As A Scientist, I Didn’t Believe In Psychic Powers. Then I Experienced Something That Changed My Life.

[Subduction Zone]

Whoops! I didn't notice the dowsing reference. That makes my criticism of the conditions of the million dollar Randi test invalid. Thank you for correcting my mistake.

I can see why they did it. Dowsing is so unreliable. They show the contestant where it is, in other words cheat for him, and if he can't find it then they sent him home. Also the tough rules existed when they first started and too many people wanted to apply. There was a limit on how many people that they could test properly. As people learned that it was not an easy million dollars the number of applicants went down and they lowered the bar.

 

[ajay0]

You would need to prove its a past life memory first. Otherwise it's just an assertion.

What other theories do you have for explaining xenoglossy ? Just sheer coincidence that the man suddenly started talking in a language he had not learnt in his present life-time !

 

[sun rise]

What other theories do you have for explaining xenoglossy ? Just sheer coincidence that the man suddenly started talking in a language he had not learnt in his present life-time !

I can actually think of some including what was presented in the article.

Putting on my science hat, I believe this is the first time a brain scan was done of someone experiencing xenoglossy and the results were unexpected. From a research perspective, this calls for others experiencing xenoglossy to have brain scans to determine if there's a consistent area of the brain activated. And for comparison scans done of people who have learned a second language etc.

The part of the brain activated is also, as the article stated and is confirmed by research identified with feelings of selflessness https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10508619.2012.657524 and that to me is an important clue.

 

[ajay0]

You would need to prove its a past life memory first. Otherwise it's just an assertion.

Do you think its more likely to be a future life memory !

 

[ajay0]

I can actually think of some including what was presented in the article.

Putting on my science hat, I believe this is the first time a brain scan was done of someone experiencing xenoglossy and the results were unexpected. From a research perspective, this calls for others experiencing xenoglossy to have brain scans to determine if there's a consistent area of the brain activated. And for comparison scans done of people who have learned a second language etc.

The part of the brain activated is also, as the article stated and is confirmed by research identified with feelings of selflessness https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10508619.2012.657524 and that to me is an important clue.

So, as per your reasoning, if I have a certain part of my brain activated, I can speak an entirely new language all of a sudden. That's so cool.

If this is true, then in the future there will be no need for language classes. You just need to activate a certain part of the brain and you are already speaking in French or Arabic.

 

[George-ananda]

Do you think its more likely to be a future life memory !

How about channeling or semi-possession theories too for xenoglossy. In this OP's case we must remember the speaker did not understand it herself.

 

[George-ananda]

So, as per your reasoning, if I have a certain part of my brain activated, I can speak an entirely new language all of a sudden. That's so cool.

If this is true, then in the future there will be no need for language classes. You just need to activate a certain part of the brain and you are already speaking in French or Arabic.

Not speaking for @sun rise ,but I think this is suggesting paranormal things (reincarnation, channeling, possession) and the brain scan just shows the physical areas of the brain correlating with the paranormal activity. This is an area of the brain not correlated with normal speech.

I can't imagine anyone is thinking particular languages are all stored in the brain to be activated.

 

[sun rise]

So, as per your reasoning, if I have a certain part of my brain activated, I can speak an entirely new language all of a sudden. That's so cool.

That part of the brain is normally active. It could be that something external activates that portion of the brain. Cause/effect is not clear to me.

How about channeling or semi-possession theories too for xenoglossy. In this OP's case we must remember the speaker did not understand it herself.

Yup, I agree. The tools of science can determine that a specific part of the brain is activated in a certain way during xenoglossy. But discriminating between potential causes is to me a hard question to research.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

I have a question, almost everyone claims at some time when they have had a dream that they saw this or that. But that is impossible if they are in bed asleep with their eyes closed. They may recall/remember the dream in which they claim they saw certain things, but again, impossible, they didn't leave their bed, nor open their eyes. How do you explain this?

 

[sun rise]

I have a question, almost everyone claims at some time when they have had a dream that they saw this or that. But that is impossible if they are in bed asleep with their eyes closed. They may recall/remember the dream in which they claim they saw certain things, but again, impossible, they didn't leave their bed, nor open their eyes. How do you explain this?

That's not the subject of this thread. But if someone has a dream, documents it when waking up and later investigators find that the dream was accurate then it's an important finding worthy of future research.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

That's not the subject of this thread. But if someone has a dream, documents it when waking up and later investigators find that the dream was accurate then it's an important finding worthy of future research.

My apologies if OT, but I think you missed my point. People refer to themselves as "I" when 'they' see some item in awaking state consciousness, but make no distinction and again refer to themselves as "I" in the context of referring to what was experienced as a part of dream content. My point is that the dreamer is not the thinking "I" of the awake state, the "I" is not conscious when asleep.

Similarly when I meditate, when my mind is stilled, the "I" does not arise, but my mind is still aware, but "I" am not aware, it is my deeper self that is aware. My deeper self is not the ego self of time space reality, it is soul awareness. People who are not aware of their soul nature as soul awareness attribute that awareness as arising from their ego self. Now in both cases, dream or meditation, when one reflects on the experience after the fact, say when you wake up, then that is the "I" doing the remembering/accessing memory but it doesn't realize that it was not 'that' which experienced the dream, but something deeper, and that it just has access to the memory of soul awareness activity in the dream state after the fact.