consciouslifenews--2020-09-27--Eight Ways Your Perception of Reality Is Skewed

.
To some extent , that ’ s true , of course : Our eyes allow us to see what ’ s around us , helping us navigate our world .
But it turns out sight is much more complicated than that , according to the new book Perception : How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds , by University of Virginia psychologist Dennis Proffitt and Drake Baer .
What we perceive in any given moment is not only determined by sensory input , but by our personal physical abilities , energy levels , feelings , social identities , and more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to believe we experience the world as it objectively is , ” the authors write .
“ Even though our naive intuitions are that we see the world as it is , we do not.
” It ’ s not just our eyesight that ’ s influenced by unconscious processes , either .
Proffitt and Baer ’ s book is chock full of fascinating research findings that challenge not only the things we perceive but the judgments and decisions we make based on what we perceive .
Things that seem true and universal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the world .
This is useful to know—especially now when we are fighting a deadly pandemic and mired in political and social turmoil .
If we understand what irrelevant factors manipulate what we see and think , we can perhaps find ways to overcome these influences and make better decisions as a society .
“ If we are going to have a better understanding of ourselves and our fellow human beings , we need to appreciate the startling individuality of everyone ’ s experience , ” writes Proffitt and Baer .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the many interesting take-home messages from their book .
1 .
Our energy and abilities impact our perspective Several studies by Proffitt and others show that our physical bodies and our ability to move influence how we view our surroundings .
For example , researchers have found that if you are obese or tired , distances look farther to you .
People wearing heavy backpacks see steeper hills in front of them than those without backpacks .
“ Put another way : Our walking ability shapes the apparent walkability of the hill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You do not see the hill as it is but rather as it is seen by you , ” writes Proffitt and Baer .
If you are holding something that extends your reach—like a grabber—things appear closer to you , too .
In sports , successful baseball batters literally see bigger balls coming at them from the pitcher and golfers who putt well see bigger holes .
This phenomenon is obvious even in young babies .
That ’ s why , in one experiment , crawling babies showed fear when they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cliff ( an apparent drop-off that was actually see-through plastic ) , but babies who couldn ’ t crawl didn ’ t show that same fear .
They didn ’ t see it as scary , because , as non-crawlers , they didn ’ t need to worry about cliffs yet .
In one experiment , researchers studied hedge fund managers who have to make quick decisions about stock trading under intense pressure .
Their strange finding ?
Managers who could more accurately count their own heartbeats without touching their bodies were more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confident in their accurate count , however , were more successful , and the bigger the gap between their confidence and accuracy , the higher their anxiety .
This suggests that actual awareness of your body can be useful in high-stress work situations .
While it ’ s uncertain why that would be , it ’ s possible that people who are more aware of their heartbeats are better able to calm themselves under stress and , therefore , make cooler decisions .
Or it could be that successful people who are more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more accurately , understanding how the two interact .
Either way , these findings make a case for cultivating greater body awareness .
3 .
Being hungry ( or not ) changes our choices Our body ’ s energy levels also impact decision-making .
In one experiment , participants who drank a sugary drink made better decisions and delayed immediate gratification longer than people who gulped down a sweet-tasting drink without glucose .
Similarly , when judges make parole decisions just before their lunch breaks or the end of their day , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s because a decision to grant parole requires more careful consideration—and , so , more energy .
Studies have also found that people who ’ ve enjoyed a tall , sugary glass of lemonade tend to be more helpful to others .
And children who eat breakfast do better in school and have fewer behavioral problems .
“ The way you think is endlessly tied to how you physically feel , ” write the authors .
So , it ’ s important to make sure we ( or others we rely on ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to be made .
Our beliefs about the world also depend on seemingly irrelevant influences .
In one experiment , when researchers asked participants to determine the truth of a statement—like “ Lima is in Peru ” —written in different colors , participants agreed more with easy-to-read statements than less easy-to-read ones .
Likewise , statements made in a rhyming scheme—like “ Woes unite foes ” —were considered truer than statements without a rhyming scheme—like “ Woes unite enemies.
” This tendency can be undone if you simply point it out to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forces operate below conscious awareness , and we can be duped by how easy something is to believe or retrieve in our minds .
“ Our penchant for fluency makes us susceptible to bullshit—if it feels right , it is right—and when that vulnerability is scaled up to the level of media , you get truthiness and fake news , ” the authors write .
It ’ s probably not surprising that our feelings affect our perceptions and thoughts .
Still , even for someone like me who knows this research well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cited in the book , researchers found that people who are more easily disgusted—when imagining things like a garbage pail filled with maggots or a piece of chocolate cake in the shape of dog poo—tend to be more conservative politically .
And they tend to have stronger negative feelings about people who support sexual freedoms they disagree with—like gay rights or the right to an abortion .
Feelings like disgust—which come out of the limbic system of our brains , often below conscious awareness—guide our reactions and evaluations , making them less than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perceive good and ill in a world filled with both .
They may seem to come unbidden , but they are , in fact , of our own creation , and they possess both the wisdom and vicissitudes of our oldest and most fundamental brain structures , ” write Proffitt and Baer .
Anyone who ’ s ever felt sad or depressed knows it ’ s hard to face the world when you ’ re down .
But it ’ s interesting to note that these feelings also change our sensory perceptions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ music tend to think a hill looks steeper than people listening to happy music .
“ Emotions .
.
.
have the job of giving a red or green light toward approaching or avoiding objects , people , and situations , and shape perception accordingly , ” write Proffitt and Baer .
That means that nurturing our positive emotions may help us to approach difficult tasks more easily—an idea that at least some research bears out .
7 .
Having other people around make things seem easier The presence of other people affects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Holding hands with someone while experiencing a painful event can lessen the pain .
Anticipating having to carry a heavy load with someone else ( as opposed to alone ) makes it appear lighter , and just thinking about a friend can make hills seem less steep .
Our social connections seem to play a role in reducing stress , which might be why being with others changes our perception of pain or difficulty , making them both easier to bear .
These studies and more point to the centrality of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard .
Another fascinating finding is how our group affiliations , like the political party we belong to , affect our perceptions .
For example , in one study , people were asked to solve math equations to verify the truth of a research finding—like whether a vaccine is effective or whether banning guns saves lives .
As predicted , people with greater math skills were able to figure out the answers more easily—but only when the result of the calculation didn ’ t contradict their political beliefs .
If it did , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They solved the problem correctly 25 to 45 percent less often .
This flies in the face of the idea that people just need more information to figure out the truth of a situation .
“ Thinking—even doing math—is not a process happening in isolation but is instead embedded in our personal thoughts and group identities , ” the authors write .
“ We literally become flummoxed , stupefied , and incapable of wielding our full faculties when confronted with facts that threaten our social identity.
” All in all , reading about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many forces below our conscious awareness affect our perceptions , thoughts , and decisions , and errors abound .
Becoming cognizant of those influences could keep us from making costly misjudgments or creating unnecessary conflicts with others who see things differently .
The ultimate benefit of that ?
Hopefully , having a little humility might help of us to act with less hubris and be more open to other points of view .
Tags : `` featured , featured , perception of reality , Perception : How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life , perspective about reality , Perspective on Life , power of the subconscious mind , subconscious mind

