Category Archives: Death

SCIENCE STUMBLES OVER DEATH

“Heaven Is Real” according to the cover story of the October 15 issue of Newsweek. The story chronicles Eben Alexander’s descent into a seven-day coma and journey into a wholly different level of conscious reality during that time. Dr. Alexander’s 25 years as a neurosurgeon and former professor at Harvard Medical School qualifies him to speak as a scientist, although his conclusions have provoked numerous critiques from fellow scientists.

In the fall of 2008, Alexander was rushed to the emergency room of Lynchburg General Hospital, where his colleagues determined that he had contracted a rare bacterial meningitis. E. coli had attacked his brain, shutting down his cortex, the part of the brain that controls thoughts and emotions. The synapses between the neurons no longer functioned, halting all electromagnetic activity that produces brain function. His doctors had verified by repeated tests that no brain function was possible during that seven-day period – no vision, hearing, emotion memory or logical reasoning. Continue reading

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“THE HUNGER GAMES” AS A MIRROR

Okay, so I have neither seen the movie nor read the book – yet. That will not stop me from commenting on the latest box office “blockbuster that doesn’t seem like a blockbuster,” The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins wrote the young-adult trilogy and collaborated with director Gary Ross to adapt it for the screen.

Collins offers the readers/viewers “a terrible kind of mirror,” according to Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the teenage leading role, Katniss. “This is what our society could be like if we become desensitized to trauma and to each other’s pain,” said Lawrence. The book/movie tackles subjects like totalitarian government, invasive media and dehumanization. Continue reading

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