Descartes Rules for True Conclusions‏

In the Discourse, Descartes described four rules he established to make sure he always came to true conclusions.

1. Doubt everything. “The first was never to accept anything as true if I did not know clearly that it was so … and to include nothing in my judgments apart from whatever appeared so clearly and distinctly to my mind that I had no opportunity to cast doubt on it.”
2. Break every problem down into smaller parts.
3. Solve the simplest problems first, and build from there.
4. Be thorough. “The final rule was: In all cases, to make such comprehensive enumerations and such general reviews that I was certain not to omit anything.”
   

By following these simple guidelines, he said, “There cannot be anything so remote that it cannot eventually be reached nor anything so hidden that it cannot be uncovered.” More.

In my experience, and in my opinion, item 4 is the rule most often violated. Many self-proclaimed skeptics do a great job of rules 1-3, but completely miss number 4 resulting in unwarranted assumptions leading to irrational conclusions. Prime examples are Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hutchins.

Smart guys, yes, but not thorough in their research.

Is Morality an Innate Human Trait?

According to Dr. Paul Bloom, a psychology professor at Yale University, "A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life."

In a research study, Bloom designed a set of experiments to test baby morality. The result? According to Bloom, "Babies possess certain moral foundations — the capacity and willingness to judge the actions of others, some sense of justice, gut responses to altruism and nastiness."

While Bloom is quick to state the research does not imply divine intervention, it certainly challenges the mainstream position that children are moral blank slates upon which anything can be written.

Proof for Life After Death?

I've been skeptical for decades about the experiences near death survivors report for life after death. It's not that I don't believe in life after death - I do - but, I've hesitated to accept NDE's (near death experiences) as evidence for it. However, my skepticism is waning as the evidence weights in favor of NDEs as proof that consciousness survives after death.

In addition to the research conducted by pioneer Dr. Raymond Moody, cardiologist Dr. Pim van Lommel has written a book (June 8 release date) that provides compelling evidence on the survival of consciousness after physical death which can not be explained by mainstream models of the brain and its neurochemistry.

Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience

Van Lommel's book is based on research published by Van Lommel and other researchers in The Lancet; 2001; 358: 2039-45. a leading medical journal:

Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands

The fact that Van Lommel and his research team are cardiologists make them worthy of our attention. Apparently, their research attracted the attention of other doctors. In an interview with IANDS' Vice-President Dr. Jeffrey Long, Dr van Lommel said he , "received more than 265 e-mails in just four weeks, including a lot from physicians who wrote to me about their own NDEs!"

One of these doctors is Pam Kircher who was Chief of Family Medicine at Memorial Southwest Hospital in Houston, Texas. She experienced an NDE as a child. In her comments on Van Lommel's research, she encourages people to share Von Lommel's study with their family doctors.

Dr. Van Lommel offers additional information concerning the study in his reply to skeptic Michael Shermer:

Moreover, in his book Life After Death The Evidence, Dinesh D'Souza, Stanford scholar and Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University offers a case study and documents evidence from science, history, philosophy and psychology that shows it is more reasonable to believe that consciousness survives the body after death than not. Here's a video interview with D'Souza by Fox News.

As the evidence mounts, skeptics in life after death will be hard pressed to rationally maintain their position and all of us can be comforted that our loved ones who have passed on on still survive.