If you are like most people in the West, you deal with the fact that at some point you will die by simply not thinking about it. Death is humanity’s worst fear, and what makes it scariest is that it is a certainty. We shield ourselves from this awful truth by shutting it out of our minds, by not talking about it, by ridiculing it, and all other manner of coping mechanisms.
Perhaps what is most scary about death is that, since there are so many contradictory claims about what happens after it, it is… a big unknown. Presented with contradictory options we find ourselves feeling we cannot know, and fear of the unknown is one of humanity’s great fears, too.
What is our best weapon against lack of knowledge? Science, of course. And through science we do have some idea of what happens after death.
Dr. Jim Tucker’s hypothesis
How reincarnation could exist
- 1
Observation
Quantum physics shows that at the smallest scale of the universe, events involving particles such as electrons and protons only occur once they are observed.
- 2
Consciousness first
This suggests the material world may come from consciousness, not the other way around. The idea is debated, but it has been held by a number of quantum physicists, including Max Planck, the father of quantum mechanics.
- 3
No brain needed
If consciousness creates the material world, it may not depend on that world to exist. It would follow that consciousness does not need a living brain.
- 4
Continuing on
If consciousness doesn’t require a brain, it may continue after the brain stops working, then attach to a new brain and carry on in another life.
Based on an infographic by the Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia.
Reincarnation by the numbers
The “Tucker” here is the Director of the Division of Perceptual Studies and ICRR Science Council Member, Dr. Jim Tucker. But it only scratches the surface of what has been learned through statistical analysis or surveys.
Dr. Tucker’s research has found clear patterns in the cases of children who claim memories of a past life.
-
60%
of children who claim past-life memories are boys.
- 70%
of the children say they died a violent or unnatural death.
- 70%+Of those cases
of the people who died were male, the same ratio as for violent deaths in the general population.
- 90%
of the children say they were the same sex in their previous life as they are now.
- 20%
of the children claim memories of the time between death and rebirth.
Based on an infographic by the Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia.
Key stats we have learnt so far
6%
of American households with children aged 3–10 have a child talking about past lives
DOPS
4%
of Japanese children recall past lives
Japanese survey
23%
of 43 Tlingit cases were planned reincarnations
Ian Stevenson
16 months
average time between lives
Ian Stevenson
Children who remember
In American households with children 3–10 years old, up to 6% have a child talking about past lives. A Japanese survey found some 4% of Japanese kids recall past lives.
Highest prevalence
The culture with the highest prevalence of past-life memory worldwide, according to Stevenson, is the Tlingit First Nations tribe of northwest Canada and the US.
Planned reincarnations
Of 43 Tlingit cases Stevenson studied, ten (23%) were planned: before death a person stated intentions about their next life, and a child was later born whose memories showed those intentions fulfilled.
Twins
Of 31 sets of twins Stevenson studied where both twins’ past lives were identified, 100% had known each other.
Time between lives
The time between lives averages 16 months, but varies in a way that matches the beliefs of the subject’s culture.
Across the centuries
Recent cases and historically recorded cases, even from hundreds of years ago, show the same features.
Planned reincarnations
Of the ten planned Tlingit reincarnations Stevenson studied, eight accurately named the family into which they would reincarnate.
More interesting statistics
Among the statistics we don’t yet have:
Choosing parents
The percentage of children who claim to have chosen their current parents.
Trauma
The percentage of people who recall traumatic events in past lives who also have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
Regression
Whether past-life regression is an effective healing method over the long term.
Gender identity
How much gender identity disorder correlates with remembering a past life in the preferred gender.
Across lives
Whether sexual orientation remains the same over multiple lives.
These five studies are among the many important ones that have not yet been done. That’s the first reason that ICRR came into being.
The main point
Reincarnation shows consistent patterns both across different cultures and different eras. That’s how natural phenomena, things that really happen, look when examined scientifically.