Modern era of Science and Technology

In the modern era of science and technology, the religious mysticism of the past is often seen as archaic and foolish. We live in a time where people want hard evidence. If we can’t taste, touch, smell, see, or hear it then “it” probably doesn’t exist. People are hungry for understanding, hence all the billions of conversations that are being carried on across the globe right now. The drive behind communication is understanding, and understanding is not always universal from person to person. In light of the research around explanations of Near Death Experiences, it is clear that there is no consensus on what these experiences mean, yet the conversation is one that is relevant to every person. The desire behind discussing this topic is the root of every existential crisis, the answer to the question, “What happens when we die?” The discourse of afterlife ideas is one that has been around since the beginning of history, and it is one that is ever changing. Medical advances that have lead to the possibility of NDEs have blown open this discourse and created a communicative gateway into one of the greatest mysteries of humankind.

Religious texts have long been the authority on topics of life and death, but science has since replaced them. In this paper I would like to illuminate what scientists are saying, what near death experiencers are saying, and reveal what one religious thinker is saying about the possibility of cognitive existence post mortem. The topic is hot, so to speak, because science, first hand experiences, and religion all fall short of producing hard, empirical evidence on the topic, leaving our thirst for knowledge unquenched. NDEs are largely left to our communicative devices, and hit at the core of the...

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