By Jill Suttie | Greater Good Magaine
Seeing is believing. To some extent, that’s true, of course: Our eyes allow us to see what’s around us, helping us navigate our world.
But it turns out sight is much more complicated than that, according to the new book Perception: How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds, by University of Virginia psychologist Dennis Proffitt and Drake Baer. What we perceive in any given moment is not only determined by sensory input, but by our personal physical abilities, energy levels, feelings, social identities, and more.
“It’s common sense to believe we experience the world as it objectively is,” the authors write. “Even though our naive intuitions are that we see the world as it is, we do not.”
It’s not just our eyesight that’s influenced by unconscious processes, either. Proffitt and Baer’s book is chock full of fascinating research findings that challenge not only the things we perceive but the judgments and decisions we make based on what we perceive. Things that seem true and universal are often just our own unique experience of the world.
This is useful to know—especially now when we are fighting a deadly pandemic and mired in political and social turmoil. If we understand what irrelevant factors manipulate what we see and think, we can perhaps find ways to overcome these influences and make better decisions as a society.
“If we are going to have a better understanding of ourselves and our fellow human beings, we need to appreciate the startling individuality of everyone’s experience,” writes Proffitt and Baer. That means having humility. Here are eight of the many interesting take-home messages from their book.
1. Our energy and abilities impact our perspective
Several studies by Proffitt and others show that our physical bodies and our ability to move influence how we view our surroundings. For example, researchers have found that if you are obese or tired, distances look farther to you. People wearing heavy backpacks see steeper hills in front of them than those without backpacks.
“Put another way: Our walking ability shapes the apparent walkability of the hill, which determines how we see it. You do not see the hill as it is but rather as it is seen by you,” writes Proffitt and Baer.
If you are holding something that extends your reach—like a grabber—things appear closer to you, too. In sports, successful baseball batters literally see bigger balls coming at them from the pitcher and golfers who putt well see bigger holes.
This phenomenon is obvious even in young babies. That’s why, in one experiment, crawling babies showed fear when they were lowered onto a platform with a fake cliff (an apparent drop-off that was actually see-through plastic), but babies who couldn’t crawl didn’t show that same fear. They didn’t see it as scary, because, as non-crawlers, they didn’t need to worry about cliffs yet.
2. Our body awareness affects our decisions
In one experiment, researchers studied hedge fund managers who have to make quick decisions about stock trading under intense pressure. Their strange finding? Managers who could more accurately count their own heartbeats without touching their bodies were more successful traders.
People who were more confident in their accurate count, however, were not more successful, and the bigger the gap between their confidence and accuracy, the higher their anxiety. This suggests that actual awareness of your body can be useful in high-stress work situations.
While it’s uncertain why that would be, it’s possible that people who are more aware of their heartbeats are better able to calm themselves under stress and, therefore, make cooler decisions. Or it could be that successful people who are more attuned to their bodies interpret their perceptions more accurately, understanding how the two interact. Either way, these findings make a case for cultivating greater body awareness.
3. Being hungry (or not) changes our choices
Our body’s energy levels also impact decision-making. In one experiment, participants who drank a sugary drink made better decisions and delayed immediate gratification longer than people who gulped down a sweet-tasting drink without glucose. Similarly, when judges make parole decisions just before their lunch breaks or the end of their day, they tend to deny parole. That’s because a decision to grant parole requires more careful consideration—and, so, more energy.
Studies have also found that people who’ve enjoyed a tall, sugary glass of lemonade tend to be more helpful to others. And children who eat breakfast do better in school and have fewer behavioral problems.
“The way you think is endlessly tied to how you physically feel,” write the authors. So, it’s important to make sure we (or others we rely on) are not too depleted when hard decisions need to be made.
4. Easy-to-read statements seem more true
Our beliefs about the world also depend on seemingly irrelevant influences. In one experiment, when researchers asked participants to determine the truth of a statement—like “Lima is in Peru”—written in different colors, participants agreed more with easy-to-read statements than less easy-to-read ones. Likewise, statements made in a rhyming scheme—like “Woes unite foes”—were considered truer than statements without a rhyming scheme—like “Woes unite enemies.”
This tendency can be undone if you simply point it out to people. But, otherwise, these forces operate below conscious awareness, and we can be duped by how easy something is to believe or retrieve in our minds.
“Our penchant for fluency makes us susceptible to bullshit—if it feels right, it is right—and when that vulnerability is scaled up to the level of media, you get truthiness and fake news,” the authors write.
5. Our feelings affect our political views
It’s probably not surprising that our feelings affect our perceptions and thoughts. Still, even for someone like me who knows this research well, Perception held some surprises.
In one study cited in the book, researchers found that people who are more easily disgusted—when imagining things like a garbage pail filled with maggots or a piece of chocolate cake in the shape of dog poo—tend to be more conservative politically. And they tend to have stronger negative feelings about people who support sexual freedoms they disagree with—like gay rights or the right to an abortion.
Feelings like disgust—which come out of the limbic system of our brains, often below conscious awareness—guide our reactions and evaluations, making them less than impartial.
“Emotions allow us to perceive good and ill in a world filled with both. They may seem to come unbidden, but they are, in fact, of our own creation, and they possess both the wisdom and vicissitudes of our oldest and most fundamental brain structures,” write Proffitt and Baer.
6. Feeling bad makes things seem harder
Anyone who’s ever felt sad or depressed knows it’s hard to face the world when you’re down. But it’s interesting to note that these feelings also change our sensory perceptions. For example, people listening to melancholic music tend to think a hill looks steeper than people listening to happy music.
“Emotions . . . have the job of giving a red or green light toward approaching or avoiding objects, people, and situations, and shape perception accordingly,” write Proffitt and Baer. That means that nurturing our positive emotions may help us to approach difficult tasks more easily—an idea that at least some research bears out.
7. Having other people around make things seem easier
The presence of other people affects our perception in difficult situations, too. Holding hands with someone while experiencing a painful event can lessen the pain. Anticipating having to carry a heavy load with someone else (as opposed to alone) makes it appear lighter, and just thinking about a friend can make hills seem less steep.
Our social connections seem to play a role in reducing stress, which might be why being with others changes our perception of pain or difficulty, making them both easier to bear. These studies and more point to the centrality of our social relationships for resilience when things are hard.
8. Our political beliefs affect our math skills
Another fascinating finding is how our group affiliations, like the political party we belong to, affect our perceptions. For example, in one study, people were asked to solve math equations to verify the truth of a research finding—like whether a vaccine is effective or whether banning guns saves lives. As predicted, people with greater math skills were able to figure out the answers more easily—but only when the result of the calculation didn’t contradict their political beliefs. If it did, everyone’s math was worse: They solved the problem correctly 25 to 45 percent less often.
This flies in the face of the idea that people just need more information to figure out the truth of a situation. “Thinking—even doing math—is not a process happening in isolation but is instead embedded in our personal thoughts and group identities,” the authors write. “We literally become flummoxed, stupefied, and incapable of wielding our full faculties when confronted with facts that threaten our social identity.”
All in all, reading about this research should humble us. Clearly, many forces below our conscious awareness affect our perceptions, thoughts, and decisions, and errors abound. Becoming cognizant of those influences could keep us from making costly misjudgments or creating unnecessary conflicts with others who see things differently. The ultimate benefit of that? Hopefully, having a little humility might help all of us to act with less hubris and be more open to other points of view.
About the Author


consciouslifenews--2020-09-27--5 Simple Hacks To Boost Your Retirement Funds In Style

