Ian Pretyman Stevenson (October 31, 1918 - February 8, 2007) was a Canadian-American biochemist and psychiatrist. The object of his study was the presence in children of information about the lives of people who lived before them (which, according to Stevenson, proved reincarnation, or reincarnation)
In his work he was based on the following principles:
- The research was carried out mainly with children from two to four years old;
- Monetary reward was never paid to families with a child who possessed information about the lives of people who had already died;
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A proven case was considered only one for which it was possible to obtain documentary evidence of events that took place in a past life.
(From wikipedia)
I remember one of the many stories from his book, Life Before Life: Scientific Research on Children's Memories of Past Lives:
It was in India. One girl, as soon as she learned to speak, began to talk about how she was married and that she had a house in another city where she lived with her husband. At first, no one took her babbling seriously. But, when she grew up and continued to talk with confidence about her past life, they decided to check it out. The city she was talking about was far from the place where she was born, and she had never been there since her birth. And so they went to that city by train. They took a cab at the station and the girl showed me where to go all the way. At the end she pointed to the house. A man came out to them, whom she called her husband, and he really said that his wife had died several years ago. Upon entering the house, it was clear that she knows everything that is in this house. But she was asked if she knew any special place in the house. And the girl saidthat she had a secret place in her house where she kept money. She led them to that place, but there was no money there. And then she started yelling at the man that he took her money. And he admitted that soon after the death of his wife he found this cache and took the money.
It is interesting to understand what is the essence of the dispute. On the one hand, it is difficult not to agree with the opinion that this girl had a reincarnation and now she has come to life for the second time. How could she have known all these details? But on the other hand, it is clear that there is no scientific proof here. After all, strict scientific proof must be based on experiment, and this girl's story, no matter how amazing it is, cannot be called an experiment.
Promotional video:
Here, most likely, it should be noted that in the process of exploring the surrounding world there are at least two ways. An experimental method is best suited to study the nature of a natural process and its laws. But to find out the truth of the fact of the event, it is usually impossible to conduct an experiment and have to rely on eyewitness testimony.
Of course, not all evidence can be accepted. Careful verification is necessary to ensure that there was no deception or error. But if all the checks have been carried out and proved to be flawless, there is no reason not to rely on such evidence. And that is what Stevenson had in mind.
Moreover, these two methods do not exclude each other, but complement each other. And even in scientific research, the element of evidence is always present. After all, we know about the experiment and its results only from the testimony of the scientists themselves. And even if we say that the experiment can always be repeated again, we still rely on the evidence of those second scientists. In general, testimony is very widely used in life. Almost everything. We test some things on our own experience, but we still draw most of our knowledge from the testimony of others, based on their experience.
In subsequent articles, we will consider the phenomena of reincarnation in ancient knowledge and the stories cited there.
Author: Zakharya Matyau