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LAD: Near Death Experiences. Mr. DeZilva March 10 th , 2014. What is Near Death Experience? (NDE). NDE refers to the wide range of experiences people have had at a point when they nearly died An “out-of-body experience” or a “ seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel ” experience
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LAD: Near Death Experiences Mr. DeZilvaMarch 10th, 2014.
What is Near Death Experience? (NDE) • NDE refers to the wide range of experiences people have had at a point when they nearly died • An “out-of-body experience” or a “seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel” experience • NDE’s contain similar features (such as the above), and this typically gives credence to their factuality • Medical studies suggests that NDE is reported by between 8%-12% of patients who have been resuscitated after suffering cardiac arrest.
Raymond Moody (1944 - ) • Context • A parapsychologist who coined the term “Near Death Experience” • Wrote Life After Death in 1975, in which he discussed Near Death Experiences and brought the topic to popularity • Recorded the descriptions of patients who had claimed to have NDEs and found several common features
Moody continued • Common characteristics include • The subjective sense of being aware of one’s own death • A pleasant feeling of peace and painlessness • A sense of being outside the body and being able to look down on one’s own body from above • A sense of going into somewhere dark and tunnel-like • Encountering a presence or hearing a voice • Feeling an intense sense of being surrounded by love • Meeting people who “glow with light” • Seeing one’s whole life in a flash
Support to NDEs • Kenneth Ring (1936 - ) • American psychologist who expanded on Moody’s work • Studied blind people and noted they were able to see in the NDE and during out-of-body experiences. • NDEs were not subject to a person’s religion The feeling of being surrounded by love was in common • NDEs also had a lasting effect i.e. people were no longer afraid of death, they had a new appreciation of the world, and were less concerned with material possession • Concluded that life after death is a genuine reality
Support to NDEs • William James (1842 – 1910) • Varieties of Religious Experience • Suggested that a religious experience could be validated by its lasting effects • Showing saintliness (for example) • The religious experience was validated base on if the person was made more caring and more moral • Focused on the pragmatic(practical) consequences of the Religious Experience
Challenges to NDEs • 1. NEDs only happen in a small proportion of those who become clinically dead for a while • 2. Sensations typical of NDEs can also be experienced by people who are not near death at all • 3. Experiments show that nothing actually leaves the body during an “out-of-body experience” • 4. No objective basis for looking down on one’s own body • 5. An “ought” that influences the experience • 6. Just because it “feels real” does not make it reality • 7. No evidence for the “After-life” even if experienced an “out-of-body” experience