It 's never too early to start saving for your retirement .
However , it 's vital that you do it in the most effective fashion .
After all , your standard state pension plan probably wo n't be enough when you reach your golden years .
Here are some of the best hacks that can unlock the door to a better financial future .
When looking at any investment , it 's important to analyse the whole situation .
This means taking the tax implications into account too .
If you are keen to capitalise on stocks , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better solution .
Profiting from the same commodities without losing money to the taxman can take ROIs to a whole new level .
Better still , the knowledge that you 've used a system that delivers the best results will fill you with pride and satisfaction .
Do not ignore it , By now , you will know that the market is one of the most stable investments for your future .
However , it may seem difficult to generate significant ROIs if you only have a small amount of funding .
Thankfully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capital for commercial real estate investments .
When you do , it puts the odds in your favor .
Even a 10 % profit on a £400,000 asset is £40,000 .
If you borrowed £300,000 , though , you 've suddenly gained 40 % on your initial investment of £100,000 .
Take Advantage Of All Employer Contributions If your company pension plans are supported by an employer match scheme , do n't ignore it .
This is essentially free money .
Even if your employer only puts in £200 for every £1,000 you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increase without any extra saving on your behalf .
If nothing else , taking advantage of these opportunities will encourage you to adopt a winning mindset .
Therefore , it can actually have a far greater impact on your long-term financial situation .
Regardless of how old you are currently .
When the thought of finding investment opportunities is too daunting , you can look to use automated services .
Knowing what is a can put you in a more powerful position .
The tools will only invest your money in a fashion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make calculated decisions to unlock better ROIs .
While there are no guarantees , the AI is far better than trying to work with a lack of experience .
Better still , this approach will inevitably save you a lot of time in the process .
While you may think that your retirement funds are determined solely by your investments , that is n't the case .
There is nothing wrong with spending money , but learning to cut the waste will pay dividends in the long haul .
You can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and grocery shopping .
Learning to upcycle items or use repairs rather than replacement will work wonders too .
In many cases , you wo n't even notice any impact in daily life .
But your finances will certainly show the rewards .
Even the above steps wo n't remove all risk from investment .
Nonetheless , they will optimise your hopes of success in terms of stability and overall growth .

It's never too early to start saving for your retirement. However, it's vital that you do it in the most effective fashion. After all, your standard state pension plan probably won't be enough when you reach your golden years.
Here are some of the best hacks that can unlock the door to a better financial future.
Look For Tax-Free Options
When looking at any investment, it's important to analyse the whole situation. This means taking the tax implications into account too. If you are keen to capitalise on stocks, you may want to search what is spread betting to find a better solution. Profiting from the same commodities without losing money to the taxman can take ROIs to a whole new level. Better still, the knowledge that you've used a system that delivers the best results will fill you with pride and satisfaction. Do not ignore it,
Leverage Success By Borrowing
By now, you will know that the real estate market is one of the most stable investments for your future. However, it may seem difficult to generate significant ROIs if you only have a small amount of funding. Thankfully, it is possible to borrow extra capital for commercial real estate investments. When you do, it puts the odds in your favor. Even a 10% profit on a £400,000 asset is £40,000. If you borrowed £300,000, though, you've suddenly gained 40% on your initial investment of £100,000.
Take Advantage Of All Employer Contributions
If your company pension plans are supported by an employer match scheme, don't ignore it. This is essentially free money. Even if your employer only puts in £200 for every £1,000 you save, it's a 20% increase without any extra saving on your behalf. If nothing else, taking advantage of these opportunities will encourage you to adopt a winning mindset. Therefore, it can actually have a far greater impact on your long-term financial situation. Regardless of how old you are currently.
Use A Robo-Advisor
When the thought of finding investment opportunities is too daunting, you can look to use automated services. Knowing what is a robo-advisor can put you in a more powerful position. The tools will only invest your money in a fashion that suits your preferences, but will make calculated decisions to unlock better ROIs. While there are no guarantees, the AI is far better than trying to work with a lack of experience. Better still, this approach will inevitably save you a lot of time in the process.
Stop Wasting Money
While you may think that your retirement funds are determined solely by your investments, that isn't the case. There is nothing wrong with spending money, but learning to cut the waste will pay dividends in the long haul. You can’t trim the fat from energy bills, phone packages , and grocery shopping. Learning to upcycle items or use repairs rather than replacement will work wonders too. In many cases, you won't even notice any impact in daily life. But your finances will certainly show the rewards.
Even the above steps won't remove all risk from investment. Nonetheless, they will optimise your hopes of success in terms of stability and overall growth.


consciouslifenews--2020-09-27--A Super Way To Earn: Superpay.me Review

A Super Way To Earn: Superpay.me Review

Superpay.me is a great deal for people who require extra income .
The site has numerous daily earning options , which you can enjoy when you register and get used to the website .
It the best with a considerable low payout threshold of only $ 1 and accommodates most countries in the world .
The Superpay.me is a famous paid survey and Get-paid-to GPT website with several offers for users to earn and redeem points or get gifts .
The website engages everyone providing equal chances for all to participate in surveys .
However , is Superpay.me a scam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you earn it from the website ?
I have an easy question , considering I have been a member of the wonderful site for several years .
Go through the site 's features , benefits , payouts , and support team .
These reviews answer the question of Sperpay.me legitimacy .
Here we offer a general , what to expect once you join , how to earn , and other significant site details .
What is Superpay.me what does it offer ?
The website was established in 2012 .
It has a gain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been a member for some years .
First , the site is legit and offers the best and fast gifts/cash .
I have received payments so many times for different surveys .
It has a big earning platform as you can choose the best way to earn , from surveys , playing games , etc .
However , it might be right for me , but a different experience for you .
Let 's check some of the sites earning methods to get a relevant way for you .
Superpay.me is one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; it conducts frequent surveys from different sources .
You can access various surveys in one platform , which helps you earn several dollars in a day .
The first time can be hard to maneuver due to the number of surveys and earning options .
Have patience ; do n't rush for any survey .
Get the best that fits your criteria to avoid disappointments .
The site also has paid offers , aside from paid surveys ; this is like signing up to watch videos , click on their ads , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have higher rewards , and there are regular ads and offer walls .
Some of the offer walls have paid surveys .
Ensure to check the paid offer conditions , so you know what you need and the rewards .
Superpay.me website offers the user a quarterly cash contest with prizes for up to $ 1000 .
To contest , you need to do some surveys or paid offers .
Cash contest has a set period where the website picks the first 20 people who have earned the most .
The first winner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 250 , and the third $ 100 until the number twenty gets $ 10 .
To get the chance to be active and participate in the contest , it 's free and fun .
Superpay.me website rewards users who post their payments ; they offer $ 1 for payment proof to any internet forum .
It 's easy to post your email receipt for your payment on the internet , and there you earn $ 1 .
However , the internet platform should be legit , or you will be banned .
Once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can join the WhatsApp group set by the website .
Here you will get information about the contest , promo codes , and rewards .
However , the offer is limited to the USA , UK , Canada , and Australia .
Once you join the group , your credits $ 0.25 , and other new offers from the app to help you earn more .
The site is easy to follow as they use dollars to pay for their surveys or paid offers .
You can follow on how much you have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rewards .
The site 's rewards or points can be converted as one point is equal to one cent .
They have several payment methods such as PayPal , Payza , Skrill , and Bitcoin or Amazon gifts .
I prefer my payment on PayPal as the payout method .
You can withdraw even a low amount such as $ 1 , meaning you can make more , the money is credited fast within 24 hours .
Ensure to verify all your details else you ’ ll be banned from the site .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ who answer and address your questions and issues fast – within hours .
I have worked and earn several times from the area , making it a legit site for me .
However , you should try and see what works for you .

