Anyone who has had near death or taken recreational drugs can see this.
There are innumerable people that have taken recreational drugs (I assume you are referring specifically to psychedelics) and have not come away with the conviction that we are a "soul trapped in a body".
There are also many that have had "near death experiences" and "out of body experiences" that have not come to this conclusion either. An example that comes to mind is consciousness researcher Susan Blackmore.
She had an out of body experience that propelled her into consciousness research. She has also been participating in zen meditation for decades and has admittedly had countless experiences that would go by the term "spiritual" in other circles. Yet, through her research, she has come to reject anything beyond reductive materialism. She is a firm and hardcore positivist, even agreeing with Daniel Dennett in his position that consciousness doesn't actually exist.
I also consider myself a reductive materialist. There is tangible, scientific explanation for these spiritual occurences. It's just that science can't explain it at present. Not really prepared to purchase a book can you explain how someone can have an out of body experience and still imply that you are only your body?
Not sure how old this is but http://www.near-deat.../experts09.html
"Susan Blackmore has recently confessed that her prior conclusions about the probability of psi and metaphysical consciousness existing being close to none, were not as conclusive as she thought and that she was NOT justified in ruling out psi after all. Therefore, she has taken an honest "don't know" stance and left the issue at that.
"We are ignorant of the beyond because this ignorance is the condition of our own life. Just as ice cannot know fire except by melting and vanishing." - Jules Renard
No-one knows for sure, it can't be "scientifically" verified. (yet).
Edited by oneshot2shots, 29 June 2014 - 10:26 PM.
