Saturday, August 25, 2007

recreating OBEs

Scientists appear to have found a way to simulate, at least to some extent, OBEs, or out-of-body experiences. I see ramifications in areas such as philosophy of mind, not to mention naturalistic explanations for what many people too hastily assume to be spiritual experiences.

"Scientists have long suspected that the clue to these extraordinary, and sometimes life-changing, experiences lies in disrupting our normal illusion of being a self behind our eyes, and replacing it with a new viewpoint from above or behind."



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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kevin,

You should check out this take on the ramifications of these findings:
http://www.slate.com/id/2172694/nav/tap1/
Basically, the writer's POV is that the recent experiments don't do as much to discredit the dualist/"spiritual"/New-Agey interpretations of OOB experiences as the experimenters seem to think.