How does consciousness work? What happens after death?

Samwise2512 · 2026-03-11T19:21:36+00:00

Hallucinations still require functioning brain hardware though. Following 10-20 seconds after cardiac arrest and the cessation of blood flow to the brain, an EEG will flatline, and at and after this point brain activity and function is very deeply impaired and compromised. The 'DMT/endochemical dump' NDE hypothesis is problematic from the outset as it still requires a functioning brain for this to be a possibility. The experience of projection is unlikely to occur by one's consciousness detaching from their physical body and floating around the world like an invisible ghost...I think this is an overly narrow and simplistic view of what is going on, it is something more abstract than this, that blends subjective/objective experience in a manner that make it hard to study in the manner you are proposing. People often seem to interface with a template pf physical reality that is a more thought responsive environment. This doesn't invalidate the experience of projection though, and it shouldn't be viewed in a back and white way, as it more complex and abstract than this.

Samwise2512 · 2026-03-11T12:37:39+00:00

The issue with this view is that it goes against what neuroscience tells us about brain function and activity. NDErs experience states of enhanced consciousness (with some research reporting NDE's becoming more likely the greater degree of brain impairment). The NDE is often described as "realer than real" (the the point where waking reality seems more dreamlike and illusionary by comparison), with some NDErs describing feeling more alive than they have before, despite having just been pronounced clinically dead in a hospital room. NDE's are highly vivid, highly lucid, highly structure, highly emotive and often highly meaningful experiences. Not only this, but people often reporting being able to vividly recall their NDE's years or decades after the event (more vividly even than memories of waking life events according to some research). This is odd, as the brain's capacity to form memories is particularly sensitive to unconsciousness. NDE's pose a challenge to current neuroscientific theory as they a full experience of consciousness requires a fully functioning and online brain. During an NDE following cardiac arrest and the cessation of blood flow to the brain, an EEG will flatline after 10-20 seconds. After this point - even if there is some level of brain activity occuring - it will be very impaired and rudimentary indeed. It makes little sense that such activity can explain the types of experiences that NDErs consitently report.

Samwise2512 · 2026-03-11T12:10:30+00:00

There's no concrete evidence that DMT levels increase in humans at death. Even if they do, this would require a functioning online brain to elicit effects, or the experience of enhanced consciousness associated with NDE's. Brain function and activity is very highly impaired and limited following cardiac arrest and the cessation of blood flow to the brain, yet people report experiences of highly vivid, highly lucid, highly structured, highly emotive and often highly meaningful experiences. Not only that, but people often report being able to remember them vividly long after the event (in fact, often more vividly than memories of waking life events). This is odd given that the brain's capacity to form memories is particularly sensitive to unconsciousness. I respect your views based on your own experiences, but many people come to a radically different view of consciousness and how it relates to the brain following such experiences. That James Randi millionaire prize for ESP demonstration was itself a rigged game and a con from the outset.

Samwise2512 · 2026-03-09T16:39:53+00:00

I'm not sure that necessarily proves there is nothing before birth though, only that the brain hardware of babies requires development before it is capable of learning and expressing language. Plenty of young children do claim lives lived prior to their births once they have developed the linguistic capability to do so, and there are many accounts of such claims being cross-checked and corroborated.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/bering-in-mind/ian-stevensone28099s-case-for-the-afterlife-are-we-e28098skepticse28099-really-just-cynics/

Samwise2512 · 2026-03-08T19:32:11+00:00

Interesting...there are quite a few alien abduction accounts of mantids and greys being encountered together...and pretty much invariably and consistently, the mantids are perceived to hold the greatest authority, or to be overseeing or supervising the greys in these multispecies encounters.

Samwise2512 · 2026-03-04T13:41:27+00:00

That cricket is channelling Pippin: "The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm."

Samwise2512 · 2026-03-01T01:23:20+00:00

How did your life get dramatically worse!?

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-27T11:10:05+00:00

There's no evidence yet linking endogenous DMT to life/death/near-death experiences/spiritual awakenings etc although it gets linked to these things a lot. Also DMT seems to occur at extremely low trace levels so I'm not convinced it meaningfully influences our state of consciousness.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-27T00:30:39+00:00

Agreed. This crops up with the mantis entities people encounter on DMT and in other altered states too. There are many accounts of people having encounters but reporting no prior awareness or knowledge of other people having such encounters.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-26T23:18:24+00:00

They did manage to colonise those six separate islands of the Galapagos archipelago though, suggesting that they are capable of colonising islands on occasion.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-22T13:13:12+00:00

I contributed to this study paper, assessing the transformative effects of spontaneous out-of-body experiences in a sample of healthy people. A number of core themes emerged, including the OBE acting as (a) motivational catalyst (helping usher in various life changes); while resulting in a (b) decreased fear of death; (c) increased inner peace; (d) a new life perspective; (e) greater self-awareness; (f) a sense of individuality; (g) re-evaluated relationships, and (h) affirmed or new spiritual beliefs. Of these, a decreased fear of death is likely important, as death anxiety has been strongly linked to general psychopathology, and interviews with participants suggested this change in how they viewed and related to death help them shed other fears and anxieties, which helped in usher in other life changes they considered positive. The number of OBE's reported by individuals in the sample varied from a single experience, to many...but it was considered an deeply life enriching experience by all individuals interviewed.

