Sam Harris (a neuroscientist himself) just ripped apart Dr. Eben Alexander, who wrote the embarrassing cover story for the latest issue of Newsweek:
Here’s the gist of Harris’ argument:
… there is nothing to be said against Alexander’s experience. It sounds perfectly sublime. And such ecstasies do tell us something about how good a human mind can feel. The problem is that the conclusions Alexander has drawn from his experience — he continually reminds us, as a scientist — are based on some very obvious errors in reasoning and gaps in his understanding.
Let me suggest that, whether or not heaven exists, Alexander sounds precisely how a scientist should not sound when he doesn’t know what he is talking about. And his article is not the sort of thing that the editors of a once-important magazine should publish if they hope to reclaim some measure of respect for their battered brand.
You can read my own take on the story here.