Superpay.me is a great deal for people who require extra income. The site has numerous daily earning options, which you can enjoy when you register and get used to the website. It the best with a considerable low payout threshold of only $1 and accommodates most countries in the world. The Superpay.me is a famous paid survey and Get-paid-to GPT website with several offers for users to earn and redeem points or get gifts. The website engages everyone providing equal chances for all to participate in surveys. However, is Superpay.me a scam or a legit survey website? Can you earn it from the website?
I have an easy question, considering I have been a member of the wonderful site for several years. Go through the site's features, benefits, payouts, and support team. These reviews answer the question of Sperpay.me legitimacy. Here we offer a general Review of Superpayme , what to expect once you join, how to earn, and other significant site details.
What is Superpay.me what does it offer?
The website was established in 2012. It has a gain number over the years, and I have been a member for some years. First, the site is legit and offers the best and fast gifts/cash. I have received payments so many times for different surveys. It has a big earning platform as you can choose the best way to earn, from surveys, playing games, etc. However, it might be right for me, but a different experience for you. Let's check some of the sites earning methods to get a relevant way for you.
Paid surveys
Superpay.me is one of the sites with many online surveys; it conducts frequent surveys from different sources. You can access various surveys in one platform, which helps you earn several dollars in a day. The first time can be hard to maneuver due to the number of surveys and earning options. Have patience; don't rush for any survey. Get the best that fits your criteria to avoid disappointments.
Paid offers
The site also has paid offers, aside from paid surveys; this is like signing up to watch videos, click on their ads, or download an app. Paid offers have higher rewards, and there are regular ads and offer walls. Some of the offer walls have paid surveys. Ensure to check the paid offer conditions, so you know what you need and the rewards.
Cash contest
Superpay.me website offers the user a quarterly cash contest with prizes for up to $1000. To contest, you need to do some surveys or paid offers. Cash contest has a set period where the website picks the first 20 people who have earned the most. The first winner gets $350, the second $250, and the third $100 until the number twenty gets $10. To get the chance to be active and participate in the contest, it's free and fun.
Earning more by posting payment proof
Superpay.me website rewards users who post their payments; they offer $1 for payment proof to any internet forum. It's easy to post your email receipt for your payment on the internet, and there you earn $1. However, the internet platform should be legit, or you will be banned.
me WhatsApp
Once you join this earning hub, you can join the WhatsApp group set by the website. Here you will get information about the contest, promo codes, and rewards. However, the offer is limited to the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia. Once you join the group, your credits $0.25, and other new offers from the app to help you earn more.
How does Superpay.me pay?
The site is easy to follow as they use dollars to pay for their surveys or paid offers. You can follow on how much you have made easily compared to sites that use rewards. The site's rewards or points can be converted as one point is equal to one cent. They have several payment methods such as PayPal, Payza, Skrill, and Bitcoin or Amazon gifts. I prefer my payment on PayPal as the payout method. You can withdraw even a low amount such as $1, meaning you can make more, the money is credited fast within 24 hours. Ensure to verify all your details else you’ll be banned from the site.
The site has a supportive help desk who answer and address your questions and issues fast – within hours. I have worked and earn several times from the area, making it a legit site for me. However, you should try and see what works for you.


consciouslifenews--2020-09-27--Your Horoscope and Astrology Overview for Sep 28-Oct 04, 2020

The above video contains an astrological overview for the week of 28th September 2020 .
To get this week 's video horoscope for your specific zodiac sign , click on the link corresponding to your sign : ‘ Tis one might week , astrologically , with both Saturn and Pluto ending long retrogrades , which began on the 11th May and 25th April , respectively .
However , the big beasts of the outer zodical jungle , continue to be in conflict with the Reversing Mars , and sparks can therefore still fly or pent up frustrations can be an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eh as Mars and Saturn have battled it out since the end of July .
This week also sees the Sun in Libra in a 150 Quincunx angle with Uranus , the planet of freedom .
Anything linked to shared finance or shared values will also need care .
It may not be a clash as such more being at cross purposes .
With the Full Moon of Thursday in Aries , being conjunct Chiron , the wounded healer .
This emphasises the concept of identity .
How intact is yours ?
How @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are all going to be asking ourselves this in the following two weeks because with the Sun in the sign of relating , Libra , where we do n't feel whole , in other words in any close tie where we feel judged , or under valued or do not feel validated , a time of reckoning is reached .
With Chiron on the Moon in a Natal Chart people often give freely , but rarely get it back so this is an opportunity to realign any imbalances .
But wait , Venus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into Virgo on Saturday and this gives us all an opportunity to think about where we make sacrifices , but particularly about love , in greater detail .
Then again , with the Reversing Mercury in opposition to Uranus all week sparks of attraction or irritation are possible , just which is what makes Uranus , and Astrology so compelling and exciting .
For more information on how this will pan or your zodiac sign or to watch your zodiac sign Weekly Video forecast or join me at Free Daily , Weekly and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arundell has been a professional Astrologer since 1993 .
Patrick has a real passion for astrology and sees it as a tool which can help any person to gain greater personal awareness , to better guide their life moves .
Patrick is a member of the Astrological Association of Great Britain and his work appears on websites and in magazines and newspapers , globally .
Enjoy Patrick ’ s forecasts every day on CLN .
Learn more about Patrick http : //www.patrickarundell.com or order one of his Personal Horoscope Reports based on your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Place of Birth here https : //www.patrickarundell.com/personal-horoscope-reports/

By Patrick Arundell | PatrickArundell.com
The above video contains an astrological overview for the week of 28th September 2020.
To get this week's video horoscope for your specific zodiac sign, click on the link corresponding to your sign:
‘Tis one might week, astrologically, with both Saturn and Pluto ending long retrogrades, which began on the 11th May and 25th April, respectively. However, the big beasts of the outer zodical jungle, continue to be in conflict with the Reversing Mars, and sparks can therefore still fly or pent up frustrations can be an issue. Nothing new there then, eh as Mars and Saturn have battled it out since the end of July.
This week also sees the Sun in Libra in a 150 Quincunx angle with Uranus, the planet of freedom. Anything linked to shared finance or shared values will also need care. It may not be a clash as such more being at cross purposes.
With the Full Moon of Thursday in Aries, being conjunct Chiron, the wounded healer. This emphasises the concept of identity. How intact is yours? How intact is mine? Well, we are all going to be asking ourselves this in the following two weeks because with the Sun in the sign of relating, Libra, where we don't feel whole, in other words in any close tie where we feel judged, or under valued or do not feel validated, a time of reckoning is reached. With Chiron on the Moon in a Natal Chart people often give freely, but rarely get it back so this is an opportunity to realign any imbalances.
But wait, Venus, the planet of love, moves into Virgo on Saturday and this gives us all an opportunity to think about where we make sacrifices, but particularly about love, in greater detail. Then again, with the Reversing Mercury in opposition to Uranus all week sparks of attraction or irritation are possible, just which is what makes Uranus, and Astrology so compelling and exciting. For more information on how this will pan or your zodiac sign or to watch your zodiac sign Weekly Video forecast or join me at Free Daily, Weekly and Monthly Horoscopes
Conscious Life News Astrologer Patrick Arundell has been a professional Astrologer since 1993. Patrick has a real passion for astrology and sees it as a tool which can help any person to gain greater personal awareness, to better guide their life moves. Patrick is a member of the Astrological Association of Great Britain and his work appears on websites and in magazines and newspapers, globally. Enjoy Patrick’s forecasts every day on CLN. Learn more about Patrick http://www.patrickarundell.com or order one of his Personal Horoscope Reports based on your Time, if known, Date and Place of Birth here https://www.patrickarundell.com/personal-horoscope-reports/


