I was reading into Near-death experiences and when I read this I was rather dumbfounded:
"Many NDE-accounts seem to include elements which, according to several theorists, can only be explained by an out-of-body consciousness. For example, in one account, a woman accurately described a surgical instrument she had not seen previously, as well as a conversation that occurred while she was understood to be clinically dead (Sabom, 1998)."
Isn't this scientific evidence that these people were in a different consciousness? If not, what do y'all make of this?
2007-01-05 15:25:07 · 17 answers · asked by Neighborhood dude 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
CLARIFICATION: By I'm an "agnostic", I mean more along the lines of I want to become less materialistic and more spiritual.
2007-01-05 15:28:28 · update #1
My mom told me about a near death experience that she had in 1927. She told me about this in 1952 years before the first books about this were written. When I read my first book about this I about crapped when I realized that this is what she was talking about.
She was hit by a car. she watched them carry her body in to the house and put it on the dining room table. She said that she was watching everything from up by the ceiling. She told me that everyone was crying because they thought she was dead. This seemed odd to her so she tried to tell them that she was OK but they could not hear her. Then she said she just woke up back in her body.
Love and blessings Don
2007-01-05 15:36:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Near-death experiences can be reproduced by using ketamine to block receptors in the brain that are used for the neurotransmitter glutamate. Conditions which precipitate NDE's (hypoxia, ischaemia, hypoglycaemia, temporal lobe epilepsy etc.) have been shown to release a flood of glutamate, over activating NMDA receptors resulting in neuro ('excito') toxicity. Ketamine prevents this neurotoxicity. There are substances in the brain which bind to the same receptor site as ketamine. Conditions which trigger a glutamate flood may also trigger a flood of neuroprotective agents which bind to NMDA receptors to protect cells, leading to an altered state of consciousness like that produced by ketamine.
This information is far more recent than 1998. Anecdotal evidence is not very dependable because is is not possible to easily confirm. If, however, you are able to reproduce the NDE experience in a scientific setting by means of something other than an actual heart stoppage, then you have made a very strong case for the actual cause of the experience. In this case it would suggest that NDEs are not what people claim, or wish, they are.
2007-01-05 23:41:34 · answer #2 · answered by Sketch 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it isn't. What you have is stories that can be explained by oxygen deprivation, limited consciousness, and suggestion after the fact all combined with a healthy dose of human imagination.
How do you know the woman hadn't seen the instrument ever in her whole life?? How do you know that there wasn't still enough there to hear the conversation??
2007-01-05 23:36:01 · answer #3 · answered by Alex 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From the Christian perspective, the soul leaves the body when
someone dies. This may explain the out-of-body experience.
To push you in the right direction, read books by Lee Strobel. Warning! There are a lot idiots out there that
spread lies about the bible. A&E and History channels are just some of the idiots.
2007-01-05 23:58:09 · answer #4 · answered by Matt 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are two interesting effects worh considering. One is the common sensation of light realized by people in near-death experiences; the cause is not known, but may be supposed to be an artifact of the way the brain works under extreme stress. Another is out-of-body experiences, which are reliably caused by stimulation of the angle gyrus in the brain. Neither of these has any implications with respect to god, heaven, or hell. The reference does not address these specific issues, but is well worth reading.
2007-01-05 23:32:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is possible for a person to see what is happening in other places, some folks call this astro-traveling. Saints, Shaman, and those having a near death experience have had these experiences. They are real. There are many dimensions to life, just ask the the quantum physicist.
2007-01-05 23:35:30 · answer #6 · answered by tonks_op 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NDE is bullshiat. There is no hard evidence to suggest that people actually have souls or 'leave their bodies' when they die. What you cite is no more credible than a verbal account of an encounter with Bigfoot.
2007-01-05 23:36:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure they were at different levels of consciousness we don't understand yet. We will learn more as we learn more of the quantum level of matter.
You can be agnostic and believe in NDEs. There's before and afterlife. Whether or not a 'god' is involved is a whole new ballgame ; )
2007-01-05 23:29:05 · answer #8 · answered by American Spirit 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well obviously the clinicians got it wrong and she was not dead. She was probably in a deep coma with few vital signs, but there is evidence that coma people can still sense stimuli and even respond to it, which is one reason i am against switching off life support, who knows, they may be conscious but unable to show it, and they may not want their life support to be switched off.
2007-01-05 23:40:54 · answer #9 · answered by Beng T 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's plenty of other similar near-death evidence like that. Good review of the data and references in David Ray Griffin, "Parapsychology, Philosophy, and Spirituality."
The reality of extrasomatic experience has no bearing on the issue of God's existence, however.
2007-01-05 23:28:11 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