Maybe real: AND not?

Debates about whether reincarnation occurs, or not, often feature discussions about someone's alleged past-life memories. Sometimes these are easy to laugh off, like the Nth person who "remembers" being Napoleon (Julius Casear, Cleopatra, Jesus Christ, take your pick).

But sometimes we see evidence of someone who apparently DOES remember specific details about an identifiable deceased person: details that he or she could not have learned about via any known normal sensory means.

Yet the fast majority of us don't seem to have any such memories.

Why don't we regard this as evidence, not that we reincarnate or that we don't, but that some of us do, but most of us don't?

Left Behind wrote:Debates about whether reincarnation occurs, or not, often feature discussions about someone's alleged past-life memories. Sometimes these are easy to laugh off, like the Nth person who "remembers" being Napoleon (Julius Casear, Cleopatra, Jesus Christ, take your pick).

But sometimes we see evidence of someone who apparently DOES remember specific details about an identifiable deceased person: details that he or she could not have learned about via any known normal sensory means.

Yet the fast majority of us don't seem to have any such memories.

Why don't we regard this as evidence, not that we reincarnate or that we don't, but that some of us do, but most of us don't?

Assuming the phenomenon is genuine - and I've read some accounts that would be hard to dismiss, I guess it could be evidence of reincarnation. It could also be evidence of overshadowing by a spirit and the person not realising that the memories they are experiencing are not their own. I guess it could also be access to some other source of the same information.

obiwan wrote:

Left Behind wrote:Debates about whether reincarnation occurs, or not, often feature discussions about someone's alleged past-life memories. Sometimes these are easy to laugh off, like the Nth person who "remembers" being Napoleon (Julius Casear, Cleopatra, Jesus Christ, take your pick).

But sometimes we see evidence of someone who apparently DOES remember specific details about an identifiable deceased person: details that he or she could not have learned about via any known normal sensory means.

Yet the fast majority of us don't seem to have any such memories.

Why don't we regard this as evidence, not that we reincarnate or that we don't, but that some of us do, but most of us don't?

Assuming the phenomenon is genuine - and I've read some accounts that would be hard to dismiss, I guess it could be evidence of reincarnation. It could also be evidence of overshadowing by a spirit and the person not realising that the memories they are experiencing are not their own. I guess it could also be access to some other source of the same information.

Overshadowing by another spirit is a real possibility and could well be the explanation for at least some instances of alleged past-life memories.

I suspect a lot of vague alleged memories are merely data which we've assimilated in our present life. We live in a visually rich culture. Look at the motion pictures and television shows most of us have assimilated into our consciousness.

As we become immersed in these characters, do we not become every person of every era and walk of life we see on the screen? Is this not, perhaps, what comes forward in many cases of past-life hypnotic regression?

Left Behind wrote:

obiwan wrote:

Left Behind wrote:Debates about whether reincarnation occurs, or not, often feature discussions about someone's alleged past-life memories. Sometimes these are easy to laugh off, like the Nth person who "remembers" being Napoleon (Julius Casear, Cleopatra, Jesus Christ, take your pick).

But sometimes we see evidence of someone who apparently DOES remember specific details about an identifiable deceased person: details that he or she could not have learned about via any known normal sensory means.

Yet the fast majority of us don't seem to have any such memories.

Why don't we regard this as evidence, not that we reincarnate or that we don't, but that some of us do, but most of us don't?

Assuming the phenomenon is genuine - and I've read some accounts that would be hard to dismiss, I guess it could be evidence of reincarnation. It could also be evidence of overshadowing by a spirit and the person not realising that the memories they are experiencing are not their own. I guess it could also be access to some other source of the same information.

Overshadowing by another spirit is a real possibility and could well be the explanation for at least some instances of alleged past-life memories.

I suspect a lot of vague alleged memories are merely data which we've assimilated in our present life. We live in a visually rich culture. Look at the motion pictures and television shows most of us have assimilated into our consciousness.

As we become immersed in these characters, do we not become every person of every era and walk of life we see on the screen? Is this not, perhaps, what comes forward in many cases of past-life hypnotic regression?

You may be right. I guess it depends on any veridical elements that are either unknown or hard to find.