consciouslifenews--2020-09-28--Spending Time Alone, 5 Practices that Benefit

What is a fundamental practice for developing higher consciousness ?
Carving out time just for you can seem daunting at times , however the benefits returned actually create the feeling of more time .
Once you begin a ‘ time for you ’ practice , the more you will desire it and the more you will benefit .
Spending time alone can come in many forms .
Running alone , sitting alone , walking in nature alone .
The keyword is : alone .
Here are some tips to make the most of your alone time .
• Incorporate Sound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something that allows you to be quiet in your mind in the midst of the run , sitting , or walking .
It can be instrumental music or specific words chosen from a trusted source .
The main point is to still your mind and allow thoughts to pass by as clouds do in the sky .
• Connect with the Earth .
Appreciate your connection with water .
It is the physical essence of you .
Develop daily practices that allow you to appreciate this connection .
Learn about and appreciate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tides and how they relate to you .
Outside be an acute observer .
Look at the shape of the clouds , a leaf , watch a bird , observe a flower and all its parts .
• Keep a journal .
Record your thoughts , impressions , questions .
I use the DayOne app and password protect it .
If it ’ s a paper style , put it away where it will not be seen .
This is your private space of exploration and for working through tough stuff .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ words can achieve .
If this feels awkward at first , remember this is another practice that gets easier over time .
• Develop a hobby that involves only you .
Think of something you have always wanted to do .
Don ’ t put it off .
Gather some tools and begin .
Set aside some time as often as possible and enjoy the process .
• Do something pleasurable or even funny alone .
Take a bubble bath .
Watch a funny movie or reread one of your favorite entertaining , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practice of alone time should not become a ‘ just another thing to do ’ practice .
Nourish and cherish you for just being you .
Your alone time should be fluid , lively and quiet at the same time .
Julia Parsell is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with an emphasis on the intersection of science and the sacred .
She writes from experiences and transformative understandings that have led her to an authentic and peaceful life .
She goes by these names : wife , grandmother , mother , daughter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and friend .
As home educator of her three children , she also developed/ran cafes , and maintained various leadership roles within her community .
Her greatest desire is to encourage others to live life fully .
Her passions are family , writing , and trail blazing .
She is happily married in Western North Carolina .
Tags : `` featured , alone time , being alone , featured , quiet time

What is a fundamental practice for developing higher consciousness? Carving out time just for you can seem daunting at times, however the benefits returned actually create the feeling of more time. Once you begin a ‘time for you’ practice, the more you will desire it and the more you will benefit.
Spending time alone can come in many forms. Running alone, sitting alone, walking in nature alone. The keyword is: alone. Here are some tips to make the most of your alone time.
Incorporate Sound. Sound makes energy tangible. choose something that allows you to be quiet in your mind in the midst of the run, sitting, or walking. It can be instrumental music or specific words chosen from a trusted source. The main point is to still your mind and allow thoughts to pass by as clouds do in the sky.
Connect with the Earth. Appreciate your connection with water. It is the physical essence of you. Develop daily practices that allow you to appreciate this connection. Learn about and appreciate the moon cycles, the seasons, the tides and how they relate to you. Outside be an acute observer. Look at the shape of the clouds, a leaf, watch a bird at different bird watching sites , observe a flower and all its parts.
Keep a journal. Record your thoughts, impressions, questions. I use the DayOne app and password protect it. If it’s a paper style, put it away where it will not be seen. This is your private space of exploration and for working through the tough stuff. It's remarkable what expressing yourself with words can achieve. If this feels awkward at first, remember this is another practice that gets easier over time.
Develop a hobby that involves only you. Think of something you have always wanted to do. Don’t put it off. Gather some tools and begin. Set aside some time as often as possible and enjoy the process.
Do something pleasurable or even funny alone. Take a bubble bath. Watch a funny movie or reread one of your favorite entertaining, uplifting books.
Be aware: This practice of alone time should not become a ‘just another thing to do’ practice. Nourish and cherish you for just being you. Your alone time should be fluid, lively and quiet at the same time.
Julia Parsell is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with an emphasis on the intersection of science and the sacred. She writes from experiences and transformative understandings that have led her to an authentic and peaceful life. She goes by these names: wife, grandmother, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend. As home educator of her three children, she also developed/ran cafes, and maintained various leadership roles within her community. Her greatest desire is to encourage others to live life fully. Her passions are family, writing, and trail blazing. She is happily married in Western North Carolina.


