From: ae553@yfn.ysu.edu (David Jameson)
Subject: Near Death Experiences
Reply-To: ae553@yfn.ysu.edu (David Jameson)
Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 13:56:08 GMT


There was an interesting TV programme on Saturday (here in the UK)
called "In Search of the Dead".  The programme was about NDEs (Near Death
Experiences) -- experiences that some people have while they are "dead" for
a few minutes (and then resuscitated).

The programme
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People who report having NDEs usually have roughly the same experience.
Firstly there is an experience of travelling down a long dark tunnel with
a very bright light at the end.  When they reach the "light" there are
usually people there, such as religious leaders, angels or relatives who
have died.  There is also a feeling that if the person stays in this
place they will not be able to return to their bodies -- they would
be _really_ dead.

  There is also sometimes an experience of watching the body from outside
(as in out-of-body experiences) and seeing and hearing everything that
happens.

  There were various people in the programme who apparently "saw" things
during their NDE which they could not possibly have known about.  As
an example of this, they interviewed a woman who was present in a
hospital when a patient was being revived from a heart attack.  For a
few minutes the patient had no heart beat and no respiration.  After being
revived, the patient told the woman that she had been outside her body
and saw what was happening.

  The woman was a bit sceptical and just thought that the patient had been
hallucinating.  The patient then told her that, while out of her body, she
had been up to the third floor of the building and had seen an old
tennis shoe there, and asked the woman to go and get it.  Knowing that she
wouldn't find anything, the woman went to look for the shoe.  After
looking for a while she noticed a blue tennis shoe sitting outside on a
windowsill.  She took it down to the patient, holding it behind her back,
and asked the patient what color it was.  The patient said blue.

My comments
-----------

It is impossible to say this experience was a simple hallucination or dream,
the only other "scientific" explanation being that both people are lying.

  Some people might say "these people weren't _really_ out of their
bodies -- they were just using some kind of telepathy/clairvoyance/etc. to
get information that wouldn't be possible using the normal five senses".
Would this be possible whenever a person's heart has stopped beating
(i.e. no oxygen being transported to the brain)?  Is it possible for
neurons to keep firing even after being deprived of oxygen for a few
minutes?  This would apply for all the NDEs i.e. if the "light at the
end of the tunnel" is purely a result of brain activity then obviously
a lot of neurons will need to be firing -- would this be possible when
the oxygen supply to the brain has been shut off?

  It would be interesting to hear whether anyone reading this newsgroup has
had a NDE.  The experience is certainly very similar to an OOBE, although
the technique for achieving one is slightly different :)

Dave.
-- 
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| David Jameson, Email : ae553@yfn.ysu.edu |
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Newsgroups: alt.bacchus