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pbmus

(12,444 posts)
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 07:20 PM Jan 2018

Brain surgeon claims to have experienced life after death

The question of where we go after we have died has been one of humanity's greatest mysteries for centuries.

One man who claims to know the answer or at least has an inclination of what might happen is the brain surgeon, Dr Eben Alexander.

In 2008, Alexander fell into a week-long coma and has documented what he can remember from this event in a new book called Living in a Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon's Journey Into the Heart of Consciousness.


In the book Alexander claims to have experienced a sensation that felt like he was ascending to the heavens or something of that equivalent.

https://www.indy100.com/article/brain-surgeon-dr-eben-alexander-life-after-death-experience-coma-heaven-afterlife-8103361?amp&__twitter_impression=true

39 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Brain surgeon claims to have experienced life after death (Original Post) pbmus Jan 2018 OP
It's all in his mind underpants Jan 2018 #1
Lol pbmus Jan 2018 #3
except of course that he didn't die so he didn't experience life after death. Voltaire2 Jan 2018 #2
Probably a really spectacular hallucination caused by the disease's effects The Velveteen Ocelot Jan 2018 #4
Probably not...The man is a neurosurgeon.. whathehell Jan 2018 #9
Or especially since someone would pay him to write a book marybourg Jan 2018 #17
.. Someone would pay YOU to expose him if that's what actually whathehell Jan 2018 #21
Are you his publicist? marybourg Jan 2018 #24
In your dreams.. whathehell Jan 2018 #25
If he was in a coma, wouldn't that just be a dream? nt Dr Hobbitstein Jan 2018 #5
He wasn't in a comma...He was clinically dead. n/t whathehell Jan 2018 #7
I don't see that in the article. Dr Hobbitstein Jan 2018 #8
You'd need to read his explanation... He's a neurosurgeon, I'm not, but whathehell Jan 2018 #10
"He was suffering from a brain infection [...], which left him at two percent Hav Jan 2018 #11
I don't expect anything.. whathehell Jan 2018 #15
When you are in the process of recovery after your brain was in the shitter, Hav Jan 2018 #18
Um, It depends on how deeply invested you are in NOT believing whathehell Jan 2018 #19
Ben Carson is also a neurosurgeon... Dr Hobbitstein Jan 2018 #13
He:s a retired neurosurgeon whathehell Jan 2018 #14
Pyramids were used to store grain isn't very political. nt Dr Hobbitstein Jan 2018 #16
He's a fundamentalist, I believe.. whathehell Jan 2018 #20
No, but if you're using someone's title (Neurosurgeon) as some sort of authoritative source, Dr Hobbitstein Jan 2018 #23
What "actual proof"? whathehell Jan 2018 #27
Proof of an afterlife, the subject at hand. Dr Hobbitstein Jan 2018 #28
Yes, I understand whathehell Jan 2018 #29
Anecdotal evidence is unreliable 99% of the time. nt Dr Hobbitstein Jan 2018 #30
I'll need more than your word for that percentage, I'm afraid. n/t whathehell Jan 2018 #31
those are not mutually exclusive properties. Voltaire2 Jan 2018 #32
Whatever whathehell Jan 2018 #33
The whatever is critical to the claim. Voltaire2 Jan 2018 #34
Uh huh. whathehell Jan 2018 #35
Alexander is yet another spiritualist grifter. Voltaire2 Jan 2018 #36
THANK YOU! Lucid Dreamer Jan 2022 #39
Most Likely The River Jan 2018 #6
I've experienced death. safeinOhio Jan 2018 #12
That is the experience of some.. whathehell Jan 2018 #22
I once heard that only atheists go to heaven. nt Binkie The Clown Jan 2018 #26
Anita Moorjani claims a similar experience. The_jackalope Jan 2018 #37
I have experienced spirits. Some people known to me. Three were cats. demigoddess Oct 2021 #38

The Velveteen Ocelot

(121,473 posts)
4. Probably a really spectacular hallucination caused by the disease's effects
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 07:25 PM
Jan 2018

on his brain function.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
9. Probably not...The man is a neurosurgeon..
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 08:11 PM
Jan 2018

I'm sure he would have considered that before coming to another conclusion, especially since he had no belief in an afterlife prior to this experience.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
21. .. Someone would pay YOU to expose him if that's what actually
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 09:47 PM
Jan 2018

prompted the book....Too bad it's just idle speculation on your part.

marybourg

(13,213 posts)
24. Are you his publicist?
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 11:11 PM
Jan 2018

You seem incredibly invested in this, even to the extent of personalizing your rebuttals.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
25. In your dreams..
Wed Jan 3, 2018, 11:35 AM
Jan 2018

Actually, I find it's you who seems "incredibly invested in this".
You've yet to read the book, but feel comfortable ascribing dishonest, pecuniary motives to it's author.

 

Dr Hobbitstein

(6,568 posts)
8. I don't see that in the article.
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 08:10 PM
Jan 2018

I see it listed he was "near death" and "in a coma", but not clinically dead.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
10. You'd need to read his explanation... He's a neurosurgeon, I'm not, but
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 08:13 PM
Jan 2018

he claims what he experienced was clinically impossible

Hav

(5,969 posts)
11. "He was suffering from a brain infection [...], which left him at two percent
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 08:19 PM
Jan 2018

chance of staying alive" and he fell into a coma for a week. And you expect him that he was at this point in a good state to make rational, evidence-based observations and conclusions about the state he was in?

