The only source of knowledge is experience. – Albert Einstein Albert Einstein was arguably one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. This quote is particularly interesting because there are some renowned modern scientists who would try to convince you the opposite is true -- they actually claim that careful inference is superior to personal experience. However, seeing is indeed believing. In my book Divine Evolution, I wrote about my personal experiences -- yes, I do mean to imply there were multiple occurrences -- with ghosts. Many of these paranormal experiences were witnessed by other people. And in another chapter, I wrote about my personal encounter with the risen Christ on the night I connected the dots that linked Matthew 7:7 and Revelations 3:20. Then in my Counterargument for God, I sought to examine what I perceive to be a connection between the near death experience, or NDE, and ghosts, which of course could be called ADES, for after death experiences. My personal experiences were not hallucinations. They were nothing less than evidence that strongly indicates that the mind and brain are actually separable entities. There is scientific evidence to support my claims, known as corroborated veridical NDE events. These events involve a person who has a medical emergency of some nature that puts them temporarily in a state near death, and they claim to have out-of-body experiences. What makes these claims of particular interest are two facts: their medical condition can be verified, and these people make a specific claim of acquiring … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 20 May 2015
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? – Albert Einstein Everybody knows who Albert Einstein was, right? He once owned a chain of bagel shops with his brother, didn't he? In all seriousness, for a brilliant, world famous physicist, Einstein had a pretty good sense of humor, as future Pearls will demonstrate. His theory of relativity made a crucial contribution to modern physics, as it explains the effect of gravity on space and time. His work also led directly to the development of the atomic bomb, which wasn't very funny. Today's "pearl" is funny, but it's also very true. The Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction was an unexpected result of an experiment observed by Boris Belousov. Because of laziness and/or shoddy peer review, the science journals to which Belousov submitted rejected his paper -- nobody believed his claims were possible, they didn't bother to attempt replicating his experiment. Belousov retired in frustration. Matches were also discovered by accident. Penicillin, Post-It notes, microwave ovens, safety glass, x-rays, and Viagra were all fortuitous but "accidental" discoveries as well. Perseverance and good luck had led to some of mankind's most important discoveries! … [Read more...]
