Arguments of the Afterlife Essay

Through out(a) alone recorded history mankind has battled to line up answers to each and all(prenominal) one of lifes questions and to some returns found quite a few still, one question that has besides to be answered pertains to the possibility of life afterward death. Some argue that the motif of survival of consciousness without a body is extremely impractical and out of the question however, when relying on only practical evidence alone it is k nonty to formulate a concrete theory.On the other hand, when we look at affaires much(prenominal) as cross-cultural studies on near death experiences and their profound similarities we can utilize them as clues to suggest the possibility of an afterlife. Using both logic and intuition we should be able to gain some incursion on the matter. A near death experience (NDE) is a terminal figure that was originated by Dr. Raymond A. Moody in his bestseller Life After Life, a loudness that has revolutionized the way many people see death (Morris, 1 C. common topaz 1). According to Moody NDEs atomic number 18 visions of the afterlife that must happen to an idiosyncratic under the conditions of one of the three following circumstances being pronounced clinically dead be close to death due to traumatic injury or descriptions of visions seen by a dying person and after described by someone who is present (12). These visions are similar to fingerprints in the fact that no two are exactly the same (Moody, 17).However, on that point are many common characteristics such as feelings of quiet and field pansy strange noises that demand been sometimes described as disturbing or even peaceful beautiful being(s) of light that are often unearthly figures, but not always dark winding tunnels that are ordinarily cylindrical intense flash acanthas that play back the persons completed life in order to provoke reflection being greeted by family members or friends who expunge in passed on before and borderlines that co uld be any phase of border imaginable (Moody, 21-55).Although the term NDE is fairly new the experiences that define it are not. Since the beginning of civilization every agriculture has mentioned some form of an afterlife idea based on various religions and areas in which they are center on around thus, we can compare anthropological and psychological observations from reliable sources- every civilization (C. Tan, 1).The earliest clues to NDEs can be found in antique texts such as The Egyptian and Tibetan al-Qurans of the Dead, which both describe the handing over of life to death and what they business leader see and even Plato acknowledges these experiences in Book X of the Republic which grades a short story of a soldier who was killed in battle along with several other soldiers, they all traveled through with(predicate) a tunnel together to be judged by a light however, he was sent back by the light to tell everyone what he had experienced.Still another important clu e is that NDEs are not limited to any certain religious group, gender or age. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, males, females, adults and children have told their NDE accounts (C. Tan, 2 Historical Tradition sec. 2-3 Moody, 86 Williams, sec. 3). Skeptics may argue that the archetype of an afterlife is unrealistic and brush these findings to the side by labeling them under hallucinations and psychological factors.Not only does the brain release certain chemicals such as DMT as a physical response to death, but besides culture plays a strong roll in what a person might describe to have seen during an NDE (Neimark, sec. 1). For example, both a Christian and a Muslim wreak the same being of light during an NDE, while the Christian believes they have encountered Jesus Christ the Muslim believes that they have encountered Allah simply in abidance to their religious beliefs.It is true that the brain releases DMT during its time of death and certain aspects of NDEs do vary from cult ure to culture due to psychological factors nevertheless, this does not confute the evidence supporting the idea of an afterlife (Williams, sec. 1-2). Meanwhile, when we study cases of NDEs such as Harvard neurosurgeon and former skeptic, Dr. Eben horse parsley III consequently, whose personal encounter with such an experience changed his whole view on this topic (Heaven Exists, Says US Neurosurgeon Eben Alexander after Waking from Coma, 1-2).In his book, consequence of Heaven A Neurosurgeons Journey into the Afterlife, Alexander descriptively illustrates his personal NDE through a logical and intuitive point of view. He was admitted to the hospital on November 10th 2008 when he was discovered to have bacterial meningitis to a greater extentover tests interpreted indicated gram-negative meningitis, which has a high mortality rate. Dr. Alexander was reported to fall in to a coma for 6 days and his mortality rate rose up to 97 percent, until the 7th day when he miraculously awoke.Ac cording to Scott Wade, M. D. who treated Dr. Alexander, The fact that he went on to have a full recovery from this illness after being in a coma for nearly a week is truly unique. (Wade, 184). Yet Dr. Alexanders quick recovery from an almost fatal coma was not the only aspect that should be noted as truly remarkable (Wade 184). Not only did he experience some of the more normally reported events in NDEs, such as noises, beings of light and even an encounter with a family member who had passed some years before (Alexander, 38-79).But, Alexander also underwent some unconventional events in his NDE, that have never been reported in previous times, including that during this NDE he had no knowledge of who he was before, what he was or even where he was the family member that lead him through his afterlife experiences turn out to be his biological sister who he had never seen until after his NDE when a photo of her was sent to him by another biological sibling and during this coma hi s neocortex which is the part of the brain that hallucinogens such as DMT come to was shut down (Alexander, 29-171).In fact, Alexander was in such a heave state of coma that there would have been no manageable way of the vivid recollections of his NDE, because his cortex was not even functioning (Alexander, 140-186). standardised to having reoccurring characteristics in NDEs, the most universal reported event NDEs is that that everyone who has been sent back claims to have been told that the reason we are all here to learn how to love.They debunk a more spiritual lifestyle and usually have a set notion of certain beliefs pertaining to the afterlife, which cannot be budged (Alexander, 72-79 C. Tan 1-2 Neimark 3 Williams sec. 5). As Moody puts it Still, the experience affects his life profoundly, especially his views about death and its blood to life. (C. Tan, 1). A number of these people even assert that we are not using the word death after you have the experience that I had, you know in your heart that there is no such thing as death. (Moody, 73).Although we live in a world where scientific financial support must play a roll in our research to purpose theories, we must also note that we are not scientifically pass on enough to rule out all that is considered to be an illogical argument. Likewise, until we are completely able to balance logic with intuition we will never be fully capable of finding answers to all of our questions. NDEs cannot be disproved until all holes in the logical argument are filled moreover, NDEs show more supporting or at least unexplainable evidence than they do contracting evidence that could quite possibly answer some of questions if separate researched.