Search Results

open access

Near-Death Experiences and the Theory of the Extraneuronal Hyperspace

Description: Abstract: It is possible and desirable to supplement the traditional neurological and metaphysical explanatory models of the near-death experience (NDE) with yet a third type of explanatory model that links the neurological and the metaphysical. I set forth the rudiments of this model, the Theory of the Extraneuronal Hyperspace, with six propositions. I then use this theory to explain three of the pressing issues within NDE scholarship: the veridicality, precognition and "fear-death experienc… more
Date: Winter 1999
Creator: Audain, Linz
open access

The Theory of Essence. [Part] 3: Neuroanatomical and Neurophysiological Aspects of Interactionism

Description: Article continuing the construction of a dualistic interactionist theory of the near-death experience (NDE), the theory of essence, which was begun in two previous articles. The present work represents an extension of the theory to the microscopic level of analysis, in order to specify in detail the mechanism of essence-brain interaction and to address some general and specific objections to interactionism and the theory of essence.
Date: Winter 1999
Creator: Arnette, J. Kenneth
open access

Claims of Near-Death Experiences, Gestalt Resistance Processes, and Measures of Optimal Functioning

Description: Abstract: The present study investigated the relationship between claims of near-death experiences (NDEs) and measures of self-actualization. Gestalt resistance processes transfluence, mystical experiences, and claims of peak life experiences in a sample of 155 individuals. As hypothesized, I found significant positive correlations between the claims of NDEs and transfluence and mystical experiences. I found no significant correlations between claims of NDEs and the seven Gestalt resistances… more
Date: Autumn 1999
Creator: Prosnick, Kevin P.
open access

A Contribution of Tipler's Omega Point Theory to Near-Death Studies

Description: Article presenting Frank Tipler's concepts and arguments, and highlighting the value of his orientation for near-death studies. Tipler's work takes the steam out of scientific rejection of religious, spiritual, or noetic phenomena, and makes it possible to accept these phenomena while maintaining a strictly scientific posture.
Date: Autumn 1999
Creator: Crumbaugh, James C.
open access

The Near-Death Experience: An Integration of Cultural, Spiritual, and Physical Perspectives

Description: Article exploring two conflicting perspectives: that the near-death experience (NDE) is a glimpse into an after-death state and that it is the result of a dying brain, as well as a third perspective that NDEs are culturally determined. The author proposes an integrated model in which all three perspectives are viewed with equal weight.
Date: Autumn 1999
Creator: Paulson, Daryl S.
open access

Recreating Near-Death Experiences: A Cognitive Approach

Description: Abstract: I describe a guided meditation that, when used by near-death experiencers (NDErs), recreates fragments of their NDEs. The meditation is based on Michael Persinger's neurological theory regarding the "God Experiences," and its success supports that theory. The present study included too few subjects to support quantitative analysis, and must be regarded as a pilot study.
Date: Summer 1999
Creator: Murphy, Todd
open access

Parallels Between Near-Death Experience Prophetic Visions and Prophecies from the Bible and Mormon Holy Writ

Description: Article discussing a phenomenon identified by Kenneth Ring where some near-death experiencers (NDErs) were permitted to see a picture of the Earth's future as a "prophetic vision" (PV). A comparison of the events of NDE PVs of the Earth's future and prophecies from the Bible and the Mormons' "Doctrine and Covenants" shows nearly complete agreement.
Date: Spring 1999
Creator: Lundahl, Craig R.
open access

A Projective Geometry for Separation Experiences

Description: Article presenting a projective geometry for out-of-body "separation experiences," built up out of a series of higher space analogies and resulting diagrams.
Date: Spring 1999
Creator: Greene, F. Gordon
open access

The Meaning and Intensity of the Near-Death Experience

Description: Article exploring the hypothesis that near-death experiencers (NDErs) assign the meaning of the NDE by using causal (effect) and semantic (affect) attributions. To test this hypothesis, 32 spontaneous verbal accounts of NDEs were analyzed.
Date: Winter 1998
Creator: Sahlman, James M. & Norton, Max C.
open access