consciouslifenews--2020-09-28--Will I Survive? A Look At The Afterlife

Will I Survive? A Look At The Afterlife

What happens when we die ?
Human beings have asked this question probably more than any other , with “ Does God exist ?
” and “ What is the meaning of life ?
” coming in as close seconds .
All three , of course , are intertwined , but while the reality of the deity and the solution to life ’ s riddle may be grasped in the here and now , what happens when we give up the ghost seems to be something we can know only by doing just that .
It seems that the only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happens after death is by dying .
And while the attraction of that ultimate mystery is strong , the means of solving it appears , to most of us at least , somewhat less attractive .
But is it really the case that the answer to what happens after death lies beyond a threshold which , once crossed , can not be uncrossed ?
While messages from the dead fill folklore , myth , and séances , and religions around the world and through the ages have in different ways assured their devotees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of us are nevertheless not entirely certain that anything awaits us beyond the grave – except perhaps annihilation , which is , of course , the standard modern view .
In recent times , however , assurances of a continuity of consciousness beyond the brain have come , not from the camp of religion , mysticism , or the occult , but from that of their often sworn enemy , science .
In 2001 a paper appeared in the prestigious medical journal purporting to show evidence supporting the reality of Near-Death Experiences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experiences in survivors of cardiac arrest : a prospective study in the Netherlands , ” the Dutch cardiologist Pim van Lommel and his research team presented the results of a twenty-year-long study of the strange experiences reported by patients who survived heart failure .
That these patients reported being aware of during the cardiac arrest was strange enough .
The standard view is that when the heart and lungs stop so do the brain and consciousness .
What should have happened was that they experienced nothing at all .
Nevertheless , they did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the period of unconsciousness brought on by their seizure , they experienced some very remarkable things indeed .
Many recounted feelings of bliss and intense happiness ; many spoke of bright white light , of a tunnel , of seeing deceased relatives , and of going through a kind of “ life review , ” in which their entire lives , as the cliché goes , “ passed before their eyes.
” Many spoke of having an “ out-of-the-body experience , ” of seeing themselves and their nurses and doctors from some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoke of guides , angels , and spirits , come to comfort them .
Many also assured Lommel that the experience was entirely beneficial , that it relieved them of their fear of death , that it had transformed them in some way , and that it gave them the certainty that the life we know here on earth is not the only one .
Lommel ’ s paper understandably caused an uproar , yet the research was impressive .
The statistics Lommel and his team provided seem to show that the usual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – from the mainstream scientific view – did not , at least in these cases , work .
Lommel studied some 562 survivors of cardiac arrest and he discovered that up to 18 % of them reported having had an NDE .
Of these , none could be chalked up to oxygen deficiency to the brain , the effects of drugs , or the other physiological or psychological reasons usually offered as a way of explaining the phenomenon .
Lommel and his team concluded the NDE was an actual , objective event and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of ‘ post-death ’ survival .
Perhaps even more controversial , the findings also seemed to offer proof that consciousness can exist outside or even the brain .
While most mainstream scientists will merely snort at the idea of an afterlife , they will positively bellow at the suggestion consciousness is anything more than a by-product of that three-pound mass of grey matter .
According to a number of prestigious neuroscientists and philosophers of mind – I talk about some of them in my book – consciousness is absolutely , positively , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lommel was unrepentant and in 2007 he produced a book , [ available from , see page 79 ] , based on his paper , presenting his case studies in greater depth and bringing his research to a wider public .
The results were encouraging .
The book was a bestseller in the Netherlands , then repeated its success in Germany , the UK , and the US .
Lommel has presented his ideas in interviews and videos and on television .
Lommel ’ s work has , of course , attracted criticism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and for the open-minded provide the kind of ‘ hard ’ evidence that scientists dismissive of any non-materialist accounts of consciousness demand , in order for them to consider changing their minds in any way about the matter .
Lommel was not the only medical practitioner to take NDEs seriously and to subject them to study .
Even more controversial than Lommel ’ s findings was the account by the American neurosurgeon Eben Alexander of his own NDE .
Alexander had twenty-five years ’ experience studying the brain and teaching others how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Harvard Medical School .
Like most of his colleagues , he accepted the dogma that the brain produces consciousness .
Then , in 2008 , a bacterial infection – a rare form of meningitis – had him in a coma for a week and taught him otherwise .
His chances of recovery were slim at best , and his family was advised that if he did survive , he would be little more than a vegetable : the infection had caused irreparable brain damage .
Yet on the seventh day under a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came to .
This was a miracle enough .
But the story Alexander had to tell was even more remarkable .
The white light was there , and also beautiful melodies , angelic choirs , fantastic landscapes with strange plant life , waterfalls , crystal pools , and thousands of beings , dancing , and a girl who came to him on a butterfly wing .
During the week of his coma , when his brain shouldn ’ t have produced the slightest hallucination – should have produced no consciousness at all – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher realms ” and eventually to what he calls the “ Core , ” a center of reality “ filled with the infinite healing power of the all-loving deity , ” the source of everything .
He was privy to fundamental realities , for which “ God seemed too puny a little human word.
” He speaks of experiencing a “ higher dimensional multiverse ” and an “ over sphere ” and that his notions of time , space , and everything else were radically changed .
During his coma he underwent a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he calls the “ Earthworm ’ s Eye View ” to the Core , many times , learning truths about the nature of existence and our part in it .
One truth was about the reality of the afterlife , knowledge of which Alexander has tried to pass on to his many readers in his bestselling books and .
Like Pim van Lommel , Alexander came to believe that human beings are much more than their physical bodies and consciousness is something more than a by-product of the brain .
They disagree with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the brain produces consciousness as the liver does bile .
Consciousness , they argue , is not localized in or produced by the brain because consciousness itself is the ultimate reality , not the physical world – an insight echoed down the ages by mystics and visionaries , but which in recent times it seems some scientists are cottoning on to as well .
They see it as a way out of the reached by trying to solve the ‘ hard problem ’ in mainstream neuroscience : how does a neuron , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mental one ?
The answer is it doesn ’ t .
It ’ s the other way around .
Whatever we might think of Alexander ’ s account of the afterlife and his ideas about mankind ’ s spiritual evolution – he has since become a popular advocate of the union of science and spirituality with appearances on ‘ Oprah Winfrey ’ and other talk shows – the notion of a non-local consciousness has a history .
What was remarkable about the cases Lommel studied and Alexander ’ s own , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experience during a time when the brains involved should have been incapable of ‘ producing ’ anything .
If brains ‘ produce ’ consciousness , this should have been impossible , rather like a flashlight shining without the battery .
Some studies done in the 1960s suggest consciousness may not need many brains at all .
In 1965 John Lorber , a specialist in hydrocephalus – “ water on the brain ” – published a paper as remarkable as Lommel ’ s .
In “ Hydranencephaly with Normal Development , ” published in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case studies in which people with little or no cerebral cortex functioned normally .
In one case the subject had an IQ of 126 and an honors degree in mathematics .
Two girls born in the 1960s had fluid where their cerebrums should have been , with no evidence of cerebral cortex , yet both had perfectly normal intelligence .
Unlike ‘ The Wizard of Oz ’ s Scarecrow , they , and the other cases Lorber studied seemed to get on perfectly well without a brain .
Such cases , though well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but we need not resort to these extremes to argue the brain does not ‘ produce ’ consciousness .
In the late nineteenth century the philosopher Henri Bergson argued eloquently that , rather than produce consciousness , the brain served an function , acting as a reducing valve , reality , and allowing only what was necessary for survival to reach conscious awareness .
Rather than produce consciousness , the brain it down to something manageable , otherwise , we would be overwhelmed by reality ’ s complexity , a condition common @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Bergson ’ s idea when , in , he tried to account for the effects of the drug mescaline on his consciousness .
The mystical effects of the drug , Huxley believed , were due to its ‘ opening ’ the filters of the brain , allowing more consciousness than needed for mere survival to flood into awareness .
The fact that in the cases Lommel studied and in Alexander ’ s own , the brain was out of commission , seems to support the Bergson/Huxley thesis .
With the filters off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Huxley called “ Mind at Large ” – became available .
If the brain “ mutes ” reality , allowing , as Huxley said , only a “ thin trickle ” to enter consciousness , in the NDE the taps seem to be on full blast .
The analogy is apt as our kitchen taps do not ‘ produce ’ the water in our sinks , but quite the opposite , they .
It ’ s already there in the pipes .
Some variant of Bergson ’ s idea is popular among ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biologist Rupert Sheldrake who speaks of the brain acting as a kind of “ tuner , ” “ selecting ” different “ wavelengths ” of reality , rather as radio works by cutting out all transmissions except the one you wish to hear , or as television that picks up a broadcast but is not responsible for it .
Neither my radio nor my television ‘ produces ’ the programs they play .
They ‘ receive ’ them from the broadcaster , and Sheldrake and other scientists and philosophers like him , see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TV , picking out different ‘ channels ’ , broadcast by – well , we ’ re not quite sure .
The general idea is that consciousness is the fundamental reality ; rather than being stuffed into the cramp confines of our skulls , it pervades the universe .
This is the “ panpsychism ” that philosopher David Chalmers advocates , following in the philosophical footsteps of Bergson and his contemporary Alfred North Whitehead , who , in different ways , envisioned some version of Mind at Large .
Needless to say – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as an all-pervasive consciousness or mind is , of course , a staple part of many pre-modern worldviews .
Another who accepted the idea of Mind at Large was , oddly enough , an early investigator into NDEs , although in his aptly posthumous Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death ( 1903 ) , the first “ scientific ” study of the afterlife , F.W.H .
Myers did not call them that .
Myers spoke of the “ subliminal mind , ” by which he meant something different than Freud ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ coinage preceded by some years .
It was Huxley who in his foreword to Myers ’ classic compared his “ subliminal mind ” to an “ upstairs ” in the “ house of the soul , ” rather than Freud ’ s “ garbage-littered basement.
” This upstairs had some unusual characteristics and in the late nineteenth century , Myers and his fellows in the Society for Psychical Research devoted their lives to studying them .
Take , for example , the remarkable experience of Dr. A. S. Wiltse who in 1889 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wiltse was pronounced dead but found himself “ waking up ” inside his body , and gradually being “ released ” from it .
He felt himself emerge from his body and found that he could walk away from it .
No one noticed him and , stranger still , he found that he could walk people .
Wiltse then found himself confronting huge rocks standing beneath storm clouds .
A voice told him that if he continued past them he would enter eternity but if desired he could return to life , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He then “ woke up , ” four hours after being pronounced dead , and told of what he saw .
Myers ’ account of Dr. Wiltse ’ s experience was preceded by an even earlier one .
In 1871 Albert Heim , a professor of geology , fell some seventy meters while climbing in the Alps .
During the few seconds of his fall , Heim experienced a panoramic “ life review , ” seeing his whole past “ take place in many images , as though on a stage at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have experienced an NDE , he saw a “ heavenly light ” and was free from fear and anxiety .
The conflict was “ transmuted into love ” and he found himself moving “ painlessly and softly ” into “ splendid blue heaven.
” Heim survived his fall but the experience so moved him that he began to collect accounts of similar experiences by other climbers .
Forgotten for years , Heim ’ s work was re-discovered when what we might call the “ NDE and afterlife boom ” of the 1970s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Elizabeth Kübler-Ross , Raymond Moody , Kenneth Ring , and others , brought it back to light .
Another fairly well-known account of an NDE is that of C. G. Jung , who , in 1944 , following a heart attack , found himself orbiting the earth and confronting a strange temple and Hindu floating in space .
Jung was about to cross the threshold like Dr. Wiltse when he found himself whisked back to earth , disappointed at the prospect of coming back to life .
Do Lommel and Alexander bring anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and medical credentials certainly bring new attention to it , although to be sure , not all of it is positive , and the claims and expertise of both have come under heavy scrutiny and criticism .
But part of what makes them and other studies convincing – at least to the open-minded – is the similarity between the accounts they study and older reports on what happens when we die .
As Ptolemy Tompkins in The Modern Book of the Dead makes clear , there is much overlap between accounts of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to speak of only the two most famous earlier reports on the beyond .
And these two share much with recent investigations , such as the insights about the “ life between death and rebirth ” gleaned by the “ spiritual scientist ” Rudolf Steiner through his access to the “ Akashic Record.
” For instance , Steiner too makes the “ life review ” a central part of the process of dying , in preparation for reincarnation .
But , as Tompkins makes clear , there are also differences .
The Swedish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who wrote much about the brain , journeyed to heaven , hell , and also to an intermediary realm he called the “ spirit world , ” not through an NDE but through inducing visionary states .
He gave his own “ proof ” of the higher spheres in his book , yet his account is somewhat different from Eben Alexander ’ s , while both Swedenborg ’ s and Alexander ’ s differ considerably from Steiner ’ s .
Enough similarities exist among these accounts to suggest that in some way they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the same inner landscape .
And if the ‘ proofs ’ of heaven we have glanced at here are at all reliable , it is one that , at some point , we all will have an opportunity to journey through , in this life and the next .
Gary Lachman was born in Bayonne , New Jersey , but has lived in London , England since 1996 .
A founding member of the rock group Blondie , he is now a full-time writer with more than a dozen books to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evolution of consciousness and the western esoteric tradition , to literature and suicide , and the history of popular culture .
Lachman writes frequently for many journals in the US and UK , and lectures on his work in the US , UK , and Europe .
His work has been translated into several languages .
His website is www.garylachman.co.uk .
Tags : `` featured , afterlife proof , does the afterlife exist , featured , life after death , near-death experiences , out-of-the-body experience , proof of afterlife , thoughts on life @ @

