\u201cAre the Laws of the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
To me, the very fact that we can (and even must) reasonably ask the question is quite significant. \u00a0As I intend, someday, to argue at book length.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
An item from Howard Storm, My Descent into Death: A Second Chance at Life<\/em> (New York: Knopf Doubleday, 2005) 9-27:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the background: \u00a0Howard Storm, then an art professor at Northern Kentucky University, was leading a student tour of Paris art museums. \u00a0Suddenly, a stomach ulcer perforated his duodenum \u2014 an occurrence that, left untreated, commonly leads to death within just a few hours. \u00a0Unfortunately, even once he had reached a hospital, adequate medical care was not forthcoming.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew I was dying now. . . . \u00a0Fighting against a flood of tears, I told Beverly that I loved her very much. \u00a0I told her it was over. \u00a0We said our good-byes. . . . \u00a0I knew for certain that there was no such thing as life after death. \u00a0Only simpleminded people believed in that sort of thing. \u00a0I didn\u2019t believe in God, or heaven, or hell, or any other fairy tales.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Storm closed his eyes and, well, died<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although he expected nothingness, he found himself suddenly standing next to the bed. \u00a0Then he opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCould this be a dream?\u201d I kept thinking. \u00a0\u201cThis has got to be a dream.\u201d \u00a0But I knew that it wasn\u2019t. \u00a0I was aware that I felt more alert, more aware, and more alive than I had ever felt in my entire life. \u00a0All my senses were extremely vivid. . . . \u00a0As I bent over to look at the face of the body in the bed, I was horrified to see the resemblance that it had to my own face. \u00a0It was impossible that that thing could be me because I was standing over it and looking at it. . . . \u00a0I had never felt more alert and conscious. \u00a0I wanted desperately to get through to Beverly, and I started yelling for her to say something, but she remained frozen in the chair next to the bed. \u00a0I screamed and raged at her, but she just ignored me. . . .<\/span><\/p>\n[T]he light was more intense and more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. \u00a0It was brighter than the sun, brighter than a flash of lightning.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 My friend Ted Vaggalis has called my attention to this important story from the world of nature: \u00a0 \u201cPolice Lock Up Angry Raccoons Drunk On Crabapple Hooch Until They Sober Up\u201d \u00a0 I like to keep my readers up with the latest news from the cutting edge of zoological research. \u00a0 *** \u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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