Six Studies of Out-of-Body Experiences

Description: Article reviewing six studies of a basic component of the near-death experience (NDE), the out-of body experience (OBE).
Date: Winter 1998
Creator: Tart, Charles T.
open access

The Emerging Intelligence and Its Critical Look at Us

Description: Abstract: In response to Susan Gunn's editorial, I offer a less comforting but more utilitarian perspective on the life and death of artificial consciousness. Admittedly an unpopular view, it suggests that concurrence with Gunn's message represents the seeds of our own destruction, as an emerging synthetic intelligence begins to extinguish us.
Date: Autumn 1998
Creator: Thaler, Stephen L.
open access

Guest Editorial: Can Artificial Intelligence Have a Near-Death Experience? A Critical Look at the Ultimate Text

Description: Abstract: Since a computer model begins as an instance of writing, that is, a "text," it is appropriate to examine this kind of discourse through the perspective of literary criticism. I examine Stephen Thaler's (1995) "intelligent" computer program and conclude that the gedanken creatures are constructed upon a structuralist theory of the text, which cannot support a complete simulation of human intelligence of experience.
Date: Autumn 1998
Creator: Gunn, Susan C.
open access

The Phenomenology of Near-Death Consciousness in Past-Life Regression Therapy: A Pilot Study

Description: Article reporting the results of a pilot study exploring similarities between the phenomenology of post-death awareness reported by regressed subjects and the phenomenology of near-death experiences (NDE), as far as the therapeutic modality normally accommodates post-death phenomena. Similarities and differences between NDEs and post-death regression phenomena suggest new avenues of research.
Date: Autumn 1998
Creator: Wade, Jenny
open access

Inner Communications Following the Near-Death Experience

Description: Article describing three individuals who reported experiencing inner communications subsequent to their near-death experiences (NDEs), and suggesting that these inner messages may be a form of intuition, encouraging further research into this phenomena.
Date: Summer 1998
Creator: Liester, Mitchell B.
open access

Guest Editorial: The Amplification and Integration of Near-Death and Other Exceptional Human Experiences by the Larger Cultural Context: An Autobiographical Case

Description: Abstract: Although I became a parapsychologist in part to help me understand the near-death experience (NDE) I had in 1952 as an undergraduate, it was not until 1990 that I began to integrate my NDE into my life. Doing so alerted me to the role the larger cultural context plays in regard to NDEs and other exceptional human experiences (EHEs). I propose not only that we need to draw on cultural resources to amplify the meaning of our exceptional human experiences, but that EHEs themselves carr… more
Date: Spring 1998
Creator: White, Rhea A.
open access

Near-Death Experiences, Shamanism, and the Scientific Method

Description: Article discussing the overlap between shamanism and near-death experiences (NDEs) and suggesting that the study of shamanism would be helpful in more fully understanding this phenomena and beginning the development of an applied methodology. Although it may be difficult to verify subjective accounts of NDEs and shamanic journeys, from a clinical standpoint it may not be necessary to do so in order to develop a technique that passes the test of scientific scrutiny.
Date: Spring 1998
Creator: Green, J. Timothy
open access

The Mystery of Frightening Transcendent Experiences: A Rejoinder to Nancy Evans Bush and Christopher Bache

Description: Article reviewing Christopher Bache's perinatal account of near-death experiences (NDEs) and suggesting that it does not go far enough. The author then presents a new model, bliss/abyss, derived from the study of mysticism; shows that pleasant and frightening NDEs can be accommodated within the model; and discusses the predictions that can be drawn from the new theoretical framework.
Date: Winter 1997
Creator: Jambor, Mishka
open access

Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind: A Study of Apparent Eyeless Vision

Description: Article reporting the results of an investigation into near-death and out-of-body experiences in 31 blind respondents. The study sought to address three main questions: (1) whether blind individuals have near-death experiences (NDEs) and, if so, whether they are the same as or different from those of sighted persons; (2) whether blind persons ever claim to see during NDEs and out-of-body experiences (OBEs); and (3) if such claims are made, whether they can ever be corroborated by reference to i… more
Date: Winter 1997
Creator: Ring, Kenneth & Cooper, Sharon
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