Excellent piece Jon. It’s not easy to think, much less write about these issues. I’ve written before why I think scientists are so hellbent on ridiculing anything that reminds them of spirituality and religion, when all that is asked of them is to simply approach the matter objectively and experientially.

It is virtually impossible to have a civilized discussion about NDEs, without mutual attacks, hyperbolas, and faces turning red. Everyone has a strong opinion, and everyone’s is different, even if the words they use are the same. This is a discussion that must happen beyond words, but of course words are the medium of science so there’s no way out.

It’s laughable if you think about it: the world does not consist of words, but of experiences. Personal experiences, to be exact. And yet humanity is busy constructing the ultimate explanation of everything, consisting of words and symbols. Preferably the one that would work for all people in all situations. Pretty absurd, ain’t it? Technology could be created this way, but not philosophy, not your personal faith, not your personal reality. And what actually exists but your personal reality?

But humanity doesn’t want to think about it this way, because people have agendas. They need to justify war, and theft, and usury, and adultery. They need an argument (a clever manipulation of words and symbols) that would in essence give them permission to do and be proud of doing what they know is wrong. That is how modern Western scientific philosophy was built.

Thas is how modern Western psychiatry was built. Yeah, blame the molecules for everything! They are the villains, not us.

Keep exploring! Speaking of NDEs, have you read the classic work by Osis et al? If you agree that NDEs in regular people are evolutionary ungrounded, how impressive is that people with final stages of dementia (with all their myelin gone for years) become lucid and regain their memory minutes before death? Explain that with molecules.