He says some doctors think the experiences are caused by physiological changes in the brain caused by brain cells dying.

You'd think they'd be able to test this hypothesis.

Others think they are a psychological reaction.

Pretty doggone consistent "psychological reaction"...wonder if it's "culturally conditioned"?

It's amazing how far skeptics will go to deny the obvious.

The obvious?  I want to believe it, too.
But use your head.

One doctor even put a piece of cardboard
with something written on it on top of some
cabinets in the room where it would be seen
by her patients having NDEs.  None of those
who floated around and out of the room during
NDE could tell her what was an the card.

That said, I still enjoy reading Life After Life
by Dr Moody and  Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

Science can't explain everything, and if you believe scientists like Roger Penrose, there are some things that it will never be able to explain satisfactorily by purely materialist premises.

I often think that our remote ancestors came to an awareness of God through (among other things) the type of "near death experiences" that has these scientists so puzzled.

"Near-death experiences" just happen inside the mind, it's that simple. That so many seem to be similar may be attributed to the constant cultural reinforcement of certain images to EXPECT when we are close to dying. I mean, everybody KNOWS they're supposed to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

None of those who floated around and out of the room during NDE could tell her what was an the card.

Just a guess:

You're dead because I'm incompetent.

Skeptics have claimed for years the pleasant feeling came from a release of dopamine as the brain starves for O2. They can't seem to explain how some know what people said out in the hall or were wearing even though they never saw them while alive. Yes, Virgina, there is an afterlife!

The question shouldn't be "Is there an afterlife?",( almost all civilizations have believed that from the begining), but rather "what are you going to do about it?" It is only in the recent past that "science" has become obsessed with proving otherwise.

One doctor even put a piece of cardboard with something written on it on top of some cabinets in the room where it would be seen by her patients having NDEs. None of those who floated around and out of the room during NDE could tell her what was an the card.

Dude, I'm still alive and I can't read the handwriting of any doctor I know---you expect a dead person to be able to make it out?

Then how do you explain the fact that MOST people see ONLY people who are already dead?

Hmmmm? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Works for me!!

Let's see...the dying person's brain is probably starved for oxygen, body functions are shutting down...yeah, that would make for a trustworthy observer, wouldn't it?

"Near-death experiences" just happen inside the mind, it's that simple. That so many seem to be similar may be attributed to the constant cultural reinforcement of certain images to EXPECT when we are close to dying. I mean, everybody KNOWS they're supposed to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

PING! I knew someone would bring up the "cultural conditioning" stuff!

Pretty powerful conditioning though....I'm culturally conditioned to dream about sex orgies every night, and most nights I just dream about falling, or some goofball scenario that I've never heard tell about in real life.

Ping for later read.

Then how do you explain the fact that MOST
people see ONLY people who are already dead?

IIRC, in Life After Life, there was a little girl who
had an NDE as a result of a car crash involving
her and her parents.  Only the deceased parent
occurred in the NDE.  The little girl did not know
at the time that anybody was dead.

None of those who floated around and out of the room during NDE could tell her what was an the card.

Compared to all the experiences they were feeling and sights they were witnessing at that time of the NDE, somehow, what was written on a card would be, I imagine, the last thing of interest !

ROFLOL! Worth repeating!

Let's see...the dying person's brain is probably starved for oxygen, body functions are shutting down...yeah, that would make for a trustworthy observer, wouldn't it?

Let's see...the dying person's brain is probably starved for oxygen, body functions are shutting down...yeah, that would make for a trustworthy observer, wouldn't it?

Doesn't make sense to me, either. Like I said, I would think that if there were really such an impairment in brain function that explained this phenomenon, it could be tested in revived individuals. Either that hasn't been done, or the testing hasn't borne out the hypothesis of "dying brain cells" etiology.

I believe I had a near death experience as a little child. At 2, I overdosed on aspirin, went into a coma for four days (my uncle said; my mother died when I was 12, so I can't confirm the number of days; my dad is oblivious and thinks I was in a coma for four hours; my uncle disputes this vehemently, saying that had that been the case, the Priest wouldn't have had time to come in, do Last Rites, and then have the doctors allow all the family in to say "good bye;" he said the doctors said I wouldn't make it.)

Anyway, I had a recurring "dream" for about 27 years. In my "dream" I was sitting on a bed in the hospital room, the door was open, and a bright light was in the hallway. That was it. But I had this dream (vivid) over and over and over, week after week, year after year. One day, I just thought about why, and what was wrong with that dream. It had to do with the light. Something wasn't quite "right." I realized two things: 1) the light didn't illuminate anything in the room, it stayed at the doorway; 2) it didn't define anything in the hallway, there was only light, no walls, no floors, no people, etc.

Ever since I analyzed the "not quite right light," and the possibility that I was actually dead, that the light was something more than a lightbulb, I've never had the dream again. I believe I died, if just for a minute. I asked my uncle if he knew if I had died, even for a moment. He doesn't know, but wouldn't say I definitely hadn't because I was that far gone. I have had no disabilities intellectually in school or college. I believe God wanted me to focus on the fact that I was dead, but He wanted me to stay alive. He has a purpose for me (what that is, I still don't know).

I believe God wanted me to focus on the fact that I was dead, but He wanted me to stay alive. He has a purpose for me (what that is, I still don't know).

Thanks very much for relating your own experience. And yes, I too am convinced that God has a purpose for his creation.

Your logic is bad. My point was that people have near-death experiences because they have certain culturally-reinforced images in their mind about what death is supposed to be like. When they are aware of their own death, those images are triggered, and...voila! You are essentially saying that if culturally-reinforced images do affect your subconscious mind, they must affect your every day dreams too. Not so, because you don't think you're going to die every day. That's my entire point, that these images get triggered precisely because of your awareness of dying.
As for the images you do see in your dreams, those are not necessarily as a result of cultural images because they are not tied to any specific event. Unless you are going through finals and you have nightmares. Ultimately though...who knows? I don't know... it's just the best theory that fits. I don't see why near-death experiences are evidence of the afterlife any more than they are evidence of psychological reactions in the brain. Why does it have to be the afterlife? It clearly doesn't, because there are other equally plausible explanations.
It's ironic that you're using a standard of proof to justify your belief in the afterlife. You are essentially subjecting belief to scientific inquiry. For example: Would you be less likely to believe in the afterlife if there weren't any near-death experiences? If your answer is yes, then ok, you're saying the afterlife is some physically testable quantity which can be proved true or false. If your answer is no, then near-death experiences shuold really be irrelevant for you.