BEHV 3200 001 Exam 4 Study Guide Lectures 6 Nov 4 Dec Near Death Experiences Raymond Moody Coined term near death experience in Life After Life 1975 Documented over 50 cases of near death experiences which he took as evidence of life beyond death Common characteristics exhibited across all 50 cases o A sense of being outside one s physical body looking down o Movement through darkness or a tunnel o A great light or a great darkness o Encounters with deceased loves ones or spiritual religious beings o Life review Incidence Demographics Chances of near death experiences following close brush with death 10 20 Most themes common across cultures o Near death experiences emerge in early Greek and Tibetan writings o Commonalities exist despite differences in religion views on death occupation illness etc Spiritual or Natural Some researchers suggest that purely natural causes explain near death experiences Susan Blackmore s Dying Brain Hypothesis the brain is just dying all brains die the same and create the same experiences o Accounts for commonalities We all have the same brain regardless of beliefs race or creed o Peaceful feelings surrounding near death experiences may be due to natural endorphins o Body separation similar to near death experiences can be induced by stimulation of the angular gyrus o Ketamine can induce aspects of NDE s How does the nonphysical soul interact with the physical body Is it actually physical Duncan MacDougal tried to weigh the soul leaving the body upon death o Found that body lost 75 oz upon death o Flaws in research timing temp evaporation o Rancher Lewis Hollander did a similar experiment with sheep and found they actually increase in weight upon death All data is anecdotal and therefore difficult to prove Alien Encounters Are we alone encompasses many questions Is it possible that life exists on other planets Is it likely that other life is intelligent Is it likely that we could achieve contact with life Would we recognize it if we saw it Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Carl Sagan the Sagan Standard Carl Sagan s Drake Equation calculates the likelihood of intelligent communicable life https www youtube com watch v MlikCebQSlY High technology comes with potential for relatively quick self destruction Humans have explored a relatively tiny amount of our own galaxy https www youtube com watch v 9RExQFZzHXQ Now What are the chances that Earth has been visited by other beings already What kind of evidence is needed to answer this question UFO s UFO Unidentified Flying Object Sightings First UFO sighting by Kenneth Arnold on 24 June 1947 o Saw nine shiny flying objects near Mt Rainer o Interviewed by news term flying saucer coined Arnold never claimed they were saucer shaped o Within weeks several hundred additional sightings reported Evidence Thousands of photos hours of video Books TV webpages Some claim there s too much evidence for it all to be fake Crop Circles Original arose in the 1970 s 10 000 reported In 1991 two pranksters Doug Bower and David Chorley claimed to have been responsible for most circles in England Alien Encounters 2 4 million Americans have been visited abducted or encountered alien life form John Mack M D professor of psychiatry o Won a Pulitzer prize for Abduction Human Encounters with Aliens o Began as a skeptic but began to believe after conducting many interviews due to sincerity vivid details and a greater chance of loss credibility reputation more than gain Reasons to be skeptical o False memory phenomena o Sleep paralysis near sleep hallucinations hypnogogic o Temporal lobe lability Nazca Lines Peru Aliens built the pyramids right Ghosts 30 40 of Americans believe in ghosts Is it natural or supernatural How can you tell Are we dualists from the start Do we believe in a distinction between body and soul http edge org video natural born dualists Global Warming Readings http www skeptic com reading room how we know global warming is real http www skeptic com reading room a climate of belief What do you believe is the main issue involving global warming Do you believe that it s a real issue at all What should be done about it Question of Origins Readings http www findingdarwinsgod com excerpt index html Shermer M 2002 Confronting creationists twenty five creationist arguments twenty five evolutionist answers In Why people believe weird things pseudoscience superstition and other confusions of our time pp 137 153 New York A W H Freeman Owl Book Intelligent Design The intelligence involved is not necessarily a deity just a purposeful intelligence possibly a natural force Life is too complex to be created randomly Small Probability Specificity Intelligent Design Study of finding patterns What does it mean to say something was intelligently designed Why can t this coincide with an evolutionary theory of origins Science and religion are not either or They can work together But if God is in the dark places that science can t reach can that halt progress Does offering God as a solution prevent further research or is it a natural merging point between the views LAST EXAM OPENS THURSDAY