This column got my full attention this AM. Perhaps it's because I have a science background and as a lifelong educator, have long paid attention to neuroscientific findings and content. Perhaps its because in my currrent role as an executive coach, I am always looking for ideas a and resources to help shift clients as observers of themselves and others in the interest of developing new perspectives about why we think and behave as we do. Perhaps it is because I will be 60 next month and am increasingly pondering my mortality, reflecting on what has been and might still be, the people I love and have loved, what I've exprienced and done that I treasure, the mistakes I've made and the many life lessons I've learned, the possibilities I want to explore in the future, and the many, many things for which I am grateful. I particularly liked the three questions you posed and have captured for journaling purposes in personal vision and values document I am working through. THANK YOU for the insightful, thought-provoking messages you share each day - they are most appreciated!
I especially enjoyed reading the newsletter this morning. In recent years, I often say that when you leave this place, what you bring with you are your memories, so I focus more on making good memories now and less on accumulating stuff. Thanks, Bill.
Can I propose a hashtag for Understandably, #readunderstandably?
Hmmm, from a science perspective, if the brain was to fire neurons that retrieve all or a mash of 'the most important' memories all at once during an end-of-life event, shouldn't this be reproducible in other formats? Whether caused by a spasm of too little O2, or too high CO2 (acidosis) combined with hormones and enzymes flooding the system, why shouldn't that be perceived as 'life flashing before', even if only a half-dozen memories are involved. We normally can focus on retrieving only one at a time, if only for a few seconds. Several simultaneously would be an unusual event for the brain owner. Would not other events the brain may perceive as 'near death' elicit similar outcomes and be considered 'reproducible'? Be it a drowning, sexual asphyxiation, altitude hypoxia/hypocapnia/panic/passing out, multitudinous simultaneous sensory inputs or biologically-active chemicals our little meatsacks rely on could easily trigger a memory storm in our last moments. But that's just my theory :)
Perhaps, this activity is a brain dump to the mother ship? i.e. backup all data before the lights are turned off. The question is who/what is the mother ship and what does it do with the data. And if reincarnation is real, one could argue that this is just data transfer to the next life!
Regardless, for this to happen, the brain would need to know that life is about to end so that it can start a replay. So, how does the brain know that life is about to end? OR is the brain itself triggering a countdown sequence and one of the steps of this countdown process is a flashback. And the end of this brain initiated countdown is a full shutdown i.e. end of life. Why would the brain do this? And can we figure out a way to stop the brain from triggering this countdown?
A more simplistic view is that this is a simple short circuit and everything is just getting zapped but it looks like a replay. All interesting theories! Thanks for sharing.
Spiritually speaking, I believe that no one leaves this plane of existence without first fulfilling one's divine purpose here. Therefore, one need not worry about whether what one did mattered or whether one had done everything one was supposed to have done. The fact that one left this plane of existence is proof that it did and one did.
Actually it may be easy to determine what happens. Youtube is filled with thousands of individuals who died, moved immediately into a spiritual realm where they were enveloped in light and love more vivid than anything they experienced on earth. Most consider themselves to be in the edges of heaven where they often see angels, loved ones, and friends who have gone earlier, and welcome them home with open arms.
The many accounts are each a little bit different, but many of the details seem to be near universally experienced. Most see themselves leave their body, hover above it, watching what's happening below, especially in hospital settings, as resuscitation efforts happen. Some of them even see what's happening in other areas in the hospital and elsewhere, and later, after they return, accurately describe what they saw. Before they come back, many of them see themselves going thru a dark tunnel at breakneck speed toward a pinpoint of light. It gets bigger and bigger and eventually they enter there and see indescribable things, because they don't have the words to express it. The brightness, the vivid colors, the rich vegetation more real than they have ever seen. Their testimonies of what they saw are from those who aren't allowed to stay because they have unfinished work left, and have to come back.
Of course, those are testimonies of the ones who return, since it's impossible to know what happens to the ones who don't come back.
Virtually none of them fear death after that, because being there was such a pleasant experience, pain free and enveloped in a feeling of being loved like never before.
Here is a man who has studied thousands of these phenomena for 30 years and has put together videos of 8 of them whom he personally interviewed. These are substantial, professional people such as doctors and scientists who firmly believe their experience was real, each lasting a about 45 minutes.
