Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Oxymoron · 12-15-2002, 07:27 AM

OOBE's make perfect sense when you remember that the world we are aware of is just a simulation inside our head. The fact that the world appears "right way up" despite the optical fact that the image on the retina is inverted; the fact that we perceive 3D despite the eye being decidely 2D; the fact that optical illusions can easily fool us. All these highlight that what we perceive is interpreted and constructed, not passively viewed.

Given a system of constructing a 3D view of the world from a 2D image, it isn't at all difficult to "move the camera" because at the end of the day, it's all just software operating on data. And when we move the camera, we get an OOBE.

scigirl · 12-15-2002, 07:56 AM

I tend to think that phenomenon such as Out of Body experiences, and phantom limb pain, and host of other experiences that people tend to associate with the supernatural, are simply manifestations of the way our brain works.

From The Human Brain, by John Nolte (my med school neuro text):

Quote:

Perceptial Illusions: Getting Fooled by the Nervous System
Subjectively, we usually feel as though our sensory receptors in collaboration with our CNS present us with a precisely accurate report of the nature, location, and intensity of stimuli. In fact, however, the nervous system economizes on receptors and neural processing, collecting only the most important subset of the data that would be required to be 100% accurate and then making an "educated guess" about the stimulus. A consequence is that the nervous system can be fooled by stimuli of certain configurations: we may misinterpret the nature, location, or even the existence or nonexistence of a stimulus. One well-known example is our lack of awareness of the blind spot in the visual field of each eye, but illusions occur in all other sensory systems as well.

The text goes on to describe several examples that occur in a variety of sensory systems. Once you learn how the brain is wired up to receive, interpret, and send out information, it's not that difficult to see how a seemingly "out of body experience" could be imagined, and perceived, by it.

scigirl

scigirl · 12-15-2002, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Oxymoron:
OOBE's make perfect sense when you remember that the world we are aware of is just a simulation inside our head.

Exactly!

Oh also wanted to add - my brother told me he had an OOBE when he was tripping out on acid one time. He was so freaked out that he never tried the stuff again.

scigirl

ps418 · 12-15-2002, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sourdough:
<strong>I think NDE out of body exp is all in the brain,much like a dream,
how could anyone see their body,being outside of it,as a soul/spirit whatever,without physical eyes???</strong>

Exactly. And if you can see with your astral eyes, that would mean that photons are being blocked by astral eyes, which means that the astral body/soul should literally be visible to obsevers, and detectable.

Walross · 12-15-2002, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Are out-of-body experiences really evidence that mind is seperable from the body? Or are they simply a novel type of hallucination?

I have to point out as well that it's not necessarily an either/or question. Even if OBE's are not a hallucination, it doesn't necessarily follow that the mind is separate from the body. Just because a person's center of perception is removed from their body doesn't mean they are removed from it. Regards,

Walross

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12-15-2002, 07:27 AM	#11
Oxymoron Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: http://10.0.0.2/ Posts: 6,623	OOBE's make perfect sense when you remember that the world we are aware of is just a simulation inside our head. The fact that the world appears "right way up" despite the optical fact that the image on the retina is inverted; the fact that we perceive 3D despite the eye being decidely 2D; the fact that optical illusions can easily fool us. All these highlight that what we perceive is interpreted and constructed, not passively viewed. Given a system of constructing a 3D view of the world from a 2D image, it isn't at all difficult to "move the camera" because at the end of the day, it's all just software operating on data. And when we move the camera, we get an OOBE.

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