What happens when a committed atheist experiences a traumatic medical episode, almost dies, and, while almost dying, sees his dead father hovering above him?
I was listening to this post while walking my dog in a foggy, dark early morning and it was ridiculously spooky. Thank you for setting the mood. Also, any thoughts on the motif of the journalist in this post? It’s interesting — philosopher and scientist makes sense, but why journalist? Maybe something about a journalist’s capacity to synthesize…? Lovely writing. Thank you!
Thank you, Brenden, and appreciate your insight. Good question on the use of the word journalist. I did it first because in my mind that's how I see Sebastian Junger - reporting on real life events and occasionally writing long-form books about real life events. Even The Perfect Storm was an attempt to fill in factual holes. It is this commitment and fidelity to getting to the truth that motivates Junger here, and, in my opinion, he arrives at a self-imposed dead end.
Yes — that makes sense! The journalist’s commitment to the truth. But also maybe the journalist’s confrontation with fear? As you mention, the protagonist of the mothman prophecies is also a journalist! Makes me want to….not be a journalist.
You say there is a much simpler explanation than there being multiple universes. Am i right in assuming that what you mean is that the simpler answer is that God created the universe?
My mother had two dreams of premonition prior to my husband's sudden death. In the first he was telling her I needed to pack up all our belongings because he was no longer at our house. When she told me about it the following day I replied with something like "well luckily he is".
The same dream came the next night, but this time incorporated my response, where he replied "but I'm not, I'm gone".
Wow. I'm really sorry about the loss of your husband. That is a wild story, and one that I'm sure happens much more often than we know. No one is keeping track.
Cognitive psychologists have determined that everything we experience is an artifact of our brains. This includes the experiences we call science. Since we define science as what is repeatable, science tells us the common, ordinary experience of humanity.
But, under the influence of adrenalin, sometimes it appears that time slows down. Also, some people see their life flash before their eyes. There is a therapeutic benefit to the life review. As for time slowing down, scientists have said that is due to extra information being recorded in memory. But memory is a chemical process, and speeding up chemical processes takes chemicals. Is adrenalin an enzyme?
We perceive 3 space dimensions, but only half of a time dimension. Symmetry suggests there should be 3 time dimensions, which we don't ordinarily see. So, eternity would be real, and time travel would be possible. But the big bang theory would be wrong, and red shifts due to an optical illusion. The universe would be smaller and older than we think it is.
Thank you, Chris. I agree that there is slightly better evidence for the "life flashing before one's eyes" phenomenon being a chemical process in the brain, which is why I avoided it my essay. I believe seeing dead people and experiencing things outside one's body are different. Appreciate the read and the thoughtful insights.
If you think about how you learned your first language(s), it was effortless. You didn't need to take a class, you just absorbed it from your environment. In the same way, you learn your family members, especially your parents. So, it is not a surprise to see your parents, just as it is not a surprise to speak their language. The brain has a local copy of them. BTW, this is how trauma gets carried through the generations.
I read an article written by a journalist who took a traditional psychedelic down in South America. At the start of his trip he described an out of body experience (looking down at himself and the people he was with). Then his trip became psychedelic, but in real life he was just staggering around.
So the point is, the brain does a lot of stuff outside of consciousness to keep us alive, and normally we see a limited view of reality. But some people have visions. We don't call that science, and what people remember about the experience is certainly subjective, but it is possible that the altered brain state is seeing more than the normal, limited view.
I was listening to this post while walking my dog in a foggy, dark early morning and it was ridiculously spooky. Thank you for setting the mood. Also, any thoughts on the motif of the journalist in this post? It’s interesting — philosopher and scientist makes sense, but why journalist? Maybe something about a journalist’s capacity to synthesize…? Lovely writing. Thank you!
Thank you, Brenden, and appreciate your insight. Good question on the use of the word journalist. I did it first because in my mind that's how I see Sebastian Junger - reporting on real life events and occasionally writing long-form books about real life events. Even The Perfect Storm was an attempt to fill in factual holes. It is this commitment and fidelity to getting to the truth that motivates Junger here, and, in my opinion, he arrives at a self-imposed dead end.
Yes — that makes sense! The journalist’s commitment to the truth. But also maybe the journalist’s confrontation with fear? As you mention, the protagonist of the mothman prophecies is also a journalist! Makes me want to….not be a journalist.
You say there is a much simpler explanation than there being multiple universes. Am i right in assuming that what you mean is that the simpler answer is that God created the universe?
Indeed. That was where I was going. The point being that, between the two options, the God explanation seems more reasonable.
My mother had two dreams of premonition prior to my husband's sudden death. In the first he was telling her I needed to pack up all our belongings because he was no longer at our house. When she told me about it the following day I replied with something like "well luckily he is".
The same dream came the next night, but this time incorporated my response, where he replied "but I'm not, I'm gone".
Three weeks later he was found dead at 46.
Wow. I'm really sorry about the loss of your husband. That is a wild story, and one that I'm sure happens much more often than we know. No one is keeping track.
Cognitive psychologists have determined that everything we experience is an artifact of our brains. This includes the experiences we call science. Since we define science as what is repeatable, science tells us the common, ordinary experience of humanity.
But, under the influence of adrenalin, sometimes it appears that time slows down. Also, some people see their life flash before their eyes. There is a therapeutic benefit to the life review. As for time slowing down, scientists have said that is due to extra information being recorded in memory. But memory is a chemical process, and speeding up chemical processes takes chemicals. Is adrenalin an enzyme?
We perceive 3 space dimensions, but only half of a time dimension. Symmetry suggests there should be 3 time dimensions, which we don't ordinarily see. So, eternity would be real, and time travel would be possible. But the big bang theory would be wrong, and red shifts due to an optical illusion. The universe would be smaller and older than we think it is.
Thank you, Chris. I agree that there is slightly better evidence for the "life flashing before one's eyes" phenomenon being a chemical process in the brain, which is why I avoided it my essay. I believe seeing dead people and experiencing things outside one's body are different. Appreciate the read and the thoughtful insights.
If you think about how you learned your first language(s), it was effortless. You didn't need to take a class, you just absorbed it from your environment. In the same way, you learn your family members, especially your parents. So, it is not a surprise to see your parents, just as it is not a surprise to speak their language. The brain has a local copy of them. BTW, this is how trauma gets carried through the generations.
I read an article written by a journalist who took a traditional psychedelic down in South America. At the start of his trip he described an out of body experience (looking down at himself and the people he was with). Then his trip became psychedelic, but in real life he was just staggering around.
So the point is, the brain does a lot of stuff outside of consciousness to keep us alive, and normally we see a limited view of reality. But some people have visions. We don't call that science, and what people remember about the experience is certainly subjective, but it is possible that the altered brain state is seeing more than the normal, limited view.