Poll: out of body and near death experiences
Out of body and near death experiences share a category with hallucinations and dreams.
Since the supposed "out of body floating self" can interact with the body, it can presumably interact with whatever else (which would be verifiable), yet that apparently does not happen. Spurious.
Somehow "seeing" without eyes, "hearing" without eardrums, "remembering" without a head, "fits" in exactly one body (the one required to report the experience), ...? When and how is this supposed "disembodied astral soul" installed in the body anyway? Suspect.
Can this "incorporeal observer" then only be affected by the world (i.e. be an effect in part), but not affect the world (i.e. be a cause in part)? (Except, not affected by gravity though, maybe, or something.) For that matter, wouldn't any observed light be subject to transformation by being "seen" (which hence would be detectable)? Dubious.
Alien abduction stories at least report seeing with their eyes, and those are generally thought questionable already.
We tend to understand confabulation (memory disturbances), dream side-effects, phantom pain, alien hand syndrome, other abnormal involuntary behavior and synesthesia, for example, a bit more down to Earth. Voluntary daydreams of flying in orbit around Earth as an "astral Superman" are not really disembodied experiences as such, but fairly easy to the imagination, analogous to involuntary out of body and near death experiences.
Whatever these experiences may be, the purported understanding remains unsatisfactory. But movies like Ghost sure perpetuates the notion.
Since the supposed "out of body floating self" can interact with the body, it can presumably interact with whatever else (which would be verifiable), yet that apparently does not happen. Spurious.
Somehow "seeing" without eyes, "hearing" without eardrums, "remembering" without a head, "fits" in exactly one body (the one required to report the experience), ...? When and how is this supposed "disembodied astral soul" installed in the body anyway? Suspect.
Can this "incorporeal observer" then only be affected by the world (i.e. be an effect in part), but not affect the world (i.e. be a cause in part)? (Except, not affected by gravity though, maybe, or something.) For that matter, wouldn't any observed light be subject to transformation by being "seen" (which hence would be detectable)? Dubious.
Alien abduction stories at least report seeing with their eyes, and those are generally thought questionable already.
We tend to understand confabulation (memory disturbances), dream side-effects, phantom pain, alien hand syndrome, other abnormal involuntary behavior and synesthesia, for example, a bit more down to Earth. Voluntary daydreams of flying in orbit around Earth as an "astral Superman" are not really disembodied experiences as such, but fairly easy to the imagination, analogous to involuntary out of body and near death experiences.
Whatever these experiences may be, the purported understanding remains unsatisfactory. But movies like Ghost sure perpetuates the notion.
Comments (23)
I would be very interested in hearing about them.
I am a physicist and I have thought about what I have experienced a lot. I can say that paranormal world exists.
I have sleep paralysis as well. What are your thoughts on it?
Quick, quick, if you can read this remove the plastic bag from your head. And don't forget to put the ol' fella back! >:)
I think we are embedded in a physical state which we can be approached with others. I can stay in this state as long as I want if I am allowed. I am a little lazy on practicing but a couple of time I managed to reach into that physical state. What do you think?
I am however puzzled with the fact that what I sometimes see in my vision cannot be seen by others. The beings in my vision behave like normal people and seems to have thoughts and feelings. I cannot say that my vision is construct of my brain activity when I am awake. How couldn't they be true when they seem very real like others?
What might we then expect...?
Ayer had an epic experience:
A. J. Ayer – ‘What I Saw When I Was Dead’ (Peter Sjöstedt-H – philosopher; Sep 2017)
Might be more interesting if you had visions (plural) of someone/something entirely unknown to you, that you could then later verify/falsify independently. Make a statistic out of it.
Quoting bahman
If you slapped me in a dream, would you then expect me to have a bruise the next day in real life...? They're different kinds of experiences (from memory, I think it was Searle that had some good points on this stuff).
[quote=opening post]Out of body and near death experiences share a category with hallucinations and dreams.[/quote]
Yes, they were individual I have never seen before.
Quoting jorndoe
I don't understand this: "Out of body and near death experiences share a category with hallucinations and dreams." Could you please elaborate?
Did you happen to capture any 'demon semen'? Sorry, couldn't resist!
I am male but I captured some demons' semen outside my body. It happen to me twice. The first was performed by Satan and the second one by a Friend/Brother, I don't have any name for Him. :)
Sounds frightening. Sorry you had to experience that. :(
They weren't frightening. They were ok to me.
http://www.magarchive.tcu.edu/articles/2008-01-AN2.asp
http://www.radiolab.org/story/91527-out-of-body-roger/
I was surprised, as well, but I try to remind myself that we are all biased by our own experiences. When people have experienced something like this, it is much more likely that they will believe it was legitimate than it would be for someone who hasn't experienced it.
It's interesting when you think about it. We are told things by other people, and whether or not we believe these things is based on many factors (what we know about the person saying it, how many other people have said it, how many other people believe what the person says, etc.), but most likely the biggest factor is our own experience of the world. If something lines up well with what you yourself have experienced, you are much more likely to believe it than if it doesn't. Paranormal phenomena don't line up with my own experience because I have never experienced anything that is seemingly paranormal, and that makes me just as biased as the people who have experienced it. We are all slaves to our own perspective.
But of course, it's always good to remember--as you said--anything is possible.
Thanks for sharing your interesting experiences. I would not have guessed people experienced such things. Unless they were ... umm.. err... ya know, under psychological stress or something, lol. I have had only one paranormal experience. Very unsettling to say the least. It’s difficult to describe. It started shortly before I was born, I think. And as far as I know it is still going on. Kind of a chronic paranormal experience. :starstruck:
(I do realize that this is a zombie thread :death: from months ago, and the poster is forum-deceased. But it’s appropriate for this thread, plus it’s almost Halloween.)