IMEs have an underlying structure that is stable across cultures and environments
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This argument is used in the debate Does God exist?.
This argument is an objection to IMEs are influenced by the surrounding culture.
This argument is used in the debate Does God exist?.This argument is an objection to IMEs are influenced by the surrounding culture.Keywords: consciousness, death, immortality, survival, medicine, testimonies, occultism, soul, afterlife, neuroscience, hallucination, beliefs, deceased, metaphysics
Summary
Several authors consider that the differences observed between cultures are superficial and reflect differences in the interpretation of the same phenomenon. Research carried out in Iran (Fracasso, Aleyasin, Friedman & Young 2010) and Israel (Abramovitch, 1988), for example, concludes that stories are similar across cultures. IMEs are said to have a stable structure, and it's their "packaging" that differs from one culture to another.
Quotes
“In concluding his reflections on Western and Tibetan IMEs, Ring (1993: 223-229) is more nuanced. On the one hand, he argues that religious tradition colors the experience and its interpretation by experiencers, and on the other, that its structure (i.e., he proposes the following five stages: 1) sensation of well-being and disappearance of pain, 2) de-corporation, 3) entry into darkness/tunnel, 4) vision of a light and 5) entry into the light) remains similar whatever the experiencer's culture of origin.”
S.Laureys, Helena Cassol, Charlotte Martial, “Near-death experiences”, MethIS, 2019.
