Here is a near-death experience (nde) that is often cited by skeptics and proponents alike:
I believe that near-death experiences are real, and I think Pam Reynolds case is evidence of that. She was being closely monitored by healthcare staff, and not having brain activity seems pretty clear cut that experiences would not be possible. Yet, she had an experience.
For Debate
Why isn't this case accepted as proof of consciousness persisting without brain activity? Are there any skeptical explanations that would explain this experience as not real?
Source: https://www.ajc.com/news/local/pam-...or-near-death-episode/0pAo5DxNyyVmF09WAmN4vN/In 1991, Ms. Reynolds Lowery was diagnosed with an aneurysm at the base of her brain. Informed that it was inoperable, she chose to try a novel procedure developed by Dr. Robert Spetzler, chief of neurosurgery at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. To prevent a rupture of the aneurysm during surgery, her body temperature was lowered to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and blood was drained from her brain. Her heart was stopped, and brain activity ceased. Clinically, she was dead.
Afterward, Ms. Reynolds Lowery was able to describe the procedure in minute detail -- including the little dent in the device the surgeon used to open her skull -- even though her eyes were covered with surgical pads and plugs were inserted in her ears.
Source: same as aboveIn a 1999 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, she described her out-of-body episode:
"I came up out of my body. I realized it was my body, but I felt less attached to it than to some cars I've had to get rid of." At one point, she said, she felt she was looking over her surgeon's shoulder.
She said she saw and heard things more clearly and distinctly than ever before. She sensed a presence -- a light at the end of a vortex -- pulling her away. She heard -- or, more precisely, sensed -- her grandmother calling. "She passed away when I was 19," Ms. Reynolds Lowery said. "I saw behind her uncles, aunts, cousins, a good friend of mine who was murdered young, a distant cousin I didn't know had passed."
As the surgery ended, she was resuscitated, and her heart began beating again. At the same time, Ms. Reynolds Lowery's conversation with her grandmother and other deceased relatives and friends drew to a close. "I wanted to go into the light," she said, "but they stopped me. They communicated that if I continued to go into the light, I would change and would not be able to get back into my body."
The experience had a profound effect on her. She told the AJC she became more idealistic and less judgmental. Once a colorful dresser, she chose more subdued clothing. A self-described liberal Christian, she said she did not pretend to know the nature of God, "but I know for a fact that God exists and permeates everything."
I believe that near-death experiences are real, and I think Pam Reynolds case is evidence of that. She was being closely monitored by healthcare staff, and not having brain activity seems pretty clear cut that experiences would not be possible. Yet, she had an experience.
For Debate
Why isn't this case accepted as proof of consciousness persisting without brain activity? Are there any skeptical explanations that would explain this experience as not real?