I’ve actually been through this. I was 15 years old and tripped in a river crossing and was dragged over a waterfall. I don’t think I was under long, but it seemed like hours.
You must understand that I was not very aware of others before this, as family trauma constantly consumed my brain. This changed all of that. The flashbacks (for this post) were in short video-like moments. Each one was when I was doing what I had been told to do, but the message was that it was wrong. This was a huge message! Then I went in to other things that aren’t relevant to this post. I was told I hadn’t done what I said I’d do and suddenly, I had amazing strength and surfaced from underneath the water.
After that experience, I was significantly different. I questioned everything, I was more compassionate, had more empathy, became involved in world peace and against authoritarianism. I was more grounded and able to go into a healing profession. It changed my life.
I don't worry about things like this (or think about them), leaving the possibility for when I actually make my exit. I mean, it's like endlessly debating if there's an afterlife (something I don't believe there is but if others do, it's fine by me). There was a great scene in a Woody Allen movie (It might have been Annie Hall) wherein Allen is asking his onscreen father if he (the father) is worried about the eternal blackness of death., commenting how awful it must be. The father is busy making himself a sandwich and tells Allen he'll worry about it all when he's dead, i.e., why let these things concern you while you're very much alive! This includes the "life flashing before your eyes" thing. Enjoy being alive and stop endlessly contemplating "The End." It's the journey from cradle to grave that counts, not how it ends or if there's an afterlife, etc.
So Bill, why not allow doctors to hook you up as you are at the end of life and see the results? If it is somewhat in a manner that lets family and relatives to grieve (hopefully they are grieving!) and still bring on scientific results, I would have no issue with that.
I would like to discuss this with you. I spent the first 30 years of my life with Epilepsy and I have been brought back to life 6 different times. Four of those times I quit breathing. I'm about to have my first book out that talks about my life with Epilepsy. I went through a period of time that felt like dementia and Alzheimer's while my brain was trying to heal and re-program so I could continue to live. I have amazed some doctor's with my comeback and success from the brain surgery but I'm just happy each day I wake up in my own bed.
Yes, mine sure did!
This column got my full attention this AM. Perhaps it's because I have a science background and as a lifelong educator, have long paid attention to neuroscientific findings and content. Perhaps its because in my currrent role as an executive coach, I am always looking for ideas a and resources to help shift clients as observers of themselves and others in the interest of developing new perspectives about why we think and behave as we do. Perhaps it is because I will be 60 next month and am increasingly pondering my mortality, reflecting on what has been and might still be, the people I love and have loved, what I've exprienced and done that I treasure, the mistakes I've made and the many life lessons I've learned, the possibilities I want to explore in the future, and the many, many things for which I am grateful. I particularly liked the three questions you posed and have captured for journaling purposes in personal vision and values document I am working through. THANK YOU for the insightful, thought-provoking messages you share each day - they are most appreciated!
I especially enjoyed reading the newsletter this morning. In recent years, I often say that when you leave this place, what you bring with you are your memories, so I focus more on making good memories now and less on accumulating stuff. Thanks, Bill.
Can I propose a hashtag for Understandably, #readunderstandably?
Hmmm, from a science perspective, if the brain was to fire neurons that retrieve all or a mash of 'the most important' memories all at once during an end-of-life event, shouldn't this be reproducible in other formats? Whether caused by a spasm of too little O2, or too high CO2 (acidosis) combined with hormones and enzymes flooding the system, why shouldn't that be perceived as 'life flashing before', even if only a half-dozen memories are involved. We normally can focus on retrieving only one at a time, if only for a few seconds. Several simultaneously would be an unusual event for the brain owner. Would not other events the brain may perceive as 'near death' elicit similar outcomes and be considered 'reproducible'? Be it a drowning, sexual asphyxiation, altitude hypoxia/hypocapnia/panic/passing out, multitudinous simultaneous sensory inputs or biologically-active chemicals our little meatsacks rely on could easily trigger a memory storm in our last moments. But that's just my theory :)
Perhaps, this activity is a brain dump to the mother ship? i.e. backup all data before the lights are turned off. The question is who/what is the mother ship and what does it do with the data. And if reincarnation is real, one could argue that this is just data transfer to the next life!