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
15. I don't expect anything..
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 08:45 PM
Jan 2018

bit I'm not a neurosurgeon, and I suspect, you aren't either...Just sayin'.

Hav

(5,969 posts)
18. When you are in the process of recovery after your brain was in the shitter,
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 09:27 PM
Jan 2018

it doesn't matter whether you are a brain surgeon or not, you are not functioning at 100%. He should know that. Even as a neurosurgeon, it is impossible for him to pinpoint the exact moment he had this experience. When this story is told, it's always stressed that it happened to a neurosurgeon as if that gives the story any additional credibility regarding the conclusions that were made about the experience. It doesn't even remotely.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
19. Um, It depends on how deeply invested you are in NOT believing
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 09:35 PM
Jan 2018

...Some are more inclined to be open minded.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
20. He's a fundamentalist, I believe..
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 09:38 PM
Jan 2018

You don't have to be one of those to be open to the possibility of an after.life.

 

Dr Hobbitstein

(6,568 posts)
23. No, but if you're using someone's title (Neurosurgeon) as some sort of authoritative source,
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 09:52 PM
Jan 2018

I'd like some actual proof to go with it.

I'm open to the possibility. Hell, I WANT it to be true. But I've seen no evidence as to such yet.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
27. What "actual proof"?
Wed Jan 3, 2018, 11:58 AM
Jan 2018

That he's a neurosurgeon?.....Look up the book on Amazon...You should get all the information you need. Have a nice day.



 

Dr Hobbitstein

(6,568 posts)
28. Proof of an afterlife, the subject at hand.
Wed Jan 3, 2018, 12:11 PM
Jan 2018

I tend not to read books that make outrageous claims that can’t be measured with science.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
29. Yes, I understand
Wed Jan 3, 2018, 12:32 PM
Jan 2018

but I don't throw out ALL anecdotal evidence either, especially when there's a very large body of it.
Strict empiricism has its weaknesses, especially when one considers that science can't yet explain everything and we have further to go and more to explore.

Voltaire2

(14,869 posts)
32. those are not mutually exclusive properties.
Thu Jan 4, 2018, 10:56 AM
Jan 2018

clinical death means his heart stopped and he wasn't breathing. Brain activity continues for a short while after that, and if he was hooked up to life support systems, indefinitely. It doesn't mean he was dead. It means his heart stopped.

Voltaire2

(14,869 posts)
34. The whatever is critical to the claim.
Thu Jan 4, 2018, 02:02 PM
Jan 2018

Near death experiences are not death experiences. People claiming they are either are lying (to sell books for example) or confused.

whathehell

(29,873 posts)
35. Uh huh.
Thu Jan 4, 2018, 07:29 PM
Jan 2018

I think you should alert the author to this glaring oversight on his part - .As q neurosurgeon, I'm sure he and his colleagues are in dire need of your expertise. . Buh bye now.

Voltaire2

(14,869 posts)
36. Alexander is yet another spiritualist grifter.
Thu Jan 4, 2018, 08:13 PM
Jan 2018

So, if we add all this up, we have a neurosurgeon who makes fundamental mistakes about how the brain works, because he is not a neuroscientist or neurophysiologist—and that is a BIG difference. On top of this, he has a history of falsifying records and was in trouble with numerous malpractice suits, so his medical career was effectively over. And when Dittrich checked with other people, many important details in the book turned out clearly false.

This does not seem to trouble Alexander or any of his followers who want to believe him. They, like so many others, are willing to be duped out of their money for the book and make him rich, all while he tells them fairy stories to confirm their beliefs and make them feel good. It wouldn’t be the first time some religious figure separated people from their money—but perhaps the first time it was done by a neurosurgeon in a white lab coat.

https://www.skeptic.com/insight/proof-of-heaven/

Lucid Dreamer

(589 posts)
39. THANK YOU!
Mon Jan 10, 2022, 10:43 PM
Jan 2022

I am so glad you posted a link to Skeptic.

Way back in 1990 I got a subscription from my dad to Skeptical Inquirer and I kept stacks of them for about 12 years. The CSICOP literature was a fascinating trip into the analysis of the claimed paranormal.

I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Thanks again.

The River

(2,615 posts)
6. Most Likely
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 07:43 PM
Jan 2018

an Out Of Body experience.

I did go OOB several times during my time in 'Nam.
I can still do it from time to time.
The Monroe Institute teaches it.
If it is an "hallucination" of the brain, how is it able view itself
from across the room?

safeinOhio

(34,304 posts)
12. I've experienced death.
Tue Jan 2, 2018, 08:20 PM
Jan 2018

For me, post life was just like what I felt during pre life. NOTHING..

The_jackalope

(1,660 posts)
37. Anita Moorjani claims a similar experience.
Mon Jan 8, 2018, 06:13 PM
Jan 2018
http://anitamoorjani.com/about-anita/near-death-experience-description/

I'm agnostic on the subject. Even after having watched my wife die, I am none the wiser. Belief is a topic tend to avoid. This is an interesting one, though.

demigoddess

(6,675 posts)
38. I have experienced spirits. Some people known to me. Three were cats.
Fri Oct 22, 2021, 02:23 PM
Oct 2021

But don't get any sense of a heaven or what not.

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