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We propose a new substance dualist framework to explain consciousness, drawing on near-death expe... more We propose a new substance dualist framework to explain consciousness, drawing on near-death experience (NDE) and neurological evidence. Evidence from veridical NDE perceptions suggests that consciousness can separate from the physical body as an individuated, self-aware entity or mind. We propose that the mind is a separate entity from the physical body, belonging to a distinct ontological category. Accordingly, the human being is conceptualized as the union of the mind entity (or soul) and the physical body. As the locus of consciousness, the mind entity possesses all the attributes of consciousness: perception, thinking, emotion, memory, volition, and self-awareness. We provide NDE evidence that the mind entity interacts in general with physical processes and specifically with neural activity in the brain. The mechanism for mind-brain interaction involves initially triggering and then detecting neural action potentials. The induced neural activity in specific regions brings the mind's mental content to awareness. The mind-brain interface occurs in cortical dendritic spines, where the mind triggers calcium ion release from the spine apparatus via spine F-actin filaments. Inhaled anesthetics dissolve these filaments, blocking this process, leading to loss of consciousness. The mind entity's actions to induce cortical activity can explain numerous cognitive neurological processes including perception and language comprehension.
(2008a) recently announced the AWARE study (AWAreness during REsuscitation) which will be conduct... more (2008a) recently announced the AWARE study (AWAreness during REsuscitation) which will be conducted by the Human Consciousness ProjectsM, an international multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists and physicians to study the relationship between the mind and the brain during clinical death. The researchers will examine prospectively 1,500 survivors of cardiac arrest across 25 participating hospitals in Europe and North America for 36 to 60 months. The study organizers expect as many as 300 of the cardiac arrest survivors to report a near-death experience (NDE), of whom perhaps 30 to 60 patients will also report an out-of-body experience (OBE) with perceptions of the physical surroundings. One major objective of the study is to test whether the perceptions reported by the OBE patients during the cardiac arrest episode are veridical (verified as accurate). The study team will place complex images on shelves above the heads of 50 to 100 hospital beds in the participating hospitals. These images will be visible only from the ceiling. In addition, each patient's brain oxygen level will be measured during resuscitation using a cerebral oximeter that measures changes in regional saturation of oxygen in the cerebral cortex using infrared sensors placed on the patient's forehead. If the initial results include some positive cases, the study team may install tablet computers to show random images and video recording cameras to record both the resuscitation and the images to allow verification of perceptions of the resuscitation procedure, including idiosyncratic events such as the doctor knocking over a bucket of instruments.
In Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife, authors John Martin Fischer an... more In Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife, authors John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin (2016) argued for purely physicalist explanations of near-death experiences (NDEs) and against "supernatural" explanations involving objects and events-out-of-body experiences, heavenly realms, meeting deceased relatives-that have no physical reality. In our critique, we identify two major weaknesses to their argument: heavy reliance on ad hoc hypotheses and frequent appeal to "promissory materialism." Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin applied the term "hallucination" to NDEs because, by definition, they "do not correspond to reality." We found use of this term problematic for several reasons: that NDE perceptions are phenomenologically different from hallucinations, that NDE perceptions of the physical realm are nearly always veridical, and that labelling NDEs "hallucinations" pathologizes a normal, subjective experience, with potentially harmful psychological outcomes. Although Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin argued against a theory of NDEs that invokes only one explanatory factor, we argue for a likely common proximate cause for all NDEs and that the nonphysical "mind-entity theory," in which the nonmaterial mind separates from the physical body in an NDE, is a likely candidate theory with good explanatory power. We believe that ultimately the theory explaining NDEs will be corrected through the normal process of scientific inquiry, resulting in an expansion of current physicalist theory to include what is now considered supernatural, thus becoming an extended, transmaterial naturalist theory.
