[davedes]

Quote by: Maryjane Q) What is it about pseudo sciencetist and religions folks? A) They both have a negative attitude to skepticism.

Is this to me? If so, I agree, we have to step carefully around anecdotal reports. But to toss them all away on the assumption that people are lying just seems a bit daft to me.

That is the BRAIN's way of dealing with it. Let's look to science for a moment. You do know what the heart's function is right? It pumps oxygen to all the cells in the body. A lack of oxygenated blood to the brain is called cerebral hypoxia.

I don't agree with Radarlove's claim that NDEs start when the heart stops, but I also don't agree with the claim that NDEs are purely a cause of cerebral hypoxia. Too many cases of NDEs that don't include any sort of lack of oxygen strike me as the primary reason for this doubt.

From the studies I've seen (van Lommel comes to mind, among others), as well as the ever-dangerous anecdotal reports, NDEs seem to occur in a wide range of situations. Somebody falls and hits their head, somebody is on a drug and has the feeling they are dying, etc.

I've mentioned it before... I see NDEs as a trigger to the out-of-body state. In some cases a 'final' out-of-body state, one that may or may not continue after the irreversible death.

Near death experiences can be explained. They are the chemicals in your body going haywire and the lack of oxygen. You'd be surprised how a minute drop in body chemistry can set the entire system out of wack. Of course they have no control. It's like when some people have blood drawn and they pass out. As much as they want to stay awake, their mind has other ideas.

Here is an interesting paper I stumbled on, by Karl Jansen, that supports the idea of a flood of neurotransmitters and chemical changes.
The Ketamine Model of the Near Death Experience

Interestingly, after further study on the subject, Jansen appended a note to the paper:
'I am no longer as opposed to spritual explanations of these phenomena as this article would appear to suggest. Over the past two years (it is quite some time since I wrote it) I have moved more towards the views put forward by John Lilly and Stan Grof. Namely, that drugs and psychological disciplines such as meditation and yoga may render certain 'states' more accessible. The complication then becomes in defining just what we mean by 'states' and where they are located, if indeed location is an appropriate term at all. But the apparent emphasis on matter over mind contained within this particular article no longer accurately represents my attitudes. My forthcoming book 'Ketamine' will consider mystical issues from quite a different perspective, and will give a much stronger voice to those who see drugs as just another door to a space, and not as actually producing that space'.

I have not read up on Lilly's and Grof's views... I'll check them out tonight, and perhaps try to find out what made Jansen change his perspective.