It's an interesting story, but I have a different angle. Deeply...

  1. 12,800 Posts.
    lightbulb Created with Sketch. 262
    It's an interesting story, but I have a different angle.

    Deeply held expectations are experienced on death, apparently.  And expectations can be very personal, but are usually shaped by culture.  In this particular case, his was personal and deeply counter-cultural.  You can bet he had harboured some guilt and uncertainty about his lifestyle before this all happened.

    Remember when Packer died and came back?  Here's what he said: "I’ve been to the other side and let me tell you, son, there’s f--king nothing there...there’s no one waiting there for you, there’s no one to judge you so you can do what you bloody well like"

    This account is just as credible.  Perhaps more so.  It's what you deeply believe.  And beliefs are just random thoughts which have accumulated some degree of significance and become stuck in the subconscious.  Nothing more.  They are powerful though.  They create our whole experience.

    Had the bearded jihhadist held a very strong belief in 72 virgins, he may well have experienced that delight instead.  Expectation is an extremely powerful thing, and a brain starved of oxygen will bring forth all manner of unusual beliefs and experience them as real.

    What happens when the brain finally goes kaput?  When the deepest fears and hopes are played out?  Maybe this, maybe that, maybe nothing.  Everyone gets to find out.
    Last edited by float^: 28/05/15
 
arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch. arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch.