Follow-up thread for discussing existential thoughts, fears and advice

This is a follow-up thread based on this thread: https://psiencequest.net/forums/thread-a...0#pid36310

...Regarding being a 'victim' of militant materialism, pseudo-skepticism, anti-skepticism, nihilism etc. My original explanation of my experiences is as follows: 

Multiple reasons personally, some of which are my own fault (I'll be ranting a lot here so please bearwith):

1. These sensationalised studies and misleading articles never seem to end and are paraded around on other forums. It was back in January I stumbled upon a forum that seemed to be quite large and old. They'd only just started discussing NDEs back in 2019 and the pseudo-skepticism and anti-skepticism on their was disgusting. The ringleaders weren't just cynical, they were bullies. They'd make unproven assertions, viciously attack or mock proponents and break the rules of their own forums, while avoiding threads with evidence against their beliefs. One of them for example, upon reading an article in Psychology Today about Peter Fenwick that was from 2019, referred to him as a 'crackpot old fool' and then began to praise the likes of Sean Carroll, Richard Dawkins etc. as 'real scientists'. There was a lot of laziness and poor debating on there but the things they said about anyone who dared to oppose materialism were so hurtful they sometimes trouble me to this day. I will gladly drop the name of said forum if necessary, especially since sometimes I worry they're still just harassing anyone who isn't a materialist who decides to voice their views (they also still believe that nonsense written about Eben Alexander in the Esquire article despite IANDS having debunked it). 
   
   
2. I was sick of seeing the skepticforum crop up whenever I looked for things like the NDE cases covered in The Self Does Not Die. Even though I've found flaws in this 'Shen's' so-called 'skeptical looks' myself (I even posted a lengthy response to his thread on Lynnclaire Dennis' NDE back on Reddit), it's still annoying knowing it gets some attention. It makes me feel more alone and hopeless sometimes knowing poorly researched articles get attention they don't deserve. That's why, when I was on Reddit, I made a whole post basically recommending this place to those interested in legitimate discussion, news, research and evidence. 
   
   
3. These articles never seeming to end makes me doubt myself and my own experiences and research. I'm pessimistic and have anxiety/confidence issues that I'm working to improve via CBT and whatnot, so I tend to play Devil's Advocate with myself. 
   
   
4. There are still other theories of consciousness besides the emergent theory that don't allow for consciousness survival that trouble me. 
   
   
5. I'm upset that the research from the likes of the UVA is met with extreme cynicism sometimes. This includes on their YouTube videos, as well as on (you guessed it) Reddit. There was genuinely a post I'd seen on the r/Skeptic subreddit that was trying to debunk the methods the UVA apply in their research into evidence, and even the skeptics on there didn't approve of the OPs attitude to their work. 
   
   
6. Many average folk still believe that some NDErs may just be liars or biased. I know this from my time on other social media sites and news articles. 
   
   
7. Prominent neuroscientists who are generally informed about NDEs like Steven Novella are still not convinced and are more intent on debunking them. 
   
   
8. I fear that veridical NDEs will never be captured in the settings necessary for some people to take them more seriously. The fact that some people still just dismiss them as mere stories baffles me.  
   
   
9. I suffer from thanatophobia, though it's not as bad as it used to be, it did lead to an existential depression that lasted for many months and I'm recovering from. 
   

I do apologize that I'm repetitively overreacting to these studies, but things like 'consciousness' are my trigger words. I'm trying not to rely on reassurance too much but with the news wiki down I'm having to rely on this for updates:

https://mobile.twitter.com/neardeath/sta...4248270848

I will elaborate on a few things here:

1. I stumbled across the forum in question when searching for material on the 'brain filter consciousness' idea. Why Google thought it was a good idea recommending some random forum where they do nothing but attack people who support the idea is beyond me. 
   
2. I'd like to add another example of just how awful their discussions were. As of writing this, Max had recently posted a video to an interview with Penny Sartori (https://psiencequest.net/forums/thread-p...i#pid36224). This video has also been posted on that forum, but guess what? I didn't find it by looking up Sartori on there, I had found it by accident. Why? Because they didn't even mention her by name in their thread or even discuss the contents of the video at all as far as I could tell. They just bickered like children in a 'I'm right you're wrong' style argument. 
   
3. I have gotten into arguments in the past with arrogant militant materialists on Reddit before (they typically gave up and just blocked me in the end). The assertions some of them made were baffling. One claimed that Daniel Dennett's view is the most 'well-supported' today despite the fact (as another user criticised) it's actually considered one of the most flawed. He proceeded to dismiss all evidence against his view, such as the common response I've seen to when people bring up Bernardo Kastrup ('he isn't a scientists, he's a philosopher' even though his qualifications in sciences are listed on his page). I've also seen a Reddit commenter claim that if you don't subscribe to a materialist theory then you should 'bash your head against a rock and see for yourself how it affects you'. He received criticism too, especially since it was part of a string of comments on a post about a tweet. I'm pretty sure none of the people there were qualified to say what they were saying, or understood it well (it is Reddit after all, a place renowned for pseudo-intellectuals talking utter nonsense, fishing for likes and users thinking they're smarter than everyone else). 
   
4. It's frustrating thinking that the likes of Shen on the skepticforum will get recommended by Google when one discusses the contents of anomalous NDEs. I've seen others say they don't find his 'debunking' very impressive at all, as well as being blatantly biased and easy to refute, but it's still very annoying. 
   
5. I don't like the fact that misinformation about consciousness gets attention that it doesn't deserve. There was, for example, a post on Reddit claiming that some study suggested consciousness is the product of entropy in the brain. Not only was this study from 2018 (posted in early 2020) but it was a very flawed one that hasn't been followed up on since, and may actually contradict other theories completely. 
   

The user 'Shen' has been discussed on here before, and as far as I'm aware even his fellow 'skeptics' don't take his rants that seriously. The other forum seems to be quite a large one unfortunately. The pseudo-skepticism on there is horrifying to say the least, especially given the way they resort to name-calling quite quickly. Take Leslie Kean for example. One user on there as I recall it, referred to her as 'an idiot who mistook a fly for a ufo'. I've noticed a lot of the members on said forum seem to be quite young as well, especially given their profile pics, behaviour, poor debating skills and tendency to mock people who don't agree with them.

The advice I've taken is that I shouldn't place these kinds of people on pedestals when it's blatantly clear they're not interested in intellectual debate or discussion, just mockery and cynicism. The worst part is they get 'likes'/upvotes for their arrogance and insults.

One of the worst aspects of this whole thing isn't just people flat-out lying and saying things that ultimately don't end up aging well, but the fact these people go out of their way to say horrible, spiteful things about well-meaning and intelligent people like Peter Fenwick and Raymond Moody. To my knowledge, they don't deserve the kind of treatment some of these people throw their way. 

Meanwhile, a few may praise the likes of Sean Carroll, Laurence Krauss and Richard Dawkins, despite the fact they've said or done some extremely condescending, degrading, uninformed and arrogant things. I still remember the amusing time when one of my RE teachers informed me that Dawkins, in one of his books, quoted a professor of German (language) on the 'questionable historicity' of Jesus, acting as though this professor had academic experience that qualified him to make such claims (which he apparently did not). I don't understand why so many people still take him seriously personally.

Another problem I have that seems to never end is that parapsychology and belief that consciousness survives death doesn't get  fairly represented enough these days, so some people tend to be overly-critical and cynical of it on the grounds of 'well it's from some religious, obscure or dodgy source so I'm going to dismiss it entirely.' Besides YouTube channels like InspiringPhilosophy, there's also companies like Gaia. Gaia, from what I've seen, aren't as bad as Goop but still tend to advertise or promote fringe stuff, some of which can be considered at least somewhat 'pseudoscientific'. But they also post interviews with the likes of Raymond Moody and Roberta Grimes, so I naturally find (actual) claims such as 'this is a website for insane people' to be very disrespectful from the cynical YouTube 'skeptic/militant atheist' crowd. I know most people likely don't take them very seriously anymore, but still...

