Interesting Pattern in Recalled Lives

[Recusant]

This item could have gone in the Science board but I thought Miscellaneous could use a break from links to diatribes about a malignant deity. 

It's fairly likely that we recently lost a valued long-time member of this site. Not to a squabble or to disinterest in the site, but to a more irrevocable event. I always admired his willingness to address even knuckleheads in a way that acknowledged their humanity. He lived a long and eventful life and was still active and had his wits about him. Boarding up his house with plywood before a hurricane at the age of 94? We should all be so durable!

I'm not sure why this story brought him to mind but it did.

"Surprising Pattern Emerges in Reincarnation Reports" | UVA Health

An analysis of more than 1,600 purported cases of purported reincarnation has revealed a striking correlation: The time between death and "rebirth" was shorter on average when records indicated that the prior person had died unexpectedly.

Further, the correlation was strongest among families that did not believe in reincarnation, defying researchers' expectations.

"There had been an earlier published report suggesting a relationship between violent death and a shorter time between death and birth," said lead author Saeedeh Sadeghi, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine's Division of Perceptual Studies. "We wanted to test that relationship more systematically and see whether it could be explained by cultural or psychological influences. To our surprise, the relationship was still there when we tested it in a much larger number of cases, and the social and psychological factors we examined did not explain it away."

For their analysis, the researchers examined 1,678 of the strongest reincarnation reports the Division of Perceptual Studies has collected over the decades. In these cases, UVA researchers have been able to match purported recollections of a previous life – usually from a child – to the experiences of a specific deceased person.

The researchers looked at variables including whether the death was natural, such as from illness or old age, or unnatural, such as from an accident, intentional violence or suicide. They also looked at age at death and how expected or unexpected the death was.

The scientists found that the median intermission between death and purported rebirth was 16 months. But there was a robust association between unexpected deaths and speedier intermissions, the researchers report. The most unexpected cases averaged a 40% decrease in turnaround time.

"This is the largest systematic study to date of temporal patterns in reported past-life memories. Individual cases can leave room for different interpretations, but patterns across many cases are much harder to explain as exaggeration, fantasy or fabrication," Sadeghi said.

[Continues . . .]

I found a preprint version of the paper in a hosted PDF form (will take some fiddling with the PDF controls to read):

"A Large-Scale Analysis of Temporal Patterns in Children's Purported Past-Life Memories: Shorter Intervals Following Unexpected Deaths" | OSF

Cases of the Reincarnation Type (CORT) involve individuals—typically young children—who report memories they claim are from previous lives. One recurring observation is the apparent "intermission time" between the death of the putatively identified previous person and the child's birth. However, systematic large-scale analyses of related factors remain limited.

The present study analyzed 1,678 cases with an ostensibly identified past person, to test whether intermission time correlates with death characteristics and whether any observed association persists after accounting for variables likely to facilitate bias. Death unexpectedness and naturalness were both significantly associated with intermission time (both p < .001), with median intervals decreasing from approximately 21 months at the lowest level of death unexpectedness to 12 months at the highest level—representing about a 40–45% reduction.

The unexpectedness of death remained the strongest unique predictor in multiple regression. The association persisted across five moderation analyses examining verification quality, memory contamination, family association, social status motivation, and reincarnation belief. Notably, the effect was stronger among families without reincarnation beliefs, opposite to what a cultural construction hypothesis would predict.

Although the data are observational and subject to potential selection biases, our findings replicate and extend prior reports, suggesting that temporal patterns in CORT cases may reflect a systematic phenomenon not readily accounted for by existing psychosocial frameworks. Further research using contemporary cases is needed to clarify underlying mechanisms and theoretical implications.

[iriss7480]

Recusant:  I don't appreciate your denigrating remarks about me posting links or "diatribes about god" as you call it.  You yourself posted a link in your post, so it seems hypocritical of you to say that.  Another reason I post links in my posts is because I had difficulty posting pictures when I try to write directly in the posts.  So before you post or make callous remarks betraying your assumptions about someone else's post, try to think about the other's situation and what s/he might be going through!  Also, my essays aren't "diatribes about god" - has it occurred to you that I could be going through a lot of suffering and pain going through deconstruction and asshole atheists' remarks like yours don't help?!  Ugh!

[Recusant]

Recusant:  I don't appreciate your denigrating remarks about me posting links or "diatribes about god" as you call it.  You yourself posted a link in your post, so it seems hypocritical of you to say that.  Another reason I post links in my posts is because I had difficulty posting pictures when I try to write directly in the posts.  So before you post or make callous remarks betraying your assumptions about someone else's post, try to think about the other's situation and what s/he might be going through!  Also, my essays aren't "diatribes about god" - has it occurred to you that I could be going through a lot of suffering and pain going through deconstruction and asshole atheists' remarks like yours don't help?!  Ugh!

The description of what is found via the links in your posts is accurate. The blog posts are the furthest thing from pleasant musings about the Christian god. The truth is I sympathize with your thoughts about that mythical deity and have no objections to diatribes on its despicable nature. You would know as much if you bothered to read any responses here to your posts.

It appears that you never took the time to look at the rules of this place. There is no rule against posting links, but there is a rule against spamming.

I had assumed that there are some troubling issues that inspire your writing. In view of that I have given you plenty of leeway. If I were to strictly enforce the anti-spamming rule of this site your lack of participation in discussion in favor of simply posting links to your blog would not be tolerated.

There is a civility rule as well. Keep it in mind, and we'll get on well. I know that people who are suffering sometimes lash out. However, tolerance is not unlimited.