In July, 2013, journalist Luke Dittrich wrote an article in Esquire magazine critical of neurosur... more In July, 2013, journalist Luke Dittrich wrote an article in Esquire magazine critical of neurosurgeon Eben Alexander's 2012 book Proof of Heaven. Dittrich cited several malpractice lawsuits against Alexander, in one of which Alexander allegedly had altered medical records to cover his errors. Dittrich made this allegation his theme for critiquing the story of Alexander's NDE: that Alexander altered the facts of his story to make them more dramatic. In particular, Dittrich questioned the central premise of the book: that Alexander's experience was the result of a brain all but destroyed by meningitis. He contended that Alexander's hyperreal experience of the heavenly Gateway Realm with the beautiful girl on the butterfly wing and the knowledge he gained from The Core were all hallucinations resulting from a medically induced coma and that Alexander stood to gain financially by representing his experience as genuine. In this article, I critique Dittrich's article point by point and uncover a pattern of inaccuracy and misrepresentation of facts on Dittrich's part. I conclude that it was Dittrich's work, rather than Alexander's, that was erroneous.
In this commentary, we respond to Fischer’s main thesis—“I do think that mainstream science could... more In this commentary, we respond to Fischer’s main thesis—“I do think that mainstream science could in principle someday explain NDEs (although it hasn’t yet)” (Fischer, 2020, p. 174). We draw on earlier points we published in two critical articles in the Journal of Near-Death Studies (Mays & Mays, 2015, 2017a). In this article, we refer to the book, The Self Does Not Die (SDND) by Titus Rivas et al. (2016), which we consider an excellent compendium of verified paranormal phenomena reported in association with NDEs. We notate these references as SDND with specific pages, cases, or chapters.
These are our views based on NDErs' testimony Our findings are still preliminary The identi... more These are our views based on NDErs' testimony Our findings are still preliminary The identity of respondents is confidential Motivation for our study Ken Leth interview on IANDS NDE Radio, March 2016 George Ritchie's prophetic visions during his NDE Our intention in this presentation
In Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife, authors John Martin Fischer an... more In Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife, authors John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin (2016) argued for purely physicalist explanations of near-death experiences (NDEs) and against "supernatural" explanations involving objects and events-out-of-body experiences, heavenly realms, meeting deceased relatives-that have no physical reality. In our critique, we identify two major weaknesses to their argument: heavy reliance on ad hoc hypotheses and frequent appeal to "promissory materialism." Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin applied the term "hallucination" to NDEs because, by definition, they "do not correspond to reality." We found use of this term problematic for several reasons: that NDE perceptions are phenomenologically different from hallucinations, that NDE perceptions of the physical realm are nearly always veridical, and that labelling NDEs "hallucinations" pathologizes a normal, subjective experience, with potentially harmful psychological outcomes. Although Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin argued against a theory of NDEs that invokes only one explanatory factor, we argue for a likely common proximate cause for all NDEs and that the nonphysical "mind-entity theory," in which the nonmaterial mind separates from the physical body in an NDE, is a likely candidate theory with good explanatory power. We believe that ultimately the theory explaining NDEs will be corrected through the normal process of scientific inquiry, resulting in an expansion of current physicalist theory to include what is now considered supernatural, thus becoming an extended, transmaterial naturalist theory.
The out-of-body phase of the near-death experience, where the locus of awareness is no longer in ... more The out-of-body phase of the near-death experience, where the locus of awareness is no longer in the body, provides details of the phenomenon of the independent self-conscious mind. With these details, one can isolate the attributes and faculties of the self-conscious mind from those of the brain. The phenomenology of the out-of-body experience thus acts as a Rosetta stone in deciphering mind-body phenomena. This view is very similar to the dualist interactionist model of Popper and Eccles (1977) but with several differences. Counterintuitive mind-body phenomena such as antedating, apparent delays in awareness of voluntary actions, and phantom limbs can be reassessed, showing that the non-material mind is accessible to scientific study. The objection that the operation of a non-material self-conscious mind within the brain violates the current laws of physics is probably correct: the independent self-conscious mind constitutes a new dimension of reality and current physical laws nee...
An expanded scale, the Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale, has been developed by Charlot... more An expanded scale, the Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale, has been developed by Charlotte Martial and colleagues (2020) to assess near-death experiences (NDEs). The scale was modeled after the existing NDE Scale (Greyson, 1983), using reworded scale items, and added five additional items, notably items about a gateway or tunnel and a feeling of non-existence or fear. NDE-C uses a rating scale of 0–4 for each item and thus ranges from 0 to 80. In this article, we raise concerns that several of the reworded items appear to have changed the meaning of NDE Scale item and appear to be significantly more prevalent or less prevalent than the original item, as demonstrated in a Rasch statistical analysis of the NDE-C results. We suggest wording changes for these items so that they return to their original context and meaning. Introduction An article describing the development of an expanded scale to assess NDEs, “The Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale: Development and psy...