Haven't used this thread in a while but I thought I'd get this rant off my chest. 

I'm sick and tired of seeing the arrogance of some militant materialist atheists online, particularly on social media, which I was reminded of today after looking through some recent posts by the near-deathnews account on Twitter. That's when I came across this: 

https://mobile.twitter.com/TheodoreBolha

This guy annoys me to the core. 99% of his Twitter feed is just him responding to or quoting literally any comments he can find wondering or worrying about what happens after death with his own, frankly dull video on his own physicalist worldview, which sounds like a materialist version of reincarnation or something. He advertises it as some 'radical' view even though it's nothing original, just materialist 'dogma'. I've skimmed the video and, as someone who responded to him noted, it isn't original at all and he's not as informed as he thinks he is. Someone mentioned in the comments of his YouTube video for example, which sits at under 200 views, that he's making assertions. When Kastrup was mentioned, he demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of consciousness when he commented (and still hasnt corrected): 'I don't find idealism convincing since a bonk on the head knocks you unconscious which shouldn't be possible in idealism'. Not only is he talking about wakefulness here, not consciousness (he probably meant the unoriginal and heavily recycled brain damage argument), but he hasn't responded to the commenter who pointed out that there are cases, as Kastrup has mentioned, where consciousness seems to improve due to brain damage, which goes against this materialist logic. I understand Kastrup may not believe in the survival of the self necessarily, but still, it's clear to me this 'naturalist philosopher' as he calls himself is just another attention-seeker who wants to harshly impose and force his beliefs onto as many people as possible, while saying it's 'science-friendly'. What difference does that make? 

I understand this behaviour has also been associated with the religious, but the fact this guy seems so dedicated in preaching his naturalist view and deliberately quoting or responding to people who are worried or distressed about the topic like that is just disgusting. I understand he does admit this is his opinion and that he could 'definitely be wrong', but at the same time he acts as though consciousness has been explained or something. It just seems so insulting to me for someone to spend so much time doing nothing but advertising their beliefs in such an insensitive manner. It's all just copy and pasted rhetoric.

This, to me, is a perfect example of many militant materialists online having little to no emotional intelligence, and being unbearably arrogant, smug and condescending. That's a generalisation I suppose, but one based on my experiences with them.

When Kastrup was mentioned, he demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of consciousness when he commented (and still hasnt corrected): 'I don't find idealism convincing since a bonk on the head knocks you unconscious which shouldn't be possible in idealism'.

The "bonk on the head" example is not as simple as it appears. There was at least one NDE account I came across where a person had a severe blow to the head - if I recall correctly it was from something like tripping and falling, the head colliding with the proverbial immoveable object in the form of a table top or corner of a desk, something like that. What followed was the body continuing to fall to the floor, now with the injury sustained in the impact. The person however remained conscious, observing the scene from above.

I'm not able to provide a reference or source for this, I read a lot but don't usually take notes.

It's certainly true that not every such injury results in an NDE, however the fact that in some cases it does, basically disproves the original argument.

I'd suggest it is profitable to read through a large number of NDE accounts, they vary considerably, but overall provide a rich source of material for understanding how things work. Better that than mere debate which often consists only in noise.

I do recall a trait of NDEs being heightened consciousness, even in cases of one's involving head injuries. 

I just felt the need to rant about this. This guy's Twitter is 99% copy and pasted spam of his video or some pseudo-intellectual naturalist view he repeats. The fact he posts these rambles by quoting or responding to random average Tweeters, several of whom are clearly distressed or have mental health issues, demonstrated to me a further lack of emotional intelligence, not just cognitive bias and ignorance. Why on earth anyone would invest so much time into spamming such nihilist nonsense on a daily basis to random people is beyond me.

The guy has 277 followers...how do you even find this stuff?

If you are this bothered by someone, somewhere on the planet not believing in life after death you should stop rummaging around the internet looking for these accounts and promoting them here.