Sam26

Here's my take on this Xander. Unless your going to bring the knowledge you have now back with you when you start over, what makes you think you would...

It's true that the person in the VR program has less knowledge than the computer user, but it's much more I believe. For example, let's suppose that y...

(Y)

No, it's not inconsistent, it's similar to a contingent truth, that is, it can be true in one setting and false in another depending on the state-of-a...

Yes, but my point is that we might assume, for example, if we lived in a virtual world that it had an objective nature, but that's only true within th...

It's feels good to be happy, and it would be nice if we could always do the things that make us happy, but in my humble opinion life is not about bein...

This isn't necessarily the case. It's possible that a very powerful mind/s could create a reality that's a virtual simulation, and while you're experi...

That's the point, they're called NEAR DEATH experiences - not death experiences.

Here's a really interesting video between Sam Harris and David Chalmers on the hard problem of consciousness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bmHL1sb...

I do believe people can experience an OBE while in a deeply meditative state. And my inclination is to think that OBEs can occur without experiencing ...

Sounds more like an empty post. We're talking about near death experiences, not death experiences - obviously there's a difference. Moreover, there ar...

I don't mind disagreement, don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to understand your position. I've read and listened to many thousands of NDEs and have ...

Your argument is mostly speculation, and based on what's possible. Lots of things are possible, but not very probable. You don't give any evidence. We...

I don't know of any metaphysical support for past lives.

I thought some of you might be interested in Sir Roger Penrose's talk on "The Quantum Nature of Consciousness." It's just a short discussion. However,...

I don't think the evidence for past lives is credible based on the testimonials of memories alone. I do think there is support though based on NDE tes...

I'm not sure I follow your point. You don't see how levels of awareness change between dream states and waking states? Moreover, there is no correspon...

The probability is based on the criteria of what makes testimonial evidence strong, which I gave on page one. So based on numbers of reports, variety ...

Post #4 Continuing with where I believe the evidence leads (post #1 starts on page 9 of this thread). Whether one agrees with my claim that consciousn...

You guys are taking the thread in a different direction. I was looking at the evidence based on NDEs, and where the evidence leads.

Post #3 So why are we here? The question that comes to my mind is, why do we choose to come to a place like this? Imagine a place where there is very ...

Post #2 Let me give an example of how I interpreted some of the testimonials about hell. I do this to give you an idea of how I examined these testimo...

The following numbered posts are going to be my views of reality based on NDE testimonials, that is, where I believe the evidence leads. Post #1 I'm g...

This is an interesting NDE of someone who has been blind since birth. Listen to how she describes her NDE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKyQJDZuMHE...

Some beliefs are groundless, but not all beliefs. Many of our beliefs have a causal explanation. I would say that the causal connection between much o...

Ya, and I was 28 in 1978, so I'm getting up there.

Wow, philosophy 101, I took that class in 1978. lol It was Plato that got me interested in philosophy.

I agree with some of what you're saying, but what one believes in terms of their world view should hang on the evidence to support the argument. For e...

I don't subscribe to complete skepticism, but a healthy skepticism.

There are several issues here that I'm not sure I can address in this one post, but I'll try to be concise and to the point. I don't think there is an...

I've been studying these accounts for about 12 years, and I've read many of the deathbed visions along with DMT reports. I've also read many other acc...

It's my belief based on my studies over the years that dogma is the enemy of truth. Whether it's religious dogma, scientific dogma, atheistic dogma, o...

This analysis is also important in determining the reality of NDEs. Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagine...

If you have time read the following. It might answer some of your questions. http://www.newdualism.org/nde-papers/Greyson/Greyson-The%20Journal%20of%2...

I haven't forgotten your last post. I'll get to it. It's a bit hard to follow though.

For me knowledge is intrinsically good, and in terms of NDEs I think it would be a good thing to expand our knowledge of consciousness. While it's tru...

I thought I addressed most of your argument, but maybe I missed some of your points. I addressed some of it in a general way because I'm not sure if a...

What I mean by religious baggage is all the dogma that people believe based on very little evidence, or based on ancient writings that have very littl...

Criteria (1) is very important, however, it's hard to believe that millions of reports with very similar accounts aren't reliable, or that they aren't...

My intention is to respond to everyone, but if I miss someone, you'll have to forgive my feeble mind.

I'm not sure one can establish a minimum criteria for what consciousness is, or when consciousness leaves a body, other than one is seeing oneself fro...

Concerning (1) and (1i), it has not been shown, and it's purely speculation that the filters that you propose would have a negative affect on these te...

I don't understand what it would mean to say it's you without continuity of memory. How can there be continuity of experience without remembering your...

Yes, culture plays an important role in how people integrate or interpret what they see. For example, Christians may interpret beings they see as an a...

No one has the answer to that question. Even if the evidence is enough to support consciousness surviving the body, we don't know what consciousness i...

What I'm trying to do is draw conclusions based on the testimonial evidence. The main thrust of this thread is the conclusion that consciousness survi...

What I would say about past lives is the following: There are many reports (thousands) that people remember, while in their NDE, that they and others ...

Thanks for the remarks Creative, and yes I do remember you, and the people you mentioned. We go all the way back to Ephilosopher, which was more than ...

"So what we can conclude from the testimony is that people who identify as having NDEs and who self report mystical experiences will have at least one...

Maybe thinking of it this way might clear some of this up. Let's think of a large building, and within the building are many people doing a variety of...