The prevalent view in neuroscience is that the brain produces consciousness. We are conscious bec... more The prevalent view in neuroscience is that the brain produces consciousness. We are conscious because the electrical activity in our brain's neurons works in a complex way and consciousness somehow “emerges” from that complex neural activity. The difficulty with this view is that it doesn't really explain our interior, subjective experience of consciousness, as pointed out by David Chalmers (1995), which is the really “hard problem” of consciousness.
In July, 2013, journalist Luke Dittrich wrote an article in Esquire magazine critical of neurosur... more In July, 2013, journalist Luke Dittrich wrote an article in Esquire magazine critical of neurosurgeon Eben Alexander’s 2012 book Proof of Heaven. Dittrich cited several malpractice lawsuits against Alexander, in one of which Alexander allegedly had altered medical records to cover his errors. Dittrich made this allegation his theme for critiquing the story of Alexander’s NDE: that Alexander altered the facts of his story to make them more dramatic. In particular, Dittrich questioned the central premise of the book: that Alexander’s experience was the result of a brain all but destroyed by meningitis. He contended that Alexander’s hyperreal experience of the heavenly Gateway Realm with the
beautiful girl on the butterfly wing and the knowledge he gained from The Core were all hallucinations resulting from a medically induced coma and that Alexander stood to gain financially by representing his experience as genuine. In this article, I critique Dittrich’s article point by point and uncover a pattern of inaccuracy and misrepresentation of facts on Dittrich’s part. I conclude that it was Dittrich’s work, rather than Alexander’s, that was erroneous.
We propose that the "mind" is an energetic, spatially extended, nonmaterial entity that... more We propose that the "mind" is an energetic, spatially extended, nonmaterial entity that is united with the brain and body. The mind is a separate entity having the character of a structured energy field, which can interact with physical processes including brain neurons. The nonmaterial mind is also the seat of conscious experience. The mind interacts directly with cortical neurons, probably via electrical interaction, resulting in both subjective phenomenal experience and causal influence on neurological processes. All cognitive faculties reside in the mind but ordinarily need the brain's neural activity for conscious awareness. When brain structures are damaged, mental faculties dependent on them are partially or totally impaired. The main evidence for this view are phenomena from near-death experience and various neurological phenomena, in particular phantom limbs. This theory solves the "hard problem" of how phenomenal experience can arise from physical b...
This book is like a collection of precious jewels that have been sorted out and set into differen... more This book is like a collection of precious jewels that have been sorted out and set into different sections of a display case, showing different levels of brilliance and color, different degrees of uniqueness and beauty. As such, the book is a valuable catalog of important cases of paranormal phenomena from near-death experiences (NDEs) that have been investigated, confirmed, and documented by researchers over the years. To the two of us, many of these jewels are old, familiar friends. In our study of NDEs over the past years, we have come across many of these jewels in our reading together as interesting, even fascinating, cases of para-normal phenomena. They are familiar friends because we have studied and pondered them, replayed them in our minds, argued about them, and written about them. We first encountered several of these jewels in Raymond Moody's book, Life After Life. They included the basic features of NDEs: the feeling of peace, the separation from the physical body, the sense of hyperreality, meeting deceased loved ones, encountering a great being of light, having a "life review" of the events of one's life, returning to one's body, and later finding corroboration of aspects of the experience by oneself or from others. These last jewels— the perceptions and other information the near-death experiencer (NDEr) received during the experience that were later confirmed by other witnesses— were of the greatest interest to us because they suggested that these experiences are not only subjectively but also objectively real, that NDEs are, in fact, a taste of what it is like to die and, therefore, they suggest that the self does not die when the physical body dies. A few years after Moody's book, we came across two additional jewels of this type in George Ritchie's book, Return From Tomorrow. In his NDE, Ritchie experienced being out of his body, flying eastward across the frozen plains of east Texas at night in December. He flew over a large river and
A recent comparison of near-death experiences (NDEs) occurring with life-threatening events leadi... more A recent comparison of near-death experiences (NDEs) occurring with life-threatening events leading to coma to " NDE-like " experiences occurring with non-life-threatening events showed no significant difference in intensity or content between the two experiences, suggesting that neither the apparent proximity to death nor the specific physiological or psychological factors present influence quality or " depth " of such experiences. This study directly contradicts previous findings of significantly more enhanced perception of light and enhanced cognitive powers in near-death experiencers (NDErs) very close to death compared to those not in danger of dying. We argue that findings of the recent study are more valid due to more appropriate methodology. The general assumption has been that NDEs result from some physical cause that brings people close to death, but such explanations are problematic. An adequate scientific explanation of NDEs needs to be complete, accounting for all aspects of all NDEs. The commonality among NDEs occurring in a wide range of conditions suggests that there is a common underlying " proximate cause " to all NDEs. The proximate cause could be physiological, for example, a common brain circuit in a particular brain region, or non-physiological, for example, the separation of consciousness as an autonomous entity from the physical body. We argue that the latter hypothesis has greater explanatory power, although it posits elements beyond the current physicalist paradigm. Which explanation of NDEs is correct will be resolved only with further scientific investigation.