[iriss7480]

Fuck you - I don't need your "high-minded" moralizing or insertions about what is or is not allowed through my writing.  There are other forums out there and you are the prime example of what I find wrong about atheist thinking: black-and-white thinking.  You say you sympathize about my characterizations about "god," but your disdain and arrogance towards my postings clearly show through!  I am not spamming and I have good intentions through my writing - a lot of people have reached out validating that they understand.  Your position clearly shows you lack the emotional depth and empathy to truly understand someone who is in a genuine process of deconstructing and recovering from religious trauma.  That you would call my processing a "diatribe" is an insult and you know it.  The reason why I don't engage in the discussions is that I have been really busy and also, I have referenced that I have read the comments and tried to comment on them in my posts.  You would know that if you truly read my writing instead of just making a surface characterization! 

[zorkan]

quote: I knew a Tibetan Lama who was considered one of the three reincarnations of a previous Lama.

You can be rebirthed as a god, a human or an animal.
Maybe all 3 at once, or sometime later.

Let's argue I was the reincarnation of the wicked magician Aleister Crowley.
Just look at these facts:
He died in 1947. I was born just 3 years after in the the same county of Warwickshire and only less than 20 miles apart.

He had severe asthma, just like me.
It forced both of us to find clean air up mountains.

Like me he spent a lot of his life finding adventure.

He disliked Christianity.

But like me he also thought it was all a load of bullshit.

[Firebird]

It's fairly likely that we recently lost a valued long-time member of this site. Not to a squabble or to disinterest in the site, but to a more irrevocable event. I always admired his willingness to address even knuckleheads in a way that acknowledged their humanity. He lived a long and eventful life and was still active and had his wits about him. Boarding up his house with plywood before a hurricane at the age of 94? We should all be so durable!

Wait, who are you referring to?

[Firebird]

Fuck you - I don't need your "high-minded" moralizing or insertions about what is or is not allowed through my writing.  There are other forums out there and you are the prime example of what I find wrong about atheist thinking: black-and-white thinking.  You say you sympathize about my characterizations about "god," but your disdain and arrogance towards my postings clearly show through!  I am not spamming and I have good intentions through my writing - a lot of people have reached out validating that they understand.  Your position clearly shows you lack the emotional depth and empathy to truly understand someone who is in a genuine process of deconstructing and recovering from religious trauma.  That you would call my processing a "diatribe" is an insult and you know it.  The reason why I don't engage in the discussions is that I have been really busy and also, I have referenced that I have read the comments and tried to comment on them in my posts.  You would know that if you truly read my writing instead of just making a surface characterization! 

This is the first time I've seen you actually respond to a post on this site rather than simply drop links in. That's not engagement, that's spamming as Recusant said.

I'm sorry you've been hurt so badly and I do believe what you're writing about, but a message board is here for dialogue and engagement, and the only engagement you've actually done is to curse at our admin.

[Dark Lightning]

Will her next gambit be a squawk about the 1st Amendment? Recusant has already given her quite a bit of slack. I'm not an admin or a mod- I don't have to read her shtuff.

[Recusant]

Fuck you - I don't need your "high-minded" moralizing or insertions about what is or is not allowed through my writing.  There are other forums out there and you are the prime example of what I find wrong about atheist thinking: black-and-white thinking.  You say you sympathize about my characterizations about "god," but your disdain and arrogance towards my postings clearly show through!  I am not spamming and I have good intentions through my writing - a lot of people have reached out validating that they understand.  Your position clearly shows you lack the emotional depth and empathy to truly understand someone who is in a genuine process of deconstructing and recovering from religious trauma.  That you would call my processing a "diatribe" is an insult and you know it.  The reason why I don't engage in the discussions is that I have been really busy and also, I have referenced that I have read the comments and tried to comment on them in my posts.  You would know that if you truly read my writing instead of just making a surface characterization! 

diatribe:

1 : a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing

2 : ironic or satirical criticism

In my opinion definition 1 accurately describes your writing about the Christian god.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines "diatribe" in a similar manner:

In modern use: A dissertation or discourse directed against some person or work; a bitter and violent criticism; an invective.

If you don't believe "diatribe" is accurate, how would you describe your blog posts on the topic?

As for your abusive language directed at a fellow member of this site, you've earned a warning.

[Recusant]

It's fairly likely that we recently lost a valued long-time member of this site. Not to a squabble or to disinterest in the site, but to a more irrevocable event. I always admired his willingness to address even knuckleheads in a way that acknowledged their humanity. He lived a long and eventful life and was still active and had his wits about him. Boarding up his house with plywood before a hurricane at the age of 94? We should all be so durable!

Wait, who are you referring to?

In late July Icarus told us he'd been in hospital for a bit. He posted for a while after that but has not logged in since August. 

[Recusant]

quote: I knew a Tibetan Lama who was considered one of the three reincarnations of a previous Lama.

You can be rebirthed as a god, a human or an animal.
Maybe all 3 at once, or sometime later.

Let's argue I was the reincarnation of the wicked magician Aleister Crowley.
Just look at these facts:
He died in 1947. I was born just 3 years after in the the same county of Warwickshire and only less than 20 miles apart.

He had severe asthma, just like me.
It forced both of us to find clean air up mountains.

Like me he spent a lot of his life finding adventure.

He disliked Christianity.

But like me he also thought it was all a load of bullshit.

The paper in the OP is only "interesting" rather than a breakthrough. I agree that it doesn't describe scientific evidence showing that reincarnation is likely a real phenomenon. Of all the myths about an afterlife I think reincarnation is probably the least unpleasant but that doesn't mean I want it to be true.