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Subject: Re: Message from Beetle ( 9 of 11 )
Posted by Clavis

Let me first offer my hope, love and compassion to you for your loss. I have, in a sense, been through the opposite situation, in that I have lost a parent (my father) some years ago. But, of course, the occurrence is uniquely difficult for every person. For some time after his death, it comforted me to believe that he had moved on to a better place. I no longer have that belief (I am, in some ways, sorry to say).

On the subject of NDE's... There is a fascinating book called "Why People Believe Weird Things" by Michael Shermer (the President (?) of the Skeptics Society), which partially touches upon the concept of Near Death Experiences. One of the interesting theories he presents involves the fact that many of the symptoms or reported experiences in a NDE are suspiciously parallel to what a person can experience when taking a hallucinogen or other similarly effective drug. Such things as a tunnel or spiral, a bright light, feeling of floating, etc. occur in both circumstances, which might leave one to suspect that, in a NDE situation, the brain is simply losing its ability to function properly (loss of oxygen or what-have-you) and that these false sensory images are simply a common by-product of the circumstance.

Another interesting point made in the book is that the sensation and memory of floating above a scene and seeing one's own body is found in another, altogether different circumstance -- that of dreaming. Who among us has not dreamt a dream where we could see our own actions?

In short, I have read a great deal about NDE's, and they seem to be a combination of stopgap pseudo-science and wishful thinking. Small comfort though it may be, I hope that you will be happy for the time you did have with your child, to know that they were happy for the time they spent with you.
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