James van Pelt – Forum Director:
“We Don’t Die, We Disengage…”
…is the topic for the auspicious day of November 11th (Monday) for the UConn Health Center NDE Group. The speaker, James Clement van Pelt of Yale University, has spoken there twice before.
Einstein is said to have observed, “Death is like a black box, and you can’t get in” to study it. The reverse seems true as well: once inside, you can’t get out. One thing that makes death seem so impervious to investigation is that we understand so little about the reality of life; so that’s where this talk will begin.
The NDE group is a unique audience for this topic since an unusual number of those in the group have their own direct experience with “the black box” and have gotten back out to share their expertise. Combining those accounts with neurological research into the nature of consciousness, and employing modest yet rigorous logical inferences along with glimpses from our spiritual heritage, let us discover together whether we can get a better understanding about what’s in that black box—if anything.