Dr Jim B. Tucker, M.D. discusses evidence uncovered suggestive of reincarnation in children recalling past lives
Dr Jim B. Tucker, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. His specialization (much like his predecessor Dr. Ian Stevenson, has been reincarnation research.) Whereas Stevenson focused mainly on cases in Asia, Tucker's research has mainly been on cases involving children in America.
Stevenson's work of studying thousands of past life memory cases, carried out over many decades until his retirement in 2002 and subsequent death in 2007 has been widely recognized by many academic fields excluding the scientific community insisting there are many holes in his research, including the mostly anecdotal nature of it, the possibilities of fraud, the possibilities of cryptomnesia and confirmation bias and how it would contradict biological findings.
In this video, Tucker discusses the history of the University of Virginia's research into past life memories and highlights the primary focus on his (and Stevenson's) research; rare cases of children as young as two years old discussing memories of a previous life. What makes these cases so unusual is that child psychologists have noticed that these children are not acting as if they are imagining a scenario by constantly changing details in their story; rather their story has been consistent for years and years.
Many of these cases have had many if not all of their details verified and in some cases, birth marks and birth defects have been linked towards fatal wounds in the previous life. He goes into detail on various cases and what consitutes a truly credible case.
Explanations (including reincarnation) have been theorized as to why some children can possess these memories.
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Really fascinating topic, however really difficult to study and document effectively. Interesting to see where this research goes..
There's loads of challenges to studying and documenting these cases. You have to:
1. Prove that the child's memories are genuine.
2. Effectively judge the emotional reaction of the children. This is very hard, if not impossible to do if the two families (both of the child and the deceased person) have met already.
3. Historically verify these memories. In countries where archives containing possible records are inaccurate, not well updated or have been destroyed; or in cases older than a century, this is really difficult to do.
4. Ensure the parents aren't spurring on the child.
5. Try and find a way to determine whether this is the same consciousness or just memory transfer to a new conscious brain.
Unfortunately I would classify this more towards fringe science. There is just too many questionable tactics involved to prove these as fact. Fortunately new technologies can help to prove or disprove this phenomenon.