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According to Wikipedia, more than 9 million people in the US have reported Near Death Experience (NDE) [0]. Some common traits that were reported: - A sense/aw

According to Wikipedia, more than 9 million people in the US have reported Near Death Experience (NDE) [0]. Some common traits that were reported: - A sense/awareness of being dead. - A sense of peace, well-being, and painlessness. Positive emotions. A sense of removal from the world. - An out-of-body experience. - A perception of one's body from an outside position, sometimes observing medical professionals performing resuscitation efforts. - A "tunnel experience" or entering a darkness. A sense of moving up, or through, a passageway or staircase. - A rapid movement toward and/or sudden immersion in a powerful light (or "Being of Light") which communicates telepathically with the person. - An intense feeling of unconditional love and acceptance. I'm not sure, but this feels relevant juxtaposed the prospect of returning to life in a body of unsure quality, with all my friends, relatives and acquaintances long gone, into a world that I can not expect to understand much of. Even if it ever became possible, which I sincerely doubt. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience

pavlov 4y ago
If you ask people to describe their dreams and find similarities, it’s not reasonable to assume those dreams represent some kind of hidden reality rather than simply shared psychological responses and social influences. I don’t see why these reports should be treated any differently.
Retric 4y ago
That’s hardly the only or even most common response. As mentioned in that Wikipedia link people often report: anguish distress a void devastation vast emptiness etc Not mentioned but common is extreme pain. But, such responses are less comforting and therefore less often repeated. It’s the same sort of filtering that makes specific kinds of posts go viral. As mentioned in Parnia's study where 63 people with NDE and none of them had an out of body experience, the actual breakdown of experiences don’t line up with what is generally reported.
- dmix 4y ago
  Yeah that wikipedia article did not support the comment very well at all.
  - stareatgoats 4y ago
    Except it is literally what is says under the heading "Common elements": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience#Common_elements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience#Common_e...
    - Retric 4y ago
      The very first paragraph says: A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of a light. When negative, such experiences may include sensations of anguish, distress, a void, devastation, and vast emptiness. People often report seeing hellish places and things like their own rendition of "the devil."[1][2][3] A post only listing the positive reports is wildly biased. Collect enough data and ignore whatever doesn’t support your views and you can eventually find “evidence” to support anything. You can use the same methods to show NDE are positive, absolutely horrific, or shockingly mundane.
      - bowsamic 4y ago
        In Buddhism, those people with the negative experiences are the ones who are going to experience a rebirth in a hell realm, unfortunately for an extremely long number of years (between 10^6 and 10^21 years)
      - stareatgoats 4y ago
        Fair enough. Point taken. But how many have had the unpleasant experience? The first reference to such is a paper by Nancy bush and Bruce Greyson, which opens the study thus: "The great majority of near-death experiences (NDEs) reported publicly over the past four decades have been described as pleasant, even glorious. Almost unnoticed in the euphoria about them has been the sobering fact that not all NDEs are so affirming. Some are deeply disturbing."[0] So most are positive, a minority are deeply disturbing. The overarching purpose here was not however to paint any potential afterlife i glowing terms, it was to highlight the fact that there seems to be a widely (probably under-)reported process that we humans experience when we die. Which seems relevant in a discussion about cryogenics. [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6173534/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6173534/
beaker52 4y ago
It’s when we spend decades, generations even, trying to reanimate bodies without success but then finally we see signs of life. The first (and curiously, only) body tries to communicate with us and is rehabilitated for a decade before we finally hear their message: “don’t bother numb nuts, it’s better on the other side. Why are you all still wasting your time over here?”

pavlov 4y ago

If you ask people to describe their dreams and find similarities, it’s not reasonable to assume those dreams represent some kind of hidden reality rather than simply shared psychological responses and social influences. I don’t see why these reports should be treated any differently.

Retric 4y ago

That’s hardly the only or even most common response. As mentioned in that Wikipedia link people often report: anguish distress a void devastation vast emptiness etc Not mentioned but common is extreme pain. But, such responses are less comforting and therefore less often repeated. It’s the same sort of filtering that makes specific kinds of posts go viral. As mentioned in Parnia's study where 63 people with NDE and none of them had an out of body experience, the actual breakdown of experiences don’t line up with what is generally reported.

dmix 4y ago
Yeah that wikipedia article did not support the comment very well at all.
- stareatgoats 4y ago
  Except it is literally what is says under the heading "Common elements": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience#Common_elements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience#Common_e...
  - Retric 4y ago
    The very first paragraph says: A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of a light. When negative, such experiences may include sensations of anguish, distress, a void, devastation, and vast emptiness. People often report seeing hellish places and things like their own rendition of "the devil."[1][2][3] A post only listing the positive reports is wildly biased. Collect enough data and ignore whatever doesn’t support your views and you can eventually find “evidence” to support anything. You can use the same methods to show NDE are positive, absolutely horrific, or shockingly mundane.
    - bowsamic 4y ago
      In Buddhism, those people with the negative experiences are the ones who are going to experience a rebirth in a hell realm, unfortunately for an extremely long number of years (between 10^6 and 10^21 years)
    - stareatgoats 4y ago
      Fair enough. Point taken. But how many have had the unpleasant experience? The first reference to such is a paper by Nancy bush and Bruce Greyson, which opens the study thus: "The great majority of near-death experiences (NDEs) reported publicly over the past four decades have been described as pleasant, even glorious. Almost unnoticed in the euphoria about them has been the sobering fact that not all NDEs are so affirming. Some are deeply disturbing."[0] So most are positive, a minority are deeply disturbing. The overarching purpose here was not however to paint any potential afterlife i glowing terms, it was to highlight the fact that there seems to be a widely (probably under-)reported process that we humans experience when we die. Which seems relevant in a discussion about cryogenics. [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6173534/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6173534/

beaker52 4y ago

It’s when we spend decades, generations even, trying to reanimate bodies without success but then finally we see signs of life. The first (and curiously, only) body tries to communicate with us and is rehabilitated for a decade before we finally hear their message: “don’t bother numb nuts, it’s better on the other side. Why are you all still wasting your time over here?”