It is still just a belief, if one was trully dead they could not be revived, the brain apparently was still functioning so in reality they were not dead, and the brain does strange things when a lack of oxygen happens. I had such an experience and do not feel i died. To me it was just like a dream the mind created at the time. I was resussitated,and then told to see my heart doctor.
Of course we all have our beliefs, but beliefs are not facts, and we do choose what we believe.Ssome people even though proved wrong about some things cling to their beliefs, and I have no quarrel with that. Belief can help a person through rough times and some times they use their beliefs to harm others as terriorists do.
In truth humans have stated (or decided what God said or wants, so it is really the belief in a human or humans, that people except about a God. there is no proof that God determined anything, but there is proof that humans taught and wrote what they decided was of God!
A person is called dead when it can no longer be revived, if there is no brain function they are pronounced dead,the brain no longer can function, even at the lowest function, so the fact of being really dead is at that point. If there is some life in the body it can be revived, but if not , it cannot be brought back. There was a time that people were thought to be dead when their heart stopped, and there were cases of where people were found alive and dug up( at least that is what I read years ago0, now they know more about the human body, and determine if a person is dead or alive when all functons cease, and there is no revival, and brain death is now when death is determined.
Oh, I understand the clinical definition and battery of neurological tests that must be performed for coma/brain trauma patients to determine that the brain steam is indeed non-functioning and irreversible. It’s a complicated procedure, and not all together cut and dry, despite the very clear and rigid protocols the physicians must take to be certain the brain stem is indeed a goner, all the while the patient is kept artificially alive via machines, which wouldn’t be possible had they arrived DOA with all bioactivity completely ceased (and the beginning stages of decomposition setting in).
I’m not disputing that when the brain stem is irreversibly damaged/dead, you’re as good as dead. Pull the plug, and harvest the organs
That said, the study of the process of coma death, etc. continues to be researched and refined, anomalies are bound to arise.
My sister’s heart stopped. She was dead and if not for the quick actions of those nearby by that knew how to resuscitate someone she would have stayed that way, maybe. She says that she remembers being around a group of people all heading in a certain direction. She asked is this where I’m supposed to go and she was told “It’s not your time”. She was very emotional when she told us this and still gets that way today when she tells the story. She is also very clear that she was told “It’s not your time”.
Now I don’t know if it was lack of oxygen that caused a very vivid dream or if she was actually on the otherside but I do know she believes. And from the sincerity and conviction in the way she tells the story I have to believe there’s something else.
However, she was told it’s not her time but what if when her heart stopped she wasn’t around a bunch of off duty paramedics? Was her heart predetermined to stop so whoever decided it wasn’t her time made sure it stopped when there were people around to restart it? Does this mean everyone has a preordained destiny, certain lessons to be taught or learned before we can pass?
Life is strange but death is stranger.
Thing is, our brain does really strange things when it comes to our subconscious.
I’ve had dreams before that felt very real and meaningful but they’re ultimately just abstractions generated by my brain. Hearing “it’s not your time” in a near-unconscious state approaching death is no more compelling to me than hearing it in a dream.
Yes, that is the logical answer. But I believe in reincarnation so just in case I’ll continue to live my life like there will be someone there telling me to try again or that I’m done.
After finally knocking out one of the damn papers that’s been hanging over my head, I reckon I should come back to this thread (sorry).
Where are we at on the whole “pc BS” thing? It looks like we can all agree that while “nobody really knows” might be bullshit, I haven’t seen any real argument that supports its being “politically correct.” Fair?
Bullshit and politically correct are not mutually exclusive.
One is an assumption based against the evidence.
The latter is a matter of context, and whether or not the person saying it is equivocating or being disingenuous.
Once you are dead that’s it as far as we know.
Does “avoiding pointing out the whole idea is nonsense to avoid offending the religious” count as “PC”?
I say that - “We all know what life is like while we are alive (nothing).” because some people say this – “We all know what life was like before we were born (nothing).”
When meeting you and talking with you, it is you and I. You and I. cymk and Kozmik. Understand?
There is a difference between
and
Understand?
I think you do understand because you brought up the concept of “you-ness”. Then there is the concept of “I-ness.” These two concepts, together, are “you” and “I”. In a word, perspective.
Imagine an angry teenage girl saying
and then imagine a seething young man saying
Do you understand the difference between what the angry teenage girl is saying and what the seething young man is saying?
Not once I come back down, no.
Well there’s yer problem right there . . .
I’d say neither. The question of the OP was whether some atheists genuinely don’t rule out an afterlife, or whether they are just humoring theists (or being polite or whatever).
That’s the kind of “bullshit” that (s)he meant; whether it’s their honest position, not whether the position is a reasonable one.
And the answer is clearly no – some atheists genuinely don’t rule out an afterlife. I’m one of them, for the reasons I gave.
My heart stopped once when I was having a test and I had to be resussitated, I didn’t know it until when I came to, they told me to see my heart doctor right away, because of having my heart stop. I wasn’t dead or apparently near death!
Years ago I had an experience where I could see a bright light and heard people talking while I was under anesthetics, I thought I had died, but the doctor told me I was not near death, I must have just heard the nurses and himself talking,they were not takling about me but someone else. I just wasn’t under deep enough. So as a result I do not believe in NDE’s as being unusual, just things we hear and apply it to our selves. The human brain is still not fully understood. I wonder if a person doesn’t believe in an after life, but wishes there was, if that makes a difference in how their brain works under anesthetics.
Really? I don’t think I can remember anything from before I was 3 or so. Do I know from firsthand experience that life before age 3 was “nothing”?
If you can’t recall anything from before you were born, what makes you think you will recall anything after you die?
I have no idea how that is supposed to answer my question.