Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven: A Brief Introduction in Plain Language by J. Steve Miller Page A
Authors: J. Steve Miller
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of
her surgery till she was sent back from the other side and regained
consciousness.
Doctors
Sabom and Spetzler (director of the Barrow Neurological Institute) confirmed
the accuracy of what she both heard and saw in the operating room. Even if
portions of her near death experience took place during general anesthesia
rather than after the blood was drained, this vivid, accurate experience
occurred while she was heavily sedated, with her brain monitored in three ways
to ensure that she was deeply anesthetized. Before the draining of the blood, her
eyes were taped shut. A loud clicking at a rate of 11 to 33 clicks per second continually
assaulted her ears. The volume of the clicks, between 90 to 100 decibels, has
been likened to the sound of a subway train, a whistling teakettle, or a lawn
mower. Even if the sedation failed, the clicking would prevent her from hearing
and the tape would keep her from seeing. How could she have known these things
unless she was observing them outside of her body? (18)
If mental
functions present themselves as remarkably clear, lucid, and even enhanced, (19) while the brain is severely compromised, the afterlife hypothesis (the mind
can exist independently from the brain) would seem to fit the data better than
a naturalistic hypothesis (mental functions are produced solely by the
brain).
Exhibit
#3 - The presence of remarkably consistent, yet unexpected
elements, are not what we’d predict from a psychologically induced dream state.
Remarkable
Consistency
Dreams
differ wildly from individual to individual. So why the remarkable consistency
of NDEs, if they’re simply dream states?
Reflect
upon the random nature of dreams. If 20 people go to sleep agitated, some may indeed
have dreams that reflect agitation, but each dream would likely be completely
different. One dreams of hanging out with an obnoxious person. Another dreams
of camping out in poison ivy.
We’d
be shocked and mystified if we interviewed hundreds of people who fell asleep
agitated and find that 95 percent of them reported a uniform dream – like living
in a large city inhabited by zombies. We’d be even more mystified if they
reported uniform zombie characteristics that differed from typical zombie
movies, such as “all zombies in my dream communicated via tapping Morse code on
each other’s shoulders.” With no expectations of such strange behavior, the
uniform experience would likely defy explanation. (20)
That’s
why there’s something very odd about what Moody refers to as the “striking
similarity” (21) of NDE reports. What people experience on the other side
forms a pretty consistent picture of life in another dimension. Why such
consistency, if it’s nothing more than a dream state? While the reports are
personalized (for example, the content of their conversations and the familiar
relatives they see) they are remarkably consistent regarding the specific,
often unexpected nature of this otherworldly life.
As
Dr. Rawlings writes:
“The remarkable repetitive sequence of
events and parallel experiences in completely unrelated cases seem to exclude
the possibility of any coincidence or connecting circumstances during this
out-of-the-body existence.” (22)
Unexpected
Details
If
NDEs were merely vivid dreams that resulted from people’s expectations
concerning death, I’d expect a close correspondence between people’s
expectations and what they actually report.
Yet,
most of what they report was totally unexpected. Who would expect the typical experience
of communicating directly mind-to-mind rather than using the medium of
language? Who expects to encounter a dimension where both time and space seem
to vanish, where they can see both up close and far away with equal clarity,
and view an entire lifetime in an instant? A bright light might be expected by
some, but who expects the common experience of not having to squint
her surgery till she was sent back from the other side and regained
consciousness.
Doctors
Sabom and Spetzler (director of the Barrow Neurological Institute) confirmed
the accuracy of what she both heard and saw in the operating room. Even if
portions of her near death experience took place during general anesthesia
rather than after the blood was drained, this vivid, accurate experience
occurred while she was heavily sedated, with her brain monitored in three ways
to ensure that she was deeply anesthetized. Before the draining of the blood, her
eyes were taped shut. A loud clicking at a rate of 11 to 33 clicks per second continually
assaulted her ears. The volume of the clicks, between 90 to 100 decibels, has
been likened to the sound of a subway train, a whistling teakettle, or a lawn
mower. Even if the sedation failed, the clicking would prevent her from hearing
and the tape would keep her from seeing. How could she have known these things
unless she was observing them outside of her body? (18)
If mental
functions present themselves as remarkably clear, lucid, and even enhanced, (19) while the brain is severely compromised, the afterlife hypothesis (the mind
can exist independently from the brain) would seem to fit the data better than
a naturalistic hypothesis (mental functions are produced solely by the
brain).
Exhibit
#3 - The presence of remarkably consistent, yet unexpected
elements, are not what we’d predict from a psychologically induced dream state.
Remarkable
Consistency
Dreams
differ wildly from individual to individual. So why the remarkable consistency
of NDEs, if they’re simply dream states?
Reflect
upon the random nature of dreams. If 20 people go to sleep agitated, some may indeed
have dreams that reflect agitation, but each dream would likely be completely
different. One dreams of hanging out with an obnoxious person. Another dreams
of camping out in poison ivy.
We’d
be shocked and mystified if we interviewed hundreds of people who fell asleep
agitated and find that 95 percent of them reported a uniform dream – like living
in a large city inhabited by zombies. We’d be even more mystified if they
reported uniform zombie characteristics that differed from typical zombie
movies, such as “all zombies in my dream communicated via tapping Morse code on
each other’s shoulders.” With no expectations of such strange behavior, the
uniform experience would likely defy explanation. (20)
That’s
why there’s something very odd about what Moody refers to as the “striking
similarity” (21) of NDE reports. What people experience on the other side
forms a pretty consistent picture of life in another dimension. Why such
consistency, if it’s nothing more than a dream state? While the reports are
personalized (for example, the content of their conversations and the familiar
relatives they see) they are remarkably consistent regarding the specific,
often unexpected nature of this otherworldly life.
As
Dr. Rawlings writes:
“The remarkable repetitive sequence of
events and parallel experiences in completely unrelated cases seem to exclude
the possibility of any coincidence or connecting circumstances during this
out-of-the-body existence.” (22)
Unexpected
Details
If
NDEs were merely vivid dreams that resulted from people’s expectations
concerning death, I’d expect a close correspondence between people’s
expectations and what they actually report.
Yet,
most of what they report was totally unexpected. Who would expect the typical experience
of communicating directly mind-to-mind rather than using the medium of
language? Who expects to encounter a dimension where both time and space seem
to vanish, where they can see both up close and far away with equal clarity,
and view an entire lifetime in an instant? A bright light might be expected by
some, but who expects the common experience of not having to squint
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