By Gary Lachman | New Dawn | Waking Times
What happens when we die? Human beings have asked this question probably more than any other, with “Does God exist?” and “What is the meaning of life?” coming in as close seconds. All three, of course, are intertwined, but while the reality of the deity and the solution to life’s riddle may be grasped in the here and now, what happens when we give up the ghost seems to be something we can know only by doing just that. It seems that the only way we can know for certain what happens after death is by dying. And while the attraction of that ultimate mystery is strong, the means of solving it appears, to most of us at least, somewhat less attractive.
But is it really the case that the answer to what happens after death lies beyond a threshold which, once crossed, cannot be uncrossed? While messages from the dead fill folklore, myth, and séances, and religions around the world and through the ages have in different ways assured their devotees of the reality of an afterlife, many of us are nevertheless not entirely certain that anything awaits us beyond the grave – except perhaps annihilation, which is, of course, the standard modern view. In recent times, however, assurances of a continuity of consciousness beyond the brain have come, not from the camp of religion, mysticism, or the occult, but from that of their often sworn enemy, science.
In 2001 a paper appeared in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet purporting to show evidence supporting the reality of Near-Death Experiences, or NDEs. In “Near-death experiences in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands,” the Dutch cardiologist Pim van Lommel and his research team presented the results of a twenty-year-long study of the strange experiences reported by patients who survived heart failure. That these patients reported being aware of anything during the cardiac arrest was strange enough. The standard view is that when the heart and lungs stop so do the brain and consciousness. What should have happened was that they experienced nothing at all. Nevertheless, they did.
The patients Lommel studied reported that during the period of unconsciousness brought on by their seizure, they experienced some very remarkable things indeed. Many recounted feelings of bliss and intense happiness; many spoke of bright white light, of a tunnel, of seeing deceased relatives, and of going through a kind of “life review,” in which their entire lives, as the cliché goes, “passed before their eyes.” Many spoke of having an “out-of-the-body experience,” of seeing themselves and their nurses and doctors from some vantage point near the ceiling. Many spoke of guides, angels, and spirits, come to comfort them. Many also assured Lommel that the experience was entirely beneficial, that it relieved them of their fear of death, that it had transformed them in some way, and that it gave them the certainty that the life we know here on earth is not the only one.
Lommel’s Lancet paper understandably caused an uproar, yet the research was impressive. The statistics Lommel and his team provided seem to show that the usual explanations are given to account for NDEs – from the mainstream scientific view – did not, at least in these cases, work. Lommel studied some 562 survivors of cardiac arrest and he discovered that up to 18% of them reported having had an NDE. Of these, none could be chalked up to oxygen deficiency to the brain, the effects of drugs, or the other physiological or psychological reasons usually offered as a way of explaining the phenomenon. Lommel and his team concluded the NDE was an actual, objective event and that it argued in favor of some kind of ‘post-death’ survival.
Perhaps even more controversial, the findings also seemed to offer proof that consciousness can exist outside or even without the brain. While most mainstream scientists will merely snort at the idea of an afterlife, they will positively bellow at the suggestion consciousness is anything more than a by-product of that three-pound mass of grey matter. According to a number of prestigious neuroscientists and philosophers of mind – I talk about some of them in my book A Secret History of Consciousness – consciousness is absolutely, positively, 100% produced by the brain.
Lommel was unrepentant and in 2007 he produced a book, Consciousness Beyond Life [available from New Dawn, see page 79], based on his paper, presenting his case studies in greater depth and bringing his research to a wider public. The results were encouraging. The book was a bestseller in the Netherlands, then repeated its success in Germany, the UK, and the US. Lommel has presented his ideas in interviews and videos and on television. Lommel’s work has, of course, attracted criticism. Yet his findings seem to stand and for the open-minded provide the kind of ‘hard’ evidence that scientists dismissive of any non-materialist accounts of consciousness demand, in order for them to consider changing their minds in any way about the matter.
A Neurosurgeon Visits “Heaven”
Lommel was not the only medical practitioner to take NDEs seriously and to subject them to study. Even more controversial than Lommel’s findings was the account by the American neurosurgeon Eben Alexander of his own NDE. Alexander had twenty-five years’ experience studying the brain and teaching others how to study it, at institutions such as the Harvard Medical School. Like most of his colleagues, he accepted the dogma that the brain produces consciousness. Then, in 2008, a bacterial infection – a rare form of meningitis – had him in a coma for a week and taught him otherwise. His chances of recovery were slim at best, and his family was advised that if he did survive, he would be little more than a vegetable: the infection had caused irreparable brain damage. Yet on the seventh day under a ventilator, Alexander opened his eyes and came to. This was a miracle enough. But the story Alexander had to tell was even more remarkable.
The white light was there, and also beautiful melodies, angelic choirs, fantastic landscapes with strange plant life, waterfalls, crystal pools, and thousands of beings, dancing, and a girl who came to him on a butterfly wing. During the week of his coma, when his brain shouldn’t have produced the slightest hallucination – should have produced no consciousness at all – Alexander went on a journey to “higher realms” and eventually to what he calls the “Core,” a center of reality “filled with the infinite healing power of the all-loving deity,” the source of everything. He was privy to fundamental realities, for which “God seemed too puny a little human word.” He speaks of experiencing a “higher dimensional multiverse” and an “over sphere” and that his notions of time, space, and everything else were radically changed. During his coma he underwent a kind of spiritual evolution, from what he calls the “Earthworm’s Eye View” to the Core, many times, learning truths about the nature of existence and our part in it. One truth was about the reality of the afterlife, knowledge of which Alexander has tried to pass on to his many readers in his bestselling books Proof of Heaven and Maps of Heaven.
Like Pim van Lommel, Alexander came to believe that human beings are much more than their physical bodies and consciousness is something more than a by-product of the brain. They disagree with the philosopher John Searle who argues that the brain produces consciousness as the liver does bile. Consciousness, they argue, is not localized in or produced by the brain because consciousness itself is the ultimate reality, not the physical world – an insight echoed down the ages by mystics and visionaries, but which in recent times it seems some scientists are cottoning on to as well. They see it as a way out of the cul-de-sac reached by trying to solve the ‘hard problem’ in mainstream neuroscience: how does a neuron, a physical phenomenon, become a thought, a mental one? The answer is it doesn’t. It’s the other way around.
Filtering Reality
Whatever we might think of Alexander’s account of the afterlife and his ideas about mankind’s spiritual evolution – he has since become a popular advocate of the union of science and spirituality with appearances on ‘Oprah Winfrey’ and other talk shows – the notion of a non-local consciousness has a history. What was remarkable about the cases Lommel studied and Alexander’s own, was that they reported vivid inner, transformative experience during a time when the brains involved should have been incapable of ‘producing’ anything. If brains ‘produce’ consciousness, this should have been impossible, rather like a flashlight shining without the battery. Some studies done in the 1960s suggest consciousness may not need many brains at all. In 1965 John Lorber, a specialist in hydrocephalus – “water on the brain” – published a paper as remarkable as Lommel’s. In “Hydranencephaly with Normal Development,” published in Developmental Medicine and Child Psychology for December 1965, Lorber presented several case studies in which people with little or no cerebral cortex functioned normally. In one case the subject had an IQ of 126 and an honors degree in mathematics. Two girls born in the 1960s had fluid where their cerebrums should have been, with no evidence of cerebral cortex, yet both had perfectly normal intelligence. Unlike ‘The Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow, they, and the other cases Lorber studied seemed to get on perfectly well without a brain.
