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Old 17th August 2015, 03:47 PM   #394
Giordano
Penultimate Amazing
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 17,646
Originally Posted by Jodie View Post
I don't see how the research for near death experiences can indicate that an after life doesn't exist. If our perceptions are limited, then what people claim to be seeing would simply be a brain function. How would that be evidence that an after life didn't exist? If there is other evidence than these particular studies, I'm not aware of it.
This is, in a round-about way, my point. If we presume that life after death can not be detected using our instruments and sensors, then it is much like the situation with my attic, which I have not checked for unicorns for many months. Either an afterlife or a unicorn in my attic could exist, both being beyond my ability to deduce based on what I already know right now. But there is no reason to assume that either exists. The existence of either requires special pleading (they exist, but you can't detect them because they happen to have properties that are special and unlike all the other things that you do know exist in the world). Are they possible in theory- sure. But are they likely enough to be worth considering? I'd say no.

I would also point out that fundamental to the proposal that there is an afterlife is the concept that somehow our consciousness is separable and distinct from the physical and chemical function of the brain. Another example of special pleading. No one proposes that the functions of our kidnys somehow out live us and continue after the kidneys themselves die. Same with our hearts, or livers, or our muscles. When these organs are dead, people accept that the functions of these organs while alive also stop on death. But somehow, some people would like to believe that our brain function, our minds, will outlive our brains. I see no reason to believe that.
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