My Kind of Heaven

Just as Likely as Any Other

As an NDEer (Near Death Experience) myself, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on the buzz around Alexanders (1) book, Proof of Heaven.

Proof? No, anectdotes. Tales from the crypt do not constitute proof. Heaven? Fluffy white clouds? Harps? Strolling with the deity of your choice? Doing good works?
Much has been written about the conflict between the religious take on NDEs and the science that is developing to explain them in rational terms. People who believe in a heaven of some sort will naturally have a tendency to believe that the NDE experiences “prove” heaven exists. People who don’t believe in a heaven of some sort won’t. I don’t, and I don’t.
There. The cat is out of the bag. I don’t believe in heaven. Of any kind or sort. So when I experienced an NDE, I looked for a rational explanation. By the way, believing in heaven is not a rational act. It is an act of faith, which by definition must be accepted without evidence. Proof if you will. In 1960 something there wasn’t much known about these types of brain events, but now there is a ton of information. What is lacking is a good old fashioned experiment. Why? Because you can’t nearly kill someone in a lab to see what happens to their brain when they die. That aside, brain science does have a rational explanation for the phenomena. See for example and references this article (2).

The bottom line is that when you Nearly Die, your brain does funny things, and you INTERPRET these things based on your experience and belief system. Not a real trip to heaven. At least that is my position. As a NDEer.

1. http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/176-1242912-7441560#_
2. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/12/03/the-death-of-near-death-even-if-heaven-is-real-you-arent-seeing-it/
Image: http://james.gameover.com/zen/disco-heaven-10x7.jpg