Near Death Experiences is a controversial phenomenon that has been debated among researchers, physicians, and the general public. The debate is whether or not what people think they experience is real or if it can to be explained by science. There are twelve characteristics of these experiences that are frequently experienced across the board including out of body experiences which lead to the questions: Does the conscious require the brain, or is it a separate entity that can exist and function on its own? Is there really life after death? Skeptics will answer in the negative and offer many possible explanations, but I can find no good explanation that can account for many of the experiences people have during an NDE.
The research I will refer to uses a very specific parameter for people to be used in the studies. They are near death when they are clinically dead, have no heartbeat, are not breathing, or they are so physically compromised that they will die if their condition does not improve. Often they are unconscious at this point. Their experience has to occur at this point of near-death and it must be lucid and not fragmented memories. All of these conditions must be met in order for the experience to be considered a true near-death experience. Although everyone’s experience is different, there are twelve elements that occur during a near-death experience. Not all of them occur in each experience, but those that do occur generally happen in the order I will describe them. (Long and Perry, 2011, 5-6)
The first element is the out-of-body experience. In this experience, some element of consciousness seems to separate from the physical brain. Some people experience floating upward and watching the scene from above....
... middle of paper ...
...ody and Out-of-Brain?." Review of General Psychology 15.1 (2011): 1-10. Print.
"Introduction & Definition." FCA: Hypoxic-Anoxic Brain Injury. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. .
Kotler, Steven. "Extreme States." Discover 26.7 (2005): 60-67. Print.
Long, Jeffrey, and Paul Perry. Evidence of the Afterlife: the Science of Near-death Experiences. New York: HarperOne, 2011. Print.
Mobbs, Dean, and Caroline Watt. "There Is Nothing Paranormal about Near-death Experiences: How Neuroscience Can Explain Seeing Bright Lights, Meeting the Dead, or Being Convinced You Are One of Them." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 15.10 (2011): 447-49. Print.
Roszell, Calvert. The near-death experience: in the light of scientific research and the spiritual science of Rudolf Steiner. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press, 1992. Print.
The video Round Trip, The Near Death Experience is an interesting and informative documentary. Five people were interviewed about their near death experience. Catherine was sick for several years; John almost drown from scuba diving, Mary had complications during childbirth, Alena was in an accident and Allan’s heart flutter during surgery. These five people near dead experience were similar. It is remarkable to hear them speak about their experience and how they are not afraid of death. The near death experience changed their lives. Catherine stated that she sees the future, she will know about something before it happens; also her religious structure became stronger. They all saw a bright light and experience a divine feeling and the power
When a person is battling between life and death physicians have to check for signs of death. Kastebaum states that “the most common signs of death have been lack of respiration, pulse, and heartbeat, as well as failure to respond to stimuli such as light, movement, and pain. Lower body temperature and
If death is really real, based upon the animistic quality of our five physical senses, then how do we know that we are truly alive and breathing, not in a dream? It has been proposed that people aware the existence of surroundings majorly rely on their five senses, which may cause illusions. The ethereal, yet grounded, theory of existentialism provides the landscape for a more positively identified pathway which reaches across the separation exists among humans.
Life After Life, by Raymond A Moody Jr, M.D., is an account of Dr. Moody’s research of near death experiences (NDE). Dr. Moody has a Ph.D. in philosophy and a medical degree. This scientific discipline provided a path for him to document his findings. His intent was to draw attention to a phenomenon of NDE. He accounts it was “very widespread and very well-hidden, and at the same time, help create a more receptive public attitude toward it” (Moody Jr, MD, 2015, p. xix). As the modern Western world moved into the twentieth century, so did the scientific discipline of medical science. This allowed a transition of individuals dying at home, to dying within the confines of the hospital under the care of medical professionals. He interviewed
into the category of “private revelations.” Near death experiences are biblical, In Isaiah 6, Isaiah
Although death is a major part of life, accepting it can be a difficult thing to do. Dr. Elizabeth Kubler - Ross, an American psychiatrist and psychologist, help discover the series of stages people go through before the reach their death point. These series of stages were known as the Kubler - Ross model. This model was formed by a study on many patients from hospice, the hospice workers and the hospice patients families. These five stages include the feeling of Denial, Ange...
