Why do some have NDE's near death, while others don't?

[RideTheWalrus]

All people dream. But some people do not remember their dream.

Perhaps all people have an NDE on the edge of death, but not all remember them?

This sums up my personal view very well, and this argument could be applied to all forms of unconsciousness. I always viewed what happens during 'unconsciousness' as a black box. In the absence of memory of the experiencer, what happened during this time can't be known.

A skeptic who claims that there is no experience during periods of unconsciousness is making an assertion that must be backed up by proof if it is to be believed (of which there is none), just as surely as somebody who claims that there IS experience during unconsciousness.

[Scepcop]

I have a question that hasn't been addressed by NDE researchers.

During sleep and anesthesia, a person has no consciousness of the passage of time. So if consciousness is eternal, how can it be shut down like that? If consciousness can be shut down, then doesn't it follow that it can be destroyed too?

Also, if only some have NDE's and not others, could it mean that only some will have an afterlife but others won't?

These questions are never asked in interviews.

Thanks,
Winston

[ProfWag]

I have a question that hasn't been addressed by NDE researchers.

During sleep and anesthesia, a person has no consciousness of the passage of time. So if consciousness is eternal, how can it be shut down like that? If consciousness can be shut down, then doesn't it follow that it can be destroyed too?

Also, if only some have NDE's and not others, could it mean that only some will have an afterlife but others won't?

These questions are never asked in interviews.

Thanks,
Winston

Wow Winston, great questions! I've never thought of those. The second question could possibly be explained by memory lapse (some people remember dreams while others don't), but the first question, I kind of agree with. I think...

[Arouet]

Even accepting for the sake of the argument that consciousness is some immaterial thing, then we still have to say that we understand precious little about it. We don't know that it is eternal. We don't know if it can be destroyed, or dissipates, or whaterver. We don't know if it has periods of lack of awareness apart from the body. We don't know how it experiences anything at all.

[Jayhawker30]

Well, I guess we don't.

Maybe if more scientists started taking this stuff seriously, they could begin looking into those matters.

[Arouet]

Well, Sam Parnia is taking a pretty big step in that direction. Frankly, I think there should be a moratorium on NDE discussions until his paper comes out. It purports to be the most detailed and in depth study of NDEs to date and should be instructive no matter the findings.

[NinjaPuppy]

Well, Sam Parnia is taking a pretty big step in that direction. Frankly, I think there should be a moratorium on NDE discussions until his paper comes out. It purports to be the most detailed and in depth study of NDEs to date and should be instructive no matter the findings.

A moratorium? On discussion of NDE's? Because some guy is writing a paper? I don't think so.