In an article in the Atlantic last December, Sacks explains that the reason hallucinations seem so real “is that they deploy the very same systems in the brain that actual perceptions do. When one hallucinates voices, the auditory pathways are activated; when one hallucinates a face, the fusiform face area, normally used to perceive and identify faces in the environment, is stimulated.” Sacks concludes that “the one most plausible hypothesis in Dr. Alexander's case, then, is that his NDE occurred not during his coma, but as he was surfacing from the coma and his cortex was returning to full function. It is curious that he does not allow this obvious and natural explanation, but instead insists on a supernatural one.”
Why a Near-Death Experience Isn’t Proof of Heaven
The subconscious mind is fully capable of creating a religious experience.
Does this rule out supernatural explanations? No, but it provides an alternate explanation which doesn't require the involvement of supernatural agents.
While I don't doubt the religious experience, the sense of reality of the experience that comes with them. I can't help but question the source.
Why a Near-Death Experience Isn’t Proof of Heaven
The subconscious mind is fully capable of creating a religious experience.
Does this rule out supernatural explanations? No, but it provides an alternate explanation which doesn't require the involvement of supernatural agents.
While I don't doubt the religious experience, the sense of reality of the experience that comes with them. I can't help but question the source.