Out of body Experiences Flashcards
Dismissive Position
Inventions or lies, mental illness
Richard Dawkins
Wrote the God Delusion
Supernatural Position
Need something else to explain, spirits, souls, God
Naturalistic Response
Experiences resulting from brain states
Can be explained by physicalist way - nothing above and beyond brain states
Patricia Churchland
Touching a Nerve
What are OBEs?
Experiences in which a person seems to perceive the world from a outside body
Common factors?
Relaxed State Disruption of Body image Reduced sensory input Drugs Lasts few seconds usually
2 types of OBEs?
Parasomatic - second body outside
Asomatic - Disembodied awareness
Astral
Second astral body that can leave human physical body at will, survives after death
What religion is astral from?
Theosophy
Substance dualism theories
How does a non-physical body interact with a physical?
What experiments used to try and detect astral bodies?
Weighing dying people
Detectors
Killing small animals
General idea of OBEs?
Occur when sensory input and body image disrupted
Cognitive systems try to cope by constructing new body image from memory
Continues until back to normal
Cognitive psychology evidence about ppl who experience frequent OBEs (4)
better at spatial imagery
better at switching viewpoints in imagery
Superior dream control skills
more lucid dreams
What area of brain might be stimulated or damaged and cause OBE?
Temporoparietal Junction