Regardless, for this to happen, the brain would need to know that life is about to end so that it can start a replay. So, how does the brain know that life is about to end? OR is the brain itself triggering a countdown sequence and one of the steps of this countdown process is a flashback. And the end of this brain initiated countdown is a full shutdown i.e. end of life. Why would the brain do this? And can we figure out a way to stop the brain from triggering this countdown?
A more simplistic view is that this is a simple short circuit and everything is just getting zapped but it looks like a replay. All interesting theories! Thanks for sharing.
Spiritually speaking, I believe that no one leaves this plane of existence without first fulfilling one's divine purpose here. Therefore, one need not worry about whether what one did mattered or whether one had done everything one was supposed to have done. The fact that one left this plane of existence is proof that it did and one did.
Actually it may be easy to determine what happens. Youtube is filled with thousands of individuals who died, moved immediately into a spiritual realm where they were enveloped in light and love more vivid than anything they experienced on earth. Most consider themselves to be in the edges of heaven where they often see angels, loved ones, and friends who have gone earlier, and welcome them home with open arms.
The many accounts are each a little bit different, but many of the details seem to be near universally experienced. Most see themselves leave their body, hover above it, watching what's happening below, especially in hospital settings, as resuscitation efforts happen. Some of them even see what's happening in other areas in the hospital and elsewhere, and later, after they return, accurately describe what they saw. Before they come back, many of them see themselves going thru a dark tunnel at breakneck speed toward a pinpoint of light. It gets bigger and bigger and eventually they enter there and see indescribable things, because they don't have the words to express it. The brightness, the vivid colors, the rich vegetation more real than they have ever seen. Their testimonies of what they saw are from those who aren't allowed to stay because they have unfinished work left, and have to come back.
Of course, those are testimonies of the ones who return, since it's impossible to know what happens to the ones who don't come back.
Virtually none of them fear death after that, because being there was such a pleasant experience, pain free and enveloped in a feeling of being loved like never before.
Here is a man who has studied thousands of these phenomena for 30 years and has put together videos of 8 of them whom he personally interviewed. These are substantial, professional people such as doctors and scientists who firmly believe their experience was real, each lasting a about 45 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLulgd9eHkENpyBmp6hIFSFQgcomxVhzjA
I’ve actually been through this. I was 15 years old and tripped in a river crossing and was dragged over a waterfall. I don’t think I was under long, but it seemed like hours.
You must understand that I was not very aware of others before this, as family trauma constantly consumed my brain. This changed all of that. The flashbacks (for this post) were in short video-like moments. Each one was when I was doing what I had been told to do, but the message was that it was wrong. This was a huge message! Then I went in to other things that aren’t relevant to this post. I was told I hadn’t done what I said I’d do and suddenly, I had amazing strength and surfaced from underneath the water.
After that experience, I was significantly different. I questioned everything, I was more compassionate, had more empathy, became involved in world peace and against authoritarianism. I was more grounded and able to go into a healing profession. It changed my life.
I don't worry about things like this (or think about them), leaving the possibility for when I actually make my exit. I mean, it's like endlessly debating if there's an afterlife (something I don't believe there is but if others do, it's fine by me). There was a great scene in a Woody Allen movie (It might have been Annie Hall) wherein Allen is asking his onscreen father if he (the father) is worried about the eternal blackness of death., commenting how awful it must be. The father is busy making himself a sandwich and tells Allen he'll worry about it all when he's dead, i.e., why let these things concern you while you're very much alive! This includes the "life flashing before your eyes" thing. Enjoy being alive and stop endlessly contemplating "The End." It's the journey from cradle to grave that counts, not how it ends or if there's an afterlife, etc.
So Bill, why not allow doctors to hook you up as you are at the end of life and see the results? If it is somewhat in a manner that lets family and relatives to grieve (hopefully they are grieving!) and still bring on scientific results, I would have no issue with that.
I would like to discuss this with you. I spent the first 30 years of my life with Epilepsy and I have been brought back to life 6 different times. Four of those times I quit breathing. I'm about to have my first book out that talks about my life with Epilepsy. I went through a period of time that felt like dementia and Alzheimer's while my brain was trying to heal and re-program so I could continue to live. I have amazed some doctor's with my comeback and success from the brain surgery but I'm just happy each day I wake up in my own bed.