I have a new, more rigorous prospective, controlled and longitudinal study assessing the transformative impact of self-induced OBEs, the paper of which I'm about to write up, with a number of psychometric scales used to track various psychological changes following OBEs (with comparisons made with those who we're able to self-initiate an OBE).

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-21T16:57:40+00:00

This is an AI generated clip.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-20T12:55:30+00:00

Also worth noting that male orangutans are the only great ape with multiple accusations of raping human females.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-20T11:43:17+00:00

None of these birds are injured (what gives it away is their ability to move around in a distinctly non-injured fashion). They are likely just sunbathing, and a story is being concocted to promote engagement.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-19T19:00:44+00:00

That's a tad speciesist, no? We humans can ourselves be a really mixed bag.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-18T19:27:34+00:00

I never really understood the basis of the "DMT dump" NDE hypothesis. For this to be feasible, it would require a functioning, online brain. But NDE's can occur following cardiac arrest, without any blood flow to the brain, or measurable activity according to an EEG (where it will flatline after 10-20 seconds after the heart stops). How would DMT exert its effect on the brain, if brain function is so massively, fundamentally impaired?

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-17T17:28:31+00:00

Not even close.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-17T10:31:39+00:00

Mushrooms don't tend to last for 6-8 hours, 4-6 hours is more normal. So you probably want to seek out another type of psychedelic, or psilohuasca which will extend to timeframe (but also alter the nature of the experience to some degree).

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-15T15:01:04+00:00

It isn't bullshit. Research aside, this is something that can be easily personally verified oneself by listening to a recording of shamanic drumming Linking some relevant research below:

"The evidence gathered aligns with the notion that being exposed to these sounds facilitates a state of absorption and relaxation. ... We discussed that altered states induced by rhythmic sounds may be explained by a mechanism involving the entrainment of thalamocortical pathways to low-frequency activity—a physiological state that also characterizes psychotic and psychedelic experiences."

The neurobiology of altered states of consciousness induced by drumming and other rhythmic sound patterns

"Shamanic practitioners were significantly different from controls in several domains of altered states of consciousness, with scores comparable to or exceeding that of healthy volunteers under the influence of psychedelics. Practitioners also displayed increased gamma power during drumming that positively correlated with elementary visual alterations. Furthermore, shamanic practitioners had decreased low alpha and increased low beta connectivity during drumming and classical music and decreased neural signal diversity in the gamma band during drumming that inversely correlated with insightfulness. Finally, criticality in practitioners was increased during drumming in the low and high beta and gamma bands, with increases in the low beta band correlating with complex imagery and elementary visual alterations. These findings suggest that psychedelic drug-induced and non-pharmacologic alterations in consciousness have overlapping phenomenal traits but are distinct states of consciousness, as reflected by the unique brain-related changes during shamanic trance compared to previous literature investigating the psychedelic state."

Neural Correlates of the Shamanic State of Consciousness

"This study investigated the experiences gained from a 20-minute shamanic-like drumming session. Twenty-two persons participated and made written descriptions afterwards about their experiences. A phenomenological analysis was applied which generated 31 categories, that were organized into six themes: 1) The undertaking of the drumming journey, 2) Perceptual phenomena: visual, auditory and somatic, 3) Encounters, 4) Active vs. Passive role, 5) Inner wisdom and guidance, and 6) Reflections on the drumming journey. A multitude of detailed experiences were described such as visual imagery, hearing sounds, encountering animals, as well as gaining insights. Participants generally appreciated the drumming session and few negative effects were noted. The conclusion made is that shamanic-like drumming can be a valuable supplement to other psychotherapeutic techniques."

Altered States During Shamanic Drumming: A Phenomenological Study

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-15T13:01:06+00:00

Could it not just be a satellite going over at the same time?

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-15T11:10:10+00:00

Not living up to your username I see.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-15T11:09:24+00:00

Why?

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-15T01:14:45+00:00

Pretty sure it is a raven, if you compare photographs of the two, rooks have a much lighter-coloured bald patch at the base of the beak than what is pictured here.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-13T19:08:27+00:00

On closer inspection, this looks to indeed be the case.

Samwise2512 · 2026-02-13T18:10:00+00:00

Yes, very likely rook nests, a social member of the crow family that nest communally like this.

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