Brain Damage Saved His Music

I don't understand what the issue is with NDEs and reincarnation working within Mind, or a system where substance has material and conscious aspects. OTOH Dualism seems to come with some issues...What is the "mental" realm - Res Cognitans? But that suggests Mind isn't part of Res Extensa?

Yet how would you have a "realm" that is non-extended?

If we have two realms we still would wonder why is there a Veil between them, wonder how they interact, and how we can have a subtle body in the mental realm separate from the body on Earth. Plus the veridical aspect of NDEs suggest you can be an entity viewing your own material body - so the entity seems to be in the material world.

This all suggests that there is ultimately some underlying substance, some ontological primitive, that allows interaction between the two realms because it makes up both the spiritual realm and the physical realm.

addendum: Consider the Buddhist and Hindu faiths, of which reincarnation plays such a strong part, often are tied to Idealism / Neutral Monism / Panpsychism.

For some reason Idealism seems to be very popular here. I notice that your arguments carefully avoid engaging my main point: that the clear implication of and the direct inference that can be made from the accounts of the actual veridical NDE experiences and the empirical evidence of reincarnation research, is that the reality the NDEer and the child with verified past life memories is experiencing is most probably what it appears to be: dual realms of mind and matter/space that interact. This is the case because of Occam's Razor: the interactive dualism hypothesis is a considerably simpler and more direct explanation for the data.

I agree that there must be some "underlying substance" that produces the interaction between the two existential realms. That is a direct inference from the evidence. But I think that there are considerably fewer auxiliary hypotheses required for Interactive Dualism to explain this data than are required for some form of Idealism.

For some reason Idealism seems to be very popular here. I notice that your arguments carefully avoid engaging my main point: that the clear implication of and the direct inference that can be made from the accounts of the actual veridical NDE experiences and the empirical evidence of reincarnation research, is that the reality the NDEer and the child with verified past life memories is experiencing is most probably what it appears to be: dual realms of mind and matter/space that interact. This is the case because of Occam's Razor: the interactive dualism hypothesis is a considerably simpler and more direct explanation for the data.

I agree that there must be some "underlying substance" that produces the interaction between the two existential realms. That is a direct inference from the evidence. But I think that there are considerably fewer auxiliary hypotheses required for Interactive Dualism to explain this data than are required for some form of Idealism.

I'm probably a neutral monist or immaterialist agnostic, so my argument is less *for* Idealism and more *against* Interactive Dualism.

If you agree that there is some underlying substance that makes up both realms then it would seem you are a Neutral Monist?

With regards to what is experienced by NDErs, I see no immediate benefit of Interactive Dualism vs Idealism, and vice-versa.

They would both seem to have the same kind of explanatory power, disregarding anything beyond the known limits of the NDE state.

It is when regarding Reality on a much greater scale, beyond the physical realm, that the idea of two separate substances, matter and mind, begins to crumble down, in my opinion. The most logical metaphysical position, in my mind, then becomes far more likely to be Idealism. That everything is composed of "God", the Ground of Being, the Supreme Mind, that which the Hindus define as "Brahman".

From my Idealist perspective, the physical realm is just a created sub-realm within the spiritual realms, by spiritual entities. Matter and physics are therefore spiritual constructs. The rules that govern how this physical realm works are also maintained by them. Those rules would seem to include that the participants within need to inhabit a physical form in order to interact with it effectively.

This would seem to explain why NDErs cannot really interact with matter or its physics very easily, and that to do so takes a lot of energy and effort. Which might also explain why the deceased can't just materialize to a person's senses as if they were still alive, but can only maintain brief sensory appearances. This explains how the living sense their deceased pets still being within them.

I'm probably a neutral monist or immaterialist agnostic, so my argument is less *for* Idealism and more *against* Interactive Dualism.

If you agree that there is some underlying substance that makes up both realms then it would seem you are a Neutral Monist?

From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

"Neutral monism is a monistic metaphysics. It holds that ultimate reality is all of one kind. To this extent neutral monism is in agreement with the more familiar versions of monism: idealism and materialism. What distinguishes neutral monism from its monistic rivals is the claim that the intrinsic nature of ultimate reality is neither mental nor physical. This negative claim also captures the idea of neutrality: being intrinsically neither mental nor physical in nature ultimate reality is said to be neutral between the two.

Neutral monism is compatible with the existence of many neutral entities. And neutral monism is compatible with the existence of non-neutral entities—mental and material entities, for example—assuming that these non-neutral entities are, in some sense, derivative of the ultimate neutral entities. Most versions of neutral monism have been pluralist in both these respects. They were conceived as solutions to the mind-body problem. The goal was to close the apparent chasm between mental and physical entities by exhibiting both as consisting of groups of the more basic neutral entities."

Neutral Monism denies that the mental and the physical are two fundamentally different things.

