Near-Death Experience Skeptics Running Out of Excuses
Series of interviews with leading near-death experience skeptics show no plausible medical explanation for afterlife experiences.
The idea of an afterlife doesnâ??t sit well with the science-minded. Our mind is our brain and when we die we die they claim. But as conventional medical explanations for near-death experiences fall flat, and NDE research progresses, tradition-minded scientists are facing the impossible notion that the afterlife may be real.
Join Skeptiko host Alex Tsakiris for his second interview with near-death experience skeptic and author of Mortal Minds, Dr, G.M. Woerlee. During the 30-minute interview Dr. Woerlee continues his assertion that near-death experiences have normal medical explanations. When presented with the case of a young woman who suffered a severe a gunshot wound and was pronounced clinically dead by her doctor only to be miraculously revived after two unsuccessful rounds of defibrillation Dr. Woerlee concluded, â??No, she was not deadâ?¦ if she was dead the doctors would not have resuscitated her. She would have remained dead.â??
As to her amazing near-death experience during which she left her body and was able to look down on medical stuff during their frantic attempt to revive her, Woerlee offered this explanation, â??â?¦she hears the conversations. She feels the sensations. And she also is a woman who also has seen films and she knows how these things go. She hears the conversations, why? Because she is awake. That does not surprise me.â??
Dr. Woerleeâ??s claims contradict the accounts of medical staff on the scene. They indicated she was clinically dead, â??what we call sheet-facedâ??, and under heavy anesthesia making it medically impossible for her to have a consciousness memory of the experience.
Read Kieth Woodâ??s critique of Dr. Woerleeâ??s claims
Pretty interesting. I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks. I personally believe it has to be true, theres been just too many accounts to just dismiss it as simply hallucination.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010) â?? Near death experiences (NDEs), reported to include sensations such as life flashing before the eyes, feelings of peace and joy, and apparent encounters with mystical entities, may be caused by raised levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Critical Care investigated the unexplained events in 52 cardiac arrest patients.
By the way - that moment of all your experiences flashing before your eyes just before you die?
It’s called Living.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010) â?? Near death experiences (NDEs), reported to include sensations such as life flashing before the eyes, feelings of peace and joy, and apparent encounters with mystical entities, may be caused by raised levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Critical Care investigated the unexplained events in 52 cardiac arrest patients.
By the way - that moment of all your experiences flashing before your eyes just before you die?
It’s called Living.
thx,
[/quote]
I think that’s too simplistic when it comes to describing something like this. How would you explain the “light end of the tunnel” experience many people have or the experience of being “tethered” during an out of body experience? High carbon . It doesn’t
dioxide levels would put you in a dream-like state where you have your own unique dreams. I find it hard to believe everyone could have the same “dream” during a NDE.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010) Ã?¢?? Near death experiences (NDEs), reported to include sensations such as life flashing before the eyes, feelings of peace and joy, and apparent encounters with mystical entities, may be caused by raised levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Critical Care investigated the unexplained events in 52 cardiac arrest patients.
By the way - that moment of all your experiences flashing before your eyes just before you die?
It’s called Living.
thx,
[/quote]
I think that’s too simplistic when it comes to describing something like this. How would you explain the “light end of the tunnel” experience many people have or the experience of being “tethered” during an out of body experience? High carbon . It doesn’t
dioxide levels would put you in a dream-like state where you have your own unique dreams. I find it hard to believe everyone could have the same “dream” during a NDE.[/quote]
Perhaps because, regardless of culture, people process information in the same basic manner. The “tunnel” experience sounds very much like a birth dream; we may not remember the event, but we experienced it, and the information was recorded.
I also tend to discount out-of-hand “scientific” reports wherein 'group a is sent running" serves as the headline. Science has no need of lobbyists for emotion.
My only near-death experience was when I was like 7. I was walking towards the sea and I guess there was a steep drop that I fell into and was drowning since I couldn’t swim. I remember seeing myself from the bottom of the sea and could see my limbs trying to swim. Then I saw another figure approaching me and reaching his hand out; it was my brother he grabbed my hand and pulled me out.
I believe the same objective could be achieved by practicing OOB(Out-Of-Body) without the life threating death and all.