/65 "2011-08-29T12:00:13Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > Watch the video again. > > Disregarding the more existential aspects of her experience, how on Earth could she have heard EXACTLY what the physicians were saying after she was (“not fully”) brain dead and had her ears plugged with a device that was _loudly ringing_ into her ears? > > I’m not a doctor, no, but even the surgeons in the video (who were actually there at the time she experienced everything) have no explanation for what happened. I mean, when it comes to something like that, I have a hard time just explaining it away to the tried and true “dying brain” theory. In my experience I also must have heard the doctors and nurses talking because I seemed to know their conversations. Had she been totally brain dead she would still be dead. One cannot be resuscitated once truly brain dead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afterlife-belief-poll/593290.md?page=3)