I have a certain fascination with them and have done lots of research on them. Skeptics have maintained for a while that you can have an NDE by restricting the amount of blood from your brain, or stimulate a certain part of your brain, and you can have an NDE (as seen on the ever popular Penn & Teller's Bull****!).
What hasn't been accounted for, however, are multiple occurances of NDE's when there's been absolutely no brain activity when the victims were out (in their EEG readings. Sure, there are individual occurances that you may think might be in it for the money like here (http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence01.html), but the REAL thing that needs to be disproven is whether the brain can have these NDE experiences with no reported brain activity (EEG).
http://www.nderf.org/vonlommel_skeptic_response.htm
In a nutshell, here's what the article states based on the 0 brain activity recorded NDEs:
"Michael Shermer states that, in reality, all experience is mediated and produced by the brain, and that so-called paranormal phenomena like out-of body experiences are nothing more than neuronal events. The study of patients with NDE, however, clearly shows us that consciousness with memories, cognition, with emotion, self-identity, and perception out and above a life-less body is experienced during a period of a non-functioning brain (transient pancerebral anoxia). And focal functional loss by inhibition of local cortical regions happens by “stimulation” of those regions with electricity (photons) or with magnetic fields (photons), resulting sometimes in out-of-body states."
To me, this is the most compelling evidence that I'd like to hear a counterpoint to, proof or disproof, whatever. I'd have to be convinced that the brain can function and create these highly sensory based experiences when it's clinicly brain dead (0 reading of electricity on the EEG). How can a state of consciousness be possible without the base requirements for sensory reception?
What hasn't been accounted for, however, are multiple occurances of NDE's when there's been absolutely no brain activity when the victims were out (in their EEG readings. Sure, there are individual occurances that you may think might be in it for the money like here (http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence01.html), but the REAL thing that needs to be disproven is whether the brain can have these NDE experiences with no reported brain activity (EEG).
http://www.nderf.org/vonlommel_skeptic_response.htm
In a nutshell, here's what the article states based on the 0 brain activity recorded NDEs:
"Michael Shermer states that, in reality, all experience is mediated and produced by the brain, and that so-called paranormal phenomena like out-of body experiences are nothing more than neuronal events. The study of patients with NDE, however, clearly shows us that consciousness with memories, cognition, with emotion, self-identity, and perception out and above a life-less body is experienced during a period of a non-functioning brain (transient pancerebral anoxia). And focal functional loss by inhibition of local cortical regions happens by “stimulation” of those regions with electricity (photons) or with magnetic fields (photons), resulting sometimes in out-of-body states."
To me, this is the most compelling evidence that I'd like to hear a counterpoint to, proof or disproof, whatever. I'd have to be convinced that the brain can function and create these highly sensory based experiences when it's clinicly brain dead (0 reading of electricity on the EEG). How can a state of consciousness be possible without the base requirements for sensory reception?
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