From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Tue Dec 18 2001 - 12:56:33 MST
From: CurtAdams@aol.com
"These people really do have an experience"
Yes, when people hallucinate, they really do have experiences.
But their hallucination experiences are delusional and detached from reality.
People have experiences with LSD and other psychotropic drugs, but that
doesn't mean that what they perceive to be going on is actually going on, and
the experiences that can be produced with psycho-active substances also occur
spontaneously, for example in schizophrenic brains. The human brain can be
decieved in many ways. That's why science is necessary. It uses a method of
verification based on empirical evidence combined with repeatable experiment
observable by dispassionate and objective witnesses. NDEs are simply not
verifiable scientifically.
--- --- --- --- ---
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment, malevolent AI,
non-sensory experience, SETI
We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces superstition.
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