Such cases, though well documented, may push the believability barrier, but we need not resort to these extremes to argue the brain does not ‘produce’ consciousness. In the late nineteenth century the philosopher Henri Bergson argued eloquently that, rather than produce consciousness, the brain served an eliminatory function, acting as a reducing valve, filtering reality, and allowing only what was necessary for survival to reach conscious awareness. Rather than produce consciousness, the brain edits it down to something manageable, otherwise, we would be overwhelmed by reality’s complexity, a condition common to many mystics. Aldous Huxley resorted to Bergson’s idea when, in The Doors of Perception, he tried to account for the effects of the drug mescaline on his consciousness. The mystical effects of the drug, Huxley believed, were due to its ‘opening’ the filters of the brain, allowing more consciousness than needed for mere survival to flood into awareness. The fact that in the cases Lommel studied and in Alexander’s own, the brain was out of commission, seems to support the Bergson/Huxley thesis. With the filters off, much more of Reality – what Huxley called “Mind at Large” – became available. If the brain “mutes” reality, allowing, as Huxley said, only a “thin trickle” to enter consciousness, in the NDE the taps seem to be on full blast. The analogy is apt as our kitchen taps do not ‘produce’ the water in our sinks, but quite the opposite, they stop it from running. It’s already there in the pipes.
Some variant of Bergson’s idea is popular among ‘alternative’ scientists, such as the biologist Rupert Sheldrake who speaks of the brain acting as a kind of “tuner,” “selecting” different “wavelengths” of reality, rather as radio works by cutting out all transmissions except the one you wish to hear, or as television that picks up a broadcast but is not responsible for it. Neither my radio nor my television ‘produces’ the programs they play. They ‘receive’ them from the broadcaster, and Sheldrake and other scientists and philosophers like him, see the brain as a kind of inner TV, picking out different ‘channels’, broadcast by – well, we’re not quite sure. The general idea is that consciousness is the fundamental reality; rather than being stuffed into the cramp confines of our skulls, it pervades the universe. This is the “panpsychism” that philosopher David Chalmers advocates, following in the philosophical footsteps of Bergson and his contemporary Alfred North Whitehead, who, in different ways, envisioned some version of Mind at Large. Needless to say – or perhaps not – such an idea as an all-pervasive consciousness or mind is, of course, a staple part of many pre-modern worldviews.
Another who accepted the idea of Mind at Large was, oddly enough, an early investigator into NDEs, although in his aptly posthumous Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (1903), the first “scientific” study of the afterlife, F.W.H. Myers did not call them that. Myers spoke of the “subliminal mind,” by which he meant something different than Freud’s “unconscious,” which Myers’ coinage preceded by some years. It was Huxley who in his foreword to Myers’ classic compared his “subliminal mind” to an “upstairs” in the “house of the soul,” rather than Freud’s “garbage-littered basement.” This upstairs had some unusual characteristics and in the late nineteenth century, Myers and his fellows in the Society for Psychical Research devoted their lives to studying them. Take, for example, the remarkable experience of Dr. A. S. Wiltse who in 1889 “died” from typhoid fever. Wiltse was pronounced dead but found himself “waking up” inside his body, and gradually being “released” from it. He felt himself emerge from his body and found that he could walk away from it. No one noticed him and, stranger still, he found that he could walk through people. Wiltse then found himself confronting huge rocks standing beneath storm clouds. A voice told him that if he continued past them he would enter eternity but if desired he could return to life, a common choice in many modern NDEs. He then “woke up,” four hours after being pronounced dead, and told of what he saw.
Myers’ account of Dr. Wiltse’s experience was preceded by an even earlier one. In 1871 Albert Heim, a professor of geology, fell some seventy meters while climbing in the Alps. During the few seconds of his fall, Heim experienced a panoramic “life review,” seeing his whole past “take place in many images, as though on a stage at some distance from me.” Like many who have experienced an NDE, he saw a “heavenly light” and was free from fear and anxiety. The conflict was “transmuted into love” and he found himself moving “painlessly and softly” into “splendid blue heaven.” Heim survived his fall but the experience so moved him that he began to collect accounts of similar experiences by other climbers. Forgotten for years, Heim’s work was re-discovered when what we might call the “NDE and afterlife boom” of the 1970s and 80s, in the work of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, Raymond Moody, Kenneth Ring, and others, brought it back to light. Another fairly well-known account of an NDE is that of C. G. Jung, who, in 1944, following a heart attack, found himself orbiting the earth and confronting a strange temple and Hindu floating in space. Jung was about to cross the threshold like Dr. Wiltse when he found himself whisked back to earth, disappointed at the prospect of coming back to life.
Do Lommel and Alexander bring anything new to this study? Their scientific and medical credentials certainly bring new attention to it, although to be sure, not all of it is positive, and the claims and expertise of both have come under heavy scrutiny and criticism. But part of what makes them and other studies convincing – at least to the open-minded – is the similarity between the accounts they study and older reports on what happens when we die. As Ptolemy Tompkins in The Modern Book of the Dead makes clear, there is much overlap between accounts of the afterlife found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Tibetan Book of the Dead, to speak of only the two most famous earlier reports on the beyond. And these two share much with recent investigations, such as the insights about the “life between death and rebirth” gleaned by the “spiritual scientist” Rudolf Steiner through his access to the “Akashic Record.” For instance, Steiner too makes the “life review” a central part of the process of dying, in preparation for reincarnation.
But, as Tompkins makes clear, there are also differences. The Swedish scientist and religious philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, who wrote much about the brain, journeyed to heaven, hell, and also to an intermediary realm he called the “spirit world,” not through an NDE but through inducing visionary states. He gave his own “proof” of the higher spheres in his book Heaven and Hell, yet his account is somewhat different from Eben Alexander’s, while both Swedenborg’s and Alexander’s differ considerably from Steiner’s.
Enough similarities exist among these accounts to suggest that in some way they and other voyagers were encountering different parts of the same inner landscape. And if the ‘proofs’ of heaven we have glanced at here are at all reliable, it is one that, at some point, we all will have an opportunity to journey through, in this life and the next.
About the Author
Gary Lachman was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, but has lived in London, England since 1996. A founding member of the rock group Blondie, he is now a full-time writer with more than a dozen books to his name, on topics ranging from the evolution of consciousness and the western esoteric tradition, to literature and suicide, and the history of popular culture. Lachman writes frequently for many journals in the US and UK, and lectures on his work in the US, UK, and Europe. His work has been translated into several languages. His website is www.garylachman.co.uk.