Friday, July 06, 2012

"a figure in white spoke to him . . ."

Lonnie G. Thompson
Photo by Thomas Nash

Justin Gillis, writing for the NYT, recently published an article, "A Climate Scientist Battles Time and Mortality" (July 2, 2012), on the geologist Lonnie Thompson, who studies tropical ice, which turned out to be a race against time:
One day in 1991, high in the thin, crystalline air of the Peruvian Andes, Lonnie G. Thompson saw that the world's largest tropical ice cap was starting to melt. It was the moment he realized that his life's work had suddenly become a race.
His life's work? What sort of work? This sort:
Hauling six tons of equipment to South America, Africa, Asia and Europe, he and his small team raced to recover long cylinders of ice from glaciers that had built up over thousands of years. The layers in those cylinders contained dust, volcanic ash, subtle variations in water chemistry, even the occasional frozen insect -- a record of climatic and geologic changes that could be retrieved, preserved and interpreted like a series of tree rings.
Recently, the race became one against mortality:
[L]ast October, the race against the clock became much more personal . . . . [when he] woke up in a Columbus hospital room, a strange dream rattling in his brain. He looked down. "Wires were coming out of my chest," he said. Machinery had been implanted to keep him alive. Longer term, doctors told him, only a heart transplant would restore him to full health.
But what was the "strange dream"? This:
It was deep in one of his comatose periods, he figures, that he had the dream. He described jumping through space and landing in a beautiful spot filled with flowers and streams. There, he said, a figure in white spoke to him.

"It's not your time," the figure told him. "You have another purpose."

Dr. Thompson is not a particularly religious man, and he does not try to explain the dream, but his memory of it is vivid.
Fascinating. In general, very much like many other anecdotes of near death experiences, but quite different in several details, e.g., nothing about passing through a dark tunnel toward a light. The greatest similarity lies in the renewed sense of purpose to one's life. As I said, fascinating. Also intriguing. But who knows what to make of such stories? I read a lot about these sorts of near-death 'encounters' twenty years ago in Tuebingen for a seminar taught by Hans Kung, who expressed skepticism about them as real experiences of death, else there would have been no return, but the near universality of such experiences is disconcerting, to say the least!

One test for the authenticity of Thompson's vision would be to see if he does accomplish some great purpose . . .

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24 Comments:

At 10:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting. 15 years ago as an agnostic Jesus-hater and firm militant anti-catholic with weak interests towards Buddhism read the polish edition of the popular Raymond Moody's works on NDE and decided to give the Bible some time. After reading the NT questioned my (un)beliefs and decided to join my hometown tiny Baptist community. Interestingly enough, the book was a gift from my Buddhist friend and it was meant to strengthen my very new Buddhist way of life. Ever since I read some more pop-eschatology books - recently a very interesting one written by a Christian doctor and scientist Michael Sabom titled "Light and Death". I've also have some very intriguing encounters with evil (?)spirits, that made my hair stand on end and twice involved police forces, and no scientific explanations for ghosts satisfy me anymore.

Jacek

 
At 12:48 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Interesting comment, Jacek. I've had neither sort of experience . . . though the character in my story meets some 'spirits' that one might call evil.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 1:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"...the geologist Lonnie Thompson, who studies tropical ice..."

Tropical Ice?

If you've that geologist's email address Professor Jeffery, might send him a note to visit a bar and ask for one of them drinks with a little umbrella init. Don't know what the drinks're called being soley a beer fellow - though if the bar's got some female-type people init, Geologist Thompson can probably ask one of them.

Won't need be hauling a few hunert pounds of stuff up any mountains neither - t-shirt, bermuda shorts and flip-flops (and however much money it takes to buy one of them drinks) should orter get it.

JK

 
At 5:58 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Tropical Ice does sound like a refreshing cocktail.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 9:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The human mind, is incredibly, and wonderfully complex, isn't it? I was moved by a recent news story about how Robin Gibb awakened briefly from his coma after hearing his brother Barry sing to him before Robin's life slipped away forever. Former teacher, author, and educational consultant Marsha Tate gives brilliant talks that explore the learner and the teacher as whole people, human beings. Near the end of her presentation, she shows photos of her family, including her deceased parents, and talks about purpose as a life-giving force.

Sonagi

 
At 10:10 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Yes, a sense of purpose helps make life meaningful, but I still wonder why so many people have these near-death experiences. Why are they so similar, and how did they develop?

Jeffery Hodges

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At 3:00 PM, Blogger John from Daejeon said...

"turned out to be a race against time"

Well, if the figure was speaking Mayan, it will be a very short race to accomplish that purpose.

 
At 4:03 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

The report didn't say . . .

Jeffery Hodges

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At 12:27 PM, Blogger John from Daejeon said...

Just based on common sense, you would think that no one alive today would be able to understand the original gods since we don't speak any of those old dead languages anymore.

Now, had there been a stone tablet delivery involved, I might be a little more inclined to believe these types of stories.

 
At 1:31 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Oh, I believe he had a dream. The question for me is why.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 10:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the answer to your question lies inside the brain, not outside, Jeffery.

Sonagi

 
At 3:28 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

But the question remains: What natural purpose do such 'visions' serve? They are seemingly widespread, but only with modern means of resuscitating people who have 'died' have we become aware of the extent of such experiences. I can't quite imagine how these experiences would have been selected for via natural selection since they take place when individuals are dying and thus confer no selective advantage for reproduction. What therefore accounts for them?