“… There is a feeling of strange intoxication and shifting consciousness with minor perceptual changes. There may also be strong physical effects, including respiratory pressure, muscle tension (especially face and neck muscles), and queasiness or possible nausea… After this the state of altered consciousness begins to manifest itself…..among the possible occurences are feelings of inner tranquility, oneness with life, heightened awareness, and rapid thought flow…these effects will deepen and become more visual. Colors may become more intense. Halos and auras may appear about things. Objects
The what it is like to undergo an experience is essential to understanding that experience. Known by philosophers as subjective qualia, these characteristics are part of what makes a felt experience exactly that experience. If we introspect our own mental states, this seems apparent and incontrovertible. Most philosophers are unwilling to grant that subjective qualia are non-physical states, and attempts to face this problem and maintain physicalism must address arguments from qualia. While differing physical explanations for these subjective qualia exist, I will only briefly refer to them here as qualia will serve only as a means of leading the reader to the Explanatory Gap(1). The Explanatory Gap is a uniquely puzzling problem for physicalist philosophies of mind.
The concept between life and death cannot simply exist without one another, where the topic is widely discussed throughout “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi. This memoir explores Paul’s definition of death as he passes through the distinct “stages” of his life. As Paul progresses through each stage, he views death differently as he transformed from a student to a neurosurgeon, neurosurgeon to a patient, and eventually becoming a father, where he needed to take full responsibility as an adult.
There are many phenomena present in today’s world concerning both life and death. An extraordinary incorporation of these prominent values is a Near Death Experience (NDE). Near Death Experiences empower and affect the psyche of many, changing their lives forever and altering their perception of death. Many questions arise from this particular topic simply because you have to experience it to fully understand its meaning. Questions such as, What is it, What happens, and how do they occur are familiar to experts in this field or to the people who have first hand experience.
“Egoism, the fear or not near but of distant death… are not, I think, wholly natural or instinctive. They are all strengthened by the beliefs about personal identity which I have been attacking. If we give up these beliefs, they should be weakened” (Parfit, 1971, p. 4.2:14).
A Near Death Experience as a Religious Experience A near death experience can be defined as an event which occurs to people when seemingly the bodily functions which confirm life have stopped, i.e. clinically dead. It often has an ‘out of body’ element. and may be interrupted in a religious or non-religious way. Most individuals who claim to have had a near death experience say that there is a sense of indescribable bliss, ecstasy, and peace.
It is concluded from the results that having near-death experiences relates to one having an increase in daily spiritual experiences from the measurements of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. The strength of the intensity in spirituality was affected by the severity of the near-death experience. The intensity of daily spiritual activities was greater when individuals had a severe near-death experience rather than if the experience was moderate. The experiencers found a new gratefulness for life, a new sense of purpose, higher confidence levels, and more elasticity in dealing with stress (Khanna & Greyson, 2014). Despite the results, there is a possibility that more daily spiritual experiences are not related to near-death experiences directly
After our plane landed, we had to take a train to Venice. The reality of being in a different country didn’t hit me until we exited the station. Abby and I were both awe struck and all we could say to each other was, “Dude, we are in Italy.” When we were through with our out-of-body experience we began our search for our hotel. We couldn’t find it so we asked for help. Then, because we asked the same guy four times, he walked us to our hotel. It was through several tiny alleyways. If I was in America, I would’ve been sure that the man was leading us to our killers, but I was still in awe of Italy. The alleyways were sometimes so small that you would have to walk single file and sometimes let others go before you entered. Other alleyways would
I was very excited to take Death and Dying as a college level course. Firstly, because I have always had a huge interest in death, but it coincides with a fear surrounding it. I love the opportunity to write this paper because I can delve into my own experiences and beliefs around death and dying and perhaps really establish a clear personal perspective and how I can relate to others in a professional setting.