We propose that the "mind" is an energetic, spatially extended, nonmaterial entity that is united... more We propose that the "mind" is an energetic, spatially extended, nonmaterial entity that is united with the brain and body. The mind is a separate entity having the character of a structured energy field, which can interact with physical processes including brain neurons. The nonmaterial mind is also the seat of conscious experience. The mind interacts directly with cortical neurons, probably via electrical interaction, resulting in both subjective phenomenal experience and causal influence on neurological processes. All cognitive faculties reside in the mind but ordinarily need the brain's neural activity for conscious awareness. When brain structures are damaged, mental faculties dependent on them are partially or totally impaired. The main evidence for this view are phenomena from near-death experience and various neurological phenomena, in particular phantom limbs. This theory solves the "hard problem" of how phenomenal experience can arise from physical brain activity: conscious experience depends on a second entity with physical attributes-the conscious mind-which interacts with the brain to produce phenomenal experience. Experiences of qualia, such as redness, are an effect in the mind resulting from electrical activity in specific regions of the brain. The unity of consciousness results from the unity of the mind's "field of consciousness": phenomenal states are unified in the mind as subject. Causal closure of the physical is maintained but the domain of "the physical" must necessarily be expanded. Mind is a fundamental entity, a new dimension of reality.
The AWARE study has two objectives, (1) to examine the incidence of awareness and the variety of ... more The AWARE study has two objectives, (1) to examine the incidence of awareness and the variety of mental experiences during cardiac arrest (CA) resuscitation, and (2) to develop a methodology to test the accuracy of reports of visual and auditory perception during CA. The study began in 2008 and, over the first four years, examined 2,060 patients from 15 hospitals in the UK, the US and Austria.
Luke Dittrich, contributing editor at Esquire, wrote an article critical of Dr. Eben Alexander's ... more Luke Dittrich, contributing editor at Esquire, wrote an article critical of Dr. Eben Alexander's book Proof of Heaven. Dittrich cited several malpractice lawsuits against Dr. Alexander, in some of which the allegation was that Alexander had altered medical records to cover his errors. Dittrich makes this his theme for critiquing the story of Alexander's NDE, that Alexander altered the facts of his story to make them more dramatic. In particular, Dittrich questioned the central premise of the book, that Alexander's experience was the result of a brain all but destroyed by meningitis. Alexander's hyper-real experience of the heavenly Gateway Realm with the beautiful girl on the butterfly wing and the knowledge he gained from The Core, were all hallucinations resulting from a medically induced coma. Alexander thereby stood to gain financially. But how careful was Luke Dittrich with the facts he presented?
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beautiful girl on the butterfly wing and the knowledge he gained from The Core were all hallucinations resulting from a medically induced coma and that Alexander stood to gain financially by representing his experience as genuine. In this article, I critique Dittrich’s article point by point and uncover a pattern of inaccuracy and misrepresentation of facts on Dittrich’s part. I conclude that it was Dittrich’s work, rather than Alexander’s, that was erroneous.