Comments on: The not very near death experience

By: Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 21:23:02 +0000

Most people here seem to dismiss the metaphysical as ”phooey” – as not yet proven! Indeed! I, on the otherhand, wish to testify to the fact of the paranomal. I HAVE LEFT MY BODY! I did without thought – it was a spontanious ”THING” – yet it happened. I found myself looking down at ME from the height of my ceiling – at that time. That is why I do not fear death – it’s simply a passing over to go back home. THE HERE AND NOW is the problem. Handle as best as you can.

By: chr

chr — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 13:23:45 +0000

That’s why they are more properly called Fear of Death Experiences

By: Sancho

Sancho — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 22:00:12 +0000

Australian media mogul and all-round archvillain Kerry Packer once had a heart attack and was clinically dead for six minutes.

He was revived and later said “I’ve been to the other side and let me tell you, son, there’s f****ng nothing there…there’s no one waiting there for you, there’s no one to judge you so you can do what you bloody well like”

Then he bought defribrillators for all of the state’s ambulances, earning them the nickname “Packer Whackers”.

By: jmparret

jmparret — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:15:05 +0000

I did almost die and I did not see any bright lights nor was I able to witness people working on me. I had a severe case of thyroid storm, the one where over 99% of the people who go through it die.

I was in bad shape when I made it to the hospital and when I was in the emergency room they could not read my blood pressure or my pulse rate. It was either too high or going too fast. A nurse yelled in my ear “we have a priest here to give you your last rites”. This notified me that if something did not change soon I was not leaving of my own power. So a few minutes later I started moving or something and the priest was thrown out. I did hear him mumbling at my feet.

It was strange but no bright lights or anything else. I could breath the entire time so I had enough oxygen, my heart was getting ready to explode. I survived because I was an extreme athlete even now at 54 my resting pulse rate is below 60.

Near death experiences are very trying, I spent three days in the hospital and was just so tired and beat.

Joe

By: Allenupl

Allenupl — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:06:17 +0000

By the way, the Lancet article referred to above was published in 2001, not 1990. You can link to the original paper from the IANDS website I posted.
Allen

By: Allenupl

Allenupl — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:02:51 +0000

There have been a long list of physiological and pharmaceutical explanations advanced o explain near-death experiences (NDEs). The best summaries of all of these – and why none of them offer adequate explanations ‚Äì can be found on a DVD at the website of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (www.iands.org), the most credible source for research about NDEs on the internet. The DVD is of a presentation last fall at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center by Dr. Bruce Greyson, psychiatrist at the University of Virginia Medical School and one of the world’s leading researchers into the NDE phenomenon. The DVD can be ordered at http://www.iands.org/shoppingcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48_49&products_id=687. The cost is $25 but it is well worth the price if you are interested in seriously understanding this subject.
In addition, you might want to go to a page on their website that lists various research papers, including one that directly addresses rapid eye movement (REM) and NDE, at http://www.iands.org/research/important_studies. In particular I would recommend the papers written by Dr. Peter Fenwick and Dr. Pim Van Lommel for good overviews of the field.
I am a member of the above association because this is a fascinating topic. They keep you up-to-date with the latest NDE research along with e-mails of experiencer accounts every month (which are particularly intriguing).
Allen

By: Anibal

Anibal — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:46:03 +0000

Well, it¬¥s too risky to simulate a near-death experience, seems obvious, but OBE (out of body experiences) can be simulated (its neural basis is at the tmeporoparietal junction), and the explanations gived by cognitive neuroscientists to these plethora of unussual experiences if they seem ad hoc to you, but can be tested and confirmed, then could be the “right explanation”.

By: autotaco

autotaco — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:32:33 +0000

This is interesting. I wonder how they would explain the mental clarity? Maybe DMT -is- released in the brain near death. Although then I suppose kaleidoscopic colors would been seen instead. Perhaps the released DMT is only very small.
Assuming that DMT even is released, of course.
Or perhaps the soul begins to speak in a way that we’re not accustomed to during near-death. maybe.

By: mrG

mrG — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:28:15 +0000

Heh … well, all due respect to Mr Blanke, but in the philosophy of science such convenient excuses are called “ad hoc” and are considered bad form and unsportsmanlike. True, Galileo’s famous ad-hoc excuse (“Then the stars MUST be farther away than we thought!”) turned out to be true, but it was a lucky guess, and lucky guesses are not science. Until such time as Blanke et all can induce a convincing Near Death (in the same way, for example, as Dr Spanos could induce convincing ufo abduction memories) their musings have zero street cred.

By: Anibal

Anibal — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:53:59 +0000

Olaf Blanke is a cognitive neuroscientist interested in those neural mechanisms altered, that in turn, elicited the experiences or conditions such as OBE(out of body experiences) and even near deth experiences etc.
The explanation ussually given to the reportings of a tunnel and a light at the end of the tunnel is due to a random activation of eye¬¥s cells centered around the fovea.