My point of view is my interpretation of Interactive Dualism: 

Definitely at the level of existence or reality humans experience, the mental/spiritual and the physical really are exceedingly different realms that nevertheless do interact in certain ways.

The interaction between the two realms of existence could possibly be explained by the philosophy of Neutral Monism, where the absolute ultimate ground of reality is one (neutral) substance. But Neutral Monism may not be the only possible answer. 

Included in the vast realm of possibilities, it seems to me that perhaps simply by fiat of whatever Force created reality, the otherwise fundamentally different realms of mind and material existence postulated by Interactive Dualism can still interact under certain special circumstances through certain limited mechanisms. Otherwise they are completely separate realms.

I don't know which of these explanations is the truth. There may be other alternate possibilities.

From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:


Neutral Monism denies that the mental and the physical are two fundamentally different things.

My point of view is my interpretation of Interactive Dualism: 

Definitely at the level of existence or reality humans experience, the mental/spiritual and the physical really are exceedingly different realms that nevertheless do interact in certain ways.

The interaction between the two realms of existence could possibly be explained by the philosophy of Neutral Monism, where the absolute ultimate ground of reality is one (neutral) substance. But Neutral Monism may not be the only possible answer. 

Included in the vast realm of possibilities, it seems to me that perhaps simply by fiat of whatever Force created reality, the otherwise fundamentally different realms of mind and material existence postulated by Interactive Dualism can still interact under certain special circumstances through certain limited mechanisms. Otherwise they are completely separate realms.

I don't know which of these explanations is the truth. There may be other alternate possibilities.

How are the realms of psyche and matter "exceedingly different"?

And do you think there is enough similarity to group together under "realm of psyche" the expansive NDE where time & place are malleable by the deceased's mind along with those realms reported via other situations (shamanic journey, mediums, etc) that seem more akin to a fantasy novel, some version of purgatory, or even just a world largely mundane as our own?

How are the realms of psyche and matter "exceedingly different"?

To repeat my previous words, ",....the otherwise fundamentally different realms of mind and material existence postulated by Interactive Dualism can still interact under certain special circumstances through certain limited mechanisms. Otherwise they are completely separate realms. "

As brought out in the formulation of the "Hard Problem" of  the nature of Mind, the properties of conscious awareness are in an entirely different existential realm than the properties of matter, energy and space. This implies that they are two separate existential realms, at least at the level of reality experienced by humans.

I suggest that the experience of humans in the world is indicative that interactive dualism is the practical reality of this world. There is some sort of interaction between the two existential realms, even though these two realms seem to be fundamentally separate based on their properties. How to explain this? The interaction between mind and matter could be due to there being the underlying ultimate reality postulated by neutral monism. Or, I suggest that an alternative to neutral monism could be that by fiat of whatever is the source of our reality, there simply are certain exceptions to this existential separation that allow certain interactions necessary for conscious beings to exist in the material world.

As brought out in the formulation of the "Hard Problem" of  the nature of Mind, the properties of conscious awareness are in an entirely different existential realm than the properties of matter, energy and space. This implies that they are two separate existential realms, at least at the level of reality experienced by humans.

On a surface level, this indeed appears to be the case. But it does nothing to explain what matter actually is, what its origins are. For me, it's the one major weakness in Dualism, and why a Monism seems preferred for the ultimate reality of what matter is.

I suggest that the experience of humans in the world is indicative that interactive dualism is the practical reality of this world. There is some sort of interaction between the two existential realms, even though these two realms seem to be fundamentally separate based on their properties. How to explain this? The interaction between mind and matter could be due to there being the underlying ultimate reality postulated by neutral monism. Or, I suggest that an alternative to neutral monism could be that by fiat of whatever is the source of our reality, there simply are certain exceptions to this existential separation that allow certain interactions necessary for conscious beings to exist in the material world.

From my perspective, a Dualism, of sorts, can exist within a Monist framework. That is, the mind is primary, mind creating everything, including the physical. Mind/s also created the rules that other minds must be subject to, if they wish to interact with this realm. Thus making it seem like mind and matter are separate.

Said rules are powerfully enforced, but can be temporarily overcome by a mind who has enough power to do so. The effects of such always seem to be rather concentrated to a small area, and never over a large one.

Ego-mind, and animated matter, that is, the particular body it inhabits, seem perfect for one another. In certain ways, they come to mirror each other (although not in the ways that the Monist Materialist desires.)

During the NDE state, the ego-mind's limitations are removed, to a certain degree, and they can perform certain paranormal feats that are usual impossible to insanely, ridiculously difficult for the average person. Feats such as mind-reading, seeing through solid objects, like walls, traveling great distances at a desire, perceiving from a major distance, via massive enhanced senses, and so on.

I also look towards lucid dreams, and the landscapes experienced within, as an idea of what the physical realm is fundamentally like, albeit with the physical realm having very powerful limiting rules in place, dictating how the "game" must be played.