Reincarnation Mathematically/Physically Possible?

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I think they were saying that once the heart stops brain activity follows within 8 seconds. If people can be brought back to life I think that simply means that they were able to recussitate the person's vital systems before a truly fatal amount of entropy occurred.

The medical definition of "death," was established by a small group of academics at Harvard. The idea being that once brain activity ceases, death of the organism is irreversible--or that any resumption of sustained life will not involve consciousness, cognition or personality.

This suits the transplant industry just fine. While a patient with a DNR order is allowed to die with dignity, a deceased patient with an organ donor card is treated very differently: the moment that brain death occurs, they are hooked up to any machine that will keep the organs alive and healthy until they can be harvested.

The significant question, though, is whether medically defined death is as irreversible as we are taught. And so far as I am concerned, the jury is still out on that one.

I agree. Anything that can be brought back to life was never dead in the first place.

ruveyn

When a person has a heart attack, has all brain activity stop, and is recussitated with paddles 5 minutes later - its still technically very difficult to argue that they weren't 'dead' for 4 minutes and 52 seconds.

The Harvard definition seems to mean 'All meaningful activity stops', though I don't know if visagrunt made a poor paraphrase or if they actually claimed that once all activity stops that entropy is impossible to reverse - I've never heard any such claim as this, nor have I ever seen where loss of vital signs meant zero chances. I've seen it mean slim to none, I've seen it mean that the person's future is in extreme jeopardy and that the doctors literally have minutes before its over, but not necessarily that its a guaranteed dead end.

So it seems like death is a combination of things: no oxygen in the brain, heart stopped, vital organs beyond revival. It still seems a very grey area.

Meaningful to whom? The doctors? The doctors are overlaying their ignorance on the biological state of the patient.

ruveyn

Meaningful to whom? The doctors? The doctors are overlaying their ignorance on the biological state of the patient.

ruveyn[/quote]
If you'd give a terminology to all brain activity coming to a halt and no neural firing, when it doesn't end up with the person dying, what would you prefer to call it?

The EEG can detect electrical activity near the surface of the brain. One would need to probe deep so electrical activity in the interior.

ruveyn

They'd be stuttering pretty badly to claim that all brain activity stops within eight seconds of the heart if they'd never thought to test it past an EEG in that case.

another interesting thing is how in some cases, people who received transplanted organs from dead folk, have reported dramatic changes in personality, including becoming musically talented [where the donor was a musician] when before the transplant they showed no signs of musical talent. google it and wonder.

Attributing that to the transplant may be an instance of the fallacy: After this therefore because of this. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

ruveyn

Something else, I keep knocking around between pages on one hand that strongly endorse the notion of quantum physics and superposition in eternal consciousness vs. plenty of articles, even in National Geographic, arguing what I'd typically held as a belief - that NDE's are brain asphyxia.

I saw a really good book though - in that it should be a challenging read and bring some ideas to the surface that I've never encountered in their presented form. The book is called Quantum Physics, Near Death Experiences, Eternal Consciousness, Religion, and the Human Soul' by William Joseph Bray (which I believe may have been also called 'Eight Years Four Months?'). Looking at the guy's qualifications I'm just about floored, and I've gotten some sense of the general nature of the discussion that the book will bring up. Looking forward to reading through it and trying to map out the general aim and schematic of what he's talking about.

(clicky)Does PSI Exist?
some interesting findings involving precognition.