Discussion Do the near death experiences scare you? Heaven / Hell

[Praestat_Mori]

It may be possible that NDEs are influenced by what people strongly believed during their lives.

Heaven and hell are a construct of religions to make people fearful and submissive.

After death there's nothing special happening, our bodies will recycled in a natural process, consciousness will most like be gone.

 

[GreenBanana23]

The mere idea of life after death is one of the only things distancing me from CTB. That and the possibility of a failed attempt sending me back to a psych ward. Only been once

 

[wanttogetonthebus]

No, because I'm sure they're nothing more than human inventions. Ceasing to exist seems scarier to me, because that's probably what will happen. Even though I know it's an irrational fear, it's still scary to think about it. Im aware for a second and suddenly i'll not experience anything, forever.

I once felt that way too. Now, I just think of how billions of years passed before we came into existence and that doesn't seem to weigh on our mind or drive us crazy. When the brain doesn't exist to perceive time, time might not even exist at all.
@_AllCatsAreGrey_ @katara @AmberianDawn I heard one of the theories for why we dream is that since the brain is no longer receiving any external simulation, it creates those "hallucinations" to preserve it's own wiring and optimal function (particularly to preserve the visual system) because it's a use it or lose it kind of thing. If we don't see or study something for a long time, we eventually forget it entirely as those pathways in our brain fade away like a forest trail overtaken by the forest undergrowth. So maybe near death experiences, are for the same or a similar reason. Since the brain is dying, it tries to hold onto it's wiring and functionality for as long as possible to preserve itself causing so many neurons to fire all at once. While most NDEs are positive, the few I've heard that aren't are interesting. I'm pretty sure though death by a powerful anesthetic like N won't cause any NDEs though since it makes the brain slow down and stop signaling so much that the brain stops signaling the body to even breathe which is why people don't have dreams when they go deeply and properly under anesthesia for surgery (though apparently it can happen as people begin to recover and come out of anesthesia). My guess is the slower the death (starvation for instance), the more likely one will experience an NDE and maybe even a more vivid one too.

 

[a.dream.of.a.dream]

Shower thoughts: suppose i loved someone dearly in this life and maybe even partnered up with that person. but you only know what you know and it turns out the other person had always deeply loved someone else but settled for me. so now we get to heaven, do i get to spend eternity with my partner? will there be copies so my partner can also spend eternity with the person they loved? will i have to see my in-laws? will everyone basically be high all the time spreading love all around? will there be jobs for everyone? When i think of eternal punishment, it makes little sense to me just as eternal reward does. And I mean no offense but a Ouija board was printed somewhere in a factory and I doubt spirits are directly ordered to show up specifically when one is put into play.

 

[Morte]

I once felt that way too. Now, I just think of how billions of years passed before we came into existence and that doesn't seem to weigh on our mind or drive us crazy. When the brain doesn't exist to perceive time, time might not even exist at all.
@_AllCatsAreGrey_ @katara @AmberianDawn I heard one of the theories for why we dream is that since the brain is no longer receiving any external simulation, it creates those "hallucinations" to preserve it's own wiring and optimal function (particularly to preserve the visual system) because it's a use it or lose it kind of thing. If we don't see or study something for a long time, we eventually forget it entirely as those pathways in our brain fade away like a forest trail overtaken by the forest undergrowth. So maybe near death experiences, are for the same or a similar reason. Since the brain is dying, it tries to hold onto it's wiring and functionality for as long as possible to preserve itself causing so many neurons to fire all at once. While most NDEs are positive, the few I've heard that aren't are interesting. I'm pretty sure though death by a powerful anesthetic like N won't cause any NDEs though since it makes the brain slow down and stop signaling so much that the brain stops signaling the body to even breathe which is why people don't have dreams when they go deeply and properly under anesthesia for surgery (though apparently it can happen as people begin to recover and come out of anesthesia). My guess is the slower the death (starvation for instance), the more likely one will experience an NDE and maybe even a more vivid one too.

I described the fear of non-existence as irrational, because in fact it doesn't make sense to be afraid of something that I won't experience, but it is still encoded in us to be afraid of it, because we are made to exist.
Regarding NDE, what you said makes a lot of sense. Scientists brain scanned some animals few seconds after they were clinically dead, to find out there was an outburst of brain activity, as if the brain was trying to do what you described. This would explain typical NDE's characteristics, such as "traveling to dimensions that are more real than real", "being out of your own body", "heightened senses", etc.
In the end, everything is just chemistry, nothing supernatural.