Near death, evidence of the "afterlife"

[R.F.]

It was recently brought to my attention that there is evidence for an afterlife. If this were the case, it would be a game changer; I decided to look very deep into the evidence of life after death via near death experience.


One of the things I noticed, after reading many testimonials, was the discrepancies. Some saw their bodies lying there, some did not. Some see loved ones, others do not. Some see [or feel] a deific entity. While once again, others do not.

Another important discrepancy seems to be a cultural one. While many Christians claim they see or feel God, other people see deities that are in accordance with their regional belief system.
Hindu near-death experiences

Many similar experiences have happened while patients were perfectly fine, or not near death. One example is work done with the Koren helmet. By applying complex magnetic signals to the brain, they have reproduced phenomena similar to NDE's. The God Helmet - How it works.
When pilots are training in extreme g-force, they often claim having similar experiences to NDE’s [ due to poor blood flow under extreme conditions]

Nothing about the data should lead one to conclude there is an afterlife. The inconsistent observations, which are seemingly influenced by culture and religious background, only suggest a lack of complete understanding of the brain. The reproducible effect during living, healthy people suggest these experiences are something far more material, and understandable. Jumping to the conclusion that there must be a soul is just tom foolery. Although an afterlife and souls remain a possibility, there is no real evidence suggesting we should all start speaking in tongues and faith healing each other.

[ironeagle]

Well let me ask this if you grow up being told your god is Buddha, and you die for ten minutes and feel a presence you figure it must be your god why wouldn't there be discrepancy in the belief that Buddha was with them as opposed to the same event occurring from a person told Jehovah was their god, therefore believe the presence they feel is god Jehovah?

[Jack]

Near death ≠ after death. I don't see how exploring one would shed any light on the other. I don't believe examining my state of health before, during and after a car collision would yield the same results. My state of health before or even during the accident wouldn't provide any useful information on the state of my health after the accident. Near death is a whole separate state of being from after death.

[R.F.]

Well let me ask this if you grow up being told your god is Buddha, and you die for ten minutes and feel a presence you figure it must be your god why wouldn't there be discrepancy in the belief that Buddha was with them as opposed to the same event occurring from a person told Jehovah was their god, therefore believe the presence they feel is god Jehovah?

Well the difference in belief isn't necessarily important. The reason the two events are significant is because they contradict each other. For an observation to be useful as evidence of something, it needs to be consistent to a reasonable degree. The fact that people’s testimonials vary [and seem to be subjective to cultural influence] means either:

A. There are many types of after-life, which are seemingly similar to fairy tales told by the region the experiencer is from.

B. This experience is material, and we don't fully understand it because most people aren't under study when being resuscitated.