Search Results

open access

The Death Dream and Near-Death Darwinism

Description: This paper proposes that "based upon very repeatable computer simulations of dying neural networks, the phenomena of both near-death experiences (NDEs) and a virtual afterlife are plausible and can be expected to occur in traumatized neurobiological systems" (abstract). The author then speculates three societal implications based on this conclusion.
Date: Autumn 1996
Creator: Thaler, Stephen L.
open access

Guest Editorial: Children and the Near-Death Phenomenon: Another Viewpoint

Description: "Children who brush death, nearly die, or who are pronounced clinically dead but later revive have a much higher incidence of near-death experiences (NDEs) than do adults. Although excellent research now exists on children's cases, there have been discrepancies. I suggest that we need to broaden the range of observations on children's NDEs and reconsider what is known about children and the near-death phenomenon" (abstract).
Date: Autumn 1996
Creator: Atwater, P. M. H.
open access

Hedonic Deactivation: A New Human Value for an Advanced Society

Description: "Comatose subjects experience pleasant unaroused affects such as tranquility, serenity, peacefulness, and relaxation, more frequently and more intensely than they experience aroused feelings or differentiated emotions. I suggest that consciousness is not disconnected by coma, but rather is potentiated following complete blockage of the brain's information channels" (abstract).
Date: Autumn 1996
Creator: Tiberi, Emilio
open access

Questions for the "Dying Brain Hypothesis"

Description: Abstract: I pose four questions for the "dying brain hypothesis" as propounded by Susan Blackmore in her book Dying to Live (1993). The first calls into question Blackmore's reductionist explanation of the "bird's-eye view" for a near-death experience (NDE) and asks why out-of-body perception from a supine position is not reported, given her theory. The second inquires as to how the materialist view explains NDErs' feelings of unconditional love, while the third ponders whether the variance a… more
Date: Autumn 1996
Creator: Serdahely, William J.
Back to Top of Screen