NDEs or Near Death Experiences are commonly used by the religious and superstitious to justify the belief in an afterlife. What does the scientific and medical evidence tell us?
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Let's first define what a Near Death Experience, or NDE, is:
How consistent are these experiences? Not very, as even the supernatural theorists concede. Much like alien abduction reports, NDEs commonly feature some elements, but not universally. Does science provide rational explanations for the experiences? Yes. In fact there is a 'controlled' medical situation that can induce most of the common features of NDEs, and that is insufficient anaesthetic during surgery (see pages 2116-7).
Furthermore, there are many who do NOT experience an NDE who undergo cardiac arrest. One example is well-known Australian businessman Kerry Packer:
In conclusion, NDEs features are inconsistent, and often replicated under non-life-threatening conditions. Science provides rational explanations for the phenomena, and hence they do not appear to provide evidence of the supernatural or of some form of consciousness beyond death. |
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I remember reading a book by a fellow who "died" and had quite an interesting after-life experience. A few days later the doctors resuscitated his body and he wrote up the tale of what he learned (it was basically a confirmation of a lot of his prior beliefs). Of interest is his point that "coming back to life" was the most painful thing that could possibly happen. This could be explained, as Skrivener mentioned, by problems with anesthetics---you bet it would hurt to become conscious when your body is in disarray! I had not heard details about individuals who are declared clinically dead (under correctly administered anesthesia) and then later resuscitated but their "NDE" was just a boring, painless blank. Why aren't those anecdotes included in the NDE literature? |
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