Death is inevitable. We all die. But our lives beyond the point of death always attract our curiosity. The afterlife is the existence of continuation of consciousness or identity after the death of the body. Yet, till this day, life after death still remains a mystery and is only known through stories from religious mythology and fairy tales. Is there life after death? This is the question that science and religions have been debating over. Neuroscience, scientific theories and religious mythology hold the key to open up to an answer for this question.
Before the existence of religions, Ancient Mesopotamia was the first known civilization. In Mesopotamia, death is considered a sin. Life doesn’t end with physical death but continues with the …show more content…
Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, studied the brain scans of religious individuals like nuns and monks. He claims that the “tunnel” and “gate” of people who have had near death experience is easy to explain. As a person’s eyesight starts to fade, the peripheral areas, which are the sights that lie outside the central vision, are switched off first. That’s why people have a tunnel perception, because you can’t see outside of your central vision when near death. When a bright light occurs, that could be the central part of the visual system, in the nervous system, which processes visual details, shutting down last. Newberg proposes a scenario, which are his assumptions. When people die, two parts in the brain that normally would work separately will collaborate together (Miller). The sympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves and neurons that spreads through the body, is responsible for excitement and strong emotions. The parasympathetic calms and soothes the body. Switching off one system allows the other one to turn off as well. So the sympathetic takes place when someone cuts you in a line, and parasympathetic kicks in when you’re sleeping or relaxing. During death, both systems are on, giving the person experiencing the feeling of being “out of the body”. Newberg states that it is possible, though not certain, that the sights of heaven are chemical and neurological events happen during
Before the existence of religions, Ancient Mesopotamia was the first known civilization. In Mesopotamia, death is considered a sin. Life doesn’t end with physical death but continues with the …show more content…
Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, studied the brain scans of religious individuals like nuns and monks. He claims that the “tunnel” and “gate” of people who have had near death experience is easy to explain. As a person’s eyesight starts to fade, the peripheral areas, which are the sights that lie outside the central vision, are switched off first. That’s why people have a tunnel perception, because you can’t see outside of your central vision when near death. When a bright light occurs, that could be the central part of the visual system, in the nervous system, which processes visual details, shutting down last. Newberg proposes a scenario, which are his assumptions. When people die, two parts in the brain that normally would work separately will collaborate together (Miller). The sympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves and neurons that spreads through the body, is responsible for excitement and strong emotions. The parasympathetic calms and soothes the body. Switching off one system allows the other one to turn off as well. So the sympathetic takes place when someone cuts you in a line, and parasympathetic kicks in when you’re sleeping or relaxing. During death, both systems are on, giving the person experiencing the feeling of being “out of the body”. Newberg states that it is possible, though not certain, that the sights of heaven are chemical and neurological events happen during