Jeffery Hodges

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At 10:53 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not every physiological, mental, or emotional trait or phenomenon has an obvious evolutionary purpose. Some, in fact, are apparent disadvantages. Take freckles, for example. They're caused by uneven pigments in the skin and confer no advantage or disadvantage. Genes that cause or increase th risk of certain diseases may also confer advantaged. Sickle blood cells lower the risk of contracting malaria. Higher blood sugar in type II diabetics and prediabetics may have warded off frostbite by lowing th freezing ooint of blood during the mini ice age in the 1500s. As for visions at death's door, the may not be adaptations themselves but natural products of brain processes as the body is shutting down. Perhaps it is the human brain's way of reaching a decision of whether to fight on or give up. Suicide has no apparent evolutionary purpose, yet most people have thoughts of suicide sometime in their lives.

Sonagi

 
At 12:47 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Well, the explanation is what would interest me, but I imagine that the question itself is complex, and the answer even more so.

By the way, suicide might confer advantage upon a larger group, but that depends on the sort of suicide.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 3:02 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Homosexuality is thought to confer benefits upon the larger group because childless adults invest in their nieces and nephews, but I haven't seen any suggestion of how suicide could benefit th group. Old people do it, young people do it, married people with kids do it. I suggested in my previous comment that near-death experiences weren't an evolved trait but rather a natural product of brain processes. This related Guardian story explains the physiological causes of and cultural influences on near-death experiences.

Sonagi

 
At 4:05 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Read Durkheim on suicide. Many suicides are simply dysfunctional, of coursey

The near-death experiences are unlike dysfunctional things and require deeper explanation.

I'll take a look at the link. Thanks.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 11:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

With the exception of euthanasia, I would agree that suicide is dysfunctional. However, that does not mean that it deserves a less deep explanation than near-death experiences. I can understand why believers would search for a profound significance, but atheists like myself are content to understand whatever we can about human life.

Sonagi

 
At 4:03 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Again, I would say to read Durkheim on suicide, for several categories are not dysfunctional, not only euthanasia.

But as for dysfunctional suicide, however much it needs to be explained and prevented, I don't think the explanation will be as deep as explaining near death experiences, for suicides lack visions, messages, and the experience of purpose.

In short, there's more to be explained about near death experiences.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 7:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was reading about one of the victims of the Denver Batman movie shootings. She had escaped death a couple weeks ago in Toronto and on her blog, she described weird feelings that drove her to leave the area of the Toronto mall shooting shortly before it occurred. I've read similar accounts of people having premonitions that something bad was about to happen or had happened to a loved one. Many years ago in Korea I was "read" by a friend who claimed to have psychic powers. Skeptical but curious, I met her for dinner at a restaurant, where she "read" me, occasionally making somewhat vague "feeling statements" about people in my life, i.e., "stay away from X; he harbors deep resentment of women." One very specific statement that came true made me a believer that people radiate thoughts and feelings that can be be picked by other people, even far away, as long as there is a personal connection. She told me that she visualized my mother lying in bed with her right leg propped up, but it wasn't broken. A week or so later, I was dumbstruck when my mom related how she'd been kicked in the shin by a dance partner. It was her right leg and she had stayed off her feet for a few days to recuperate. I do not believe in a sentient God. I do very much believe in forces, energies that we cannot see and perceive only subconsciously. I cannot begin to understand how my friend could "see" MY mom while I could not.

Sonagi

 
At 7:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sadly, the victim died last night. Did she have premonitions and ignore them or not have any? Did the high energy of the crowd camoflage the bad vibes of a deeply disturbed man with murderous thoughts? We will never know.

Sonagi

 
At 8:04 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Sonagi, I've only seen headlines on the shooting -- I just finished an intensive writing course and took yesterday off (see blog entry for Saturday, July 21) and haven't yet had time to catch up.

People do report paranormal experiences, and I guess that's what you're reporting, too. I've never experienced anything strange, but I've heard a lot from others. I don't know what to make of it all. Can it be explained by science, or is it due to interventions of some sort from 'beyond'?

A secretary that my wife knew in Germany woke up one night crying, certain that her daughter had died in Thailand, and she was right, even down to the time that she awoke and cried. I have no clear idea how to explain that.

I'm sorry to hear that the woman at the film died.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 11:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What is "beyond" science? Science is not a place or a thing but a way of understanding the world within and without. I find it easier to accept that there are natural wireless communications between living things than to think that some sentient deity whose motives we're incapable of discerning decided to spare Jessica Ghawi from last week's shooting in Toronto because it was his plan for her to get shot in Denver instead.

Sonagi

 
At 11:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What is "beyond" science? Science is not a place or a thing but a way of understanding the world within and without. I find it easier to accept that there are natural wireless communications between living things than to think that some sentient deity whose motives we're incapable of discerning decided to spare Jessica Ghawi from last week's shooting in Toronto because it was his plan for her to get shot in Denver instead.

A favorite quote from a scientist: Science always gives us new frontiers. It is a wonderful thing that we will never figure out the universe, that there will always be worlds to explore.

Sonagi

 
At 5:59 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Read my words with a bit more generosity, Sonagi, and with fewer assumptions. Like Mr. Darcy, I might wish "that you were not to sketch my character at the present moment."

Science studies the empirical world of matter and energy in time and space, I suppose one could say, though I'm no philosopher. My reference to "beyond" was intended as generally as possible to refer to anything not included within this realm of of matter and energy in time and space.

But even within our realm, there is much that science cannot deal with. It cannot tell us the answers to ethical questions, nor can it even justify itself. Those are philosophical questions, and when science purports to answer them, it becomes scientism.

Jeffery Hodges

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