DEAD RECKONING (Scientific and Spiritual Significance of Near-Death Experiences Studied

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | May 1, 2005 | Mark Sauer

[Scenic Sounds]

As this photo re-creation depicts, Deb Foster's memory
of being "dead" had a profound effect on her.

[mtbopfuyn]

What the heck was Beverly Brodsky, who was legally blind, doing on a motorcycle? There was no mention of a side car or that she was a passenger.

[onedoug]

Whatever's going on in the universe is going on.

[Scenic Sounds]

What the heck was Beverly Brodsky, who was legally blind, doing on a motorcycle?

Even agnostics have some kind of faith. ;-)

[Republican in CA]

Legally blind doesn't mean that you can't see anything. It means that your vision is worse than some set measurement. My brother used to be legally blind in one eye (he's since had laser surgery and no longer wears glasses).

[Dallas59]

She wasn't dead. Bring back somebody that's been really dead for a couple of years....It says in the Bible..."The dead know nothing..."

[silverleaf]

NDE ping

[Zeroisanumber]

I've always hated NDE. It's a natural phenomenon that's often used as a con game by half-assed tv "psychics" to bilk the easily fooled.

[Congressman Billybob]

I had a near-death experience 15 years ago. I had a reaction to a routine drug administered during a routine outpatient exam. I went into shock/

My experience was not as detailed as the ones featured in this article. But I am certain of three things. There is an afterlife. It is very peaceful. And, the last human sense to fail when you are dying is hearing. After I had gone blind and lost any sense of touch, I heard the nurse report to the emergency doctor that my "B.P. is seventy over zero." LOL.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, " 'L.A. Chappaquiddick,' Starring Hillary Clinton."

[Grut]

The belief that death is not the end would have had a profound effect on peoples' willingness to take chances, so I suppose evolution could have selected for a tendency for near-death hallucinations as a facilitator of riskier (and potentially more highly rewarded) behavior.

The neat thing about evolution is that whatever happens can be cited as evidence it's true. ;^)

[lodwick]

I would recommend Howard Storm's My Descent into Death as one of the best NDE books out there.

[jocon307]

I just assumed she was the passenger, since it said she was "riding" on the motorcycle, and not driving it. But I could be wrong, of course.

This was a very interesting and even-handed article. These NDEs are very interesting to me, although I've never read any of the many books about them.

It's a good thing that one lady saw both cats and dogs, or this thread could have turned into one of the cat v. dog war threads!

Thanks for posting this!

[TexasTransplant]

I don't know if it was a NDE but I had an alergic reaction and passed out, I found myself floating near the ceiling, able to see and hear everyone in the room, including myself, while people around me were trying to revive me.

(I noticed that everyone else was better dressed and that I needed new shoes)

[jocon307]

I looked up that book and Amazon and actually put it in my cart. It's gotten all positive reviews including one from a person who dubs him or her self "30,000 lbs of bananas", that is just so silly I had to mention it.

[Zeroisanumber]

I don't know if it was a NDE but I had an allergic reaction and passed out, I found myself floating near the ceiling, able to see and hear everyone in the room, including myself, while people around me were trying to revive me.

Astronauts reported the same sorts of experiences when they went through high gravity training. When the brain shuts down due to lack of oxygen, you have some pretty interesting hallucinations.

Ever get those shoes?

[queenkathy]

There are things we just won't know until death happens. But the clinical explanation doesn't explain see a staircase or seeing your family grieve at your bedside. I read a book by Betty Malz once and it was a wonderful account of her NDE. I'll have to look the title up.

[lafroste]

My sister had an NDE (what a cute acronym) while we were standing around her. She described the tunnel of light and her pain was gone. She ordered her pain medications stopped and for three days she counseled people who came to see her. After three days she announced it was time to go and promptly died.

I note that this article only mentions positive NDEs, but doesn't bring up the dark ones, presumably from people who were bound for hell.

[job]

That "evolution" must be a pretty smart guy.

[jocon307]

"...but doesn't bring up the dark ones, presumably from people who were bound for hell."

Are there documented cases of these? Did those people turn their lives around?

[Doctor Stochastic]

Did they walk down a lighted hallway and then have to take a number and wait? SNL sketch.