http://www.ted.com

Also, WNYC’s Radio Lab has a section on the issues of this blog post as well as some strange discoveries in neurology;

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab

related somewhat, and very interesting. of course she has not claimed to have died, but she does have a very interesting story.

Reports from an ‘afterlife’ come from ‘people who died’ are not from people who were really dead, but people who are ‘clinically dead’; not breathing, no heart beat. When that happens, blood does not feed the brain. Senses fail, including the visual cortex, so the remaining part of the brain that is active attempts to make sense of being disconnected from valid sensory input.

Let’s take a look at the process of dying and what we know about human physiology;

1. Death is not a clear line; on one side alive, on the other completely dead. Death happens in stages as individual cells no longer retain integrity for a variety of reasons, often because of oxygen starvation from organ failure or trauma that prevents the blood from circulating.

2. All of our thoughts are contained in a structure of neurons.

3. When people start to die, the brain is frequently one of the last organs to be starved of oxygen.

4. The ‘tunnel of light’ is caused by the visual cortex loosing oxygen and the remaining parts of the brain attempting to deal with that. The same ‘tunnel’ can be simulated. Pilots experience this when they use a centrifuge under high G forces for training or to test new gear.

5. People who live after being through this oxygen starvation tell stories based on their brain’s attempt to deal with the stress. They talk about ‘flash backs’, they talk about ‘stepping outside’ of themselves and seeing themselves. The same thing the pilots in the centrifuges report.

6. The more time the brain or any organ is starved, the more damage.

7. Traumatic brain damage can change ‘who’ a person is, from memories through personalities. If there was a unique person detached from the brain, then where did the first person go when the personality changed and where did the second person come from? The answer is simple if you know how the brain works; there is no such thing as mind/body dualism.

These are facts. So, what can we with confidence say about what exists after life? We already know. Surgeons in emergency rooms know, EMS teams know, morticians know, and families and friends at bed sides know. All else is arrogance, fantasy, and wishful thinking of those who witness that finality.