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Earlier quoted context omitted.
> book mentions other cases where patients were indeed able to describe imagery they wouldn't have otherwise been able to observe Quite an extraordinary claim, any evidence of this?
The Parnia study is the most systematic effort to date to establish highly rigorous evidence for this phenomenon.
I feel like I'm missing something with the purpose of the recall accuracy study. > Third, the study enabled an unprecedented objective test of survivors’ recall accuracy. Many have wondered: Have those who recall death experiences—even of happenings during the resuscitation—experienced hallucinations, such as commonly reported with oxygen deprivation or psychedelic drugs? Or are their out-of-body reports of cardiac a…
The point being (as far as I understand) if, during the period tested for recall, the brain was dead, yet recall was successfull, it would challenge the brain-mind science (i.e. "no brain, no mind") IOW successful recall would highly suggest "out of body" experience / "mindfulness" despite lack of brain activity.
I had an English teacher in high school who had a near death experience during a surgery. His description of the experience tracks with what's in the article - floating above the body, a tremendous feeling of peace and acceptance, and the feeling of being drawn towards a bright light. I can't say I'm not afraid of death but it's nice to hear stories like these from folks that help lessen that fear. :)
I try to imagine life before I was born, and that doesn't seem so bad, so i assume worst case that's what death will be like. The moments before, yeah who knows...
When you find yourself half asleep, and that dreamy fuzzy place, try to remember back as far as you can.
With practice you'll remember further and further back. And eventually you'll remember before the time of your birth.
Past lives and such
But that's my perspective. Maybe they obtain permission from next of kin?
Patients recall death experiences after cardiac arrest - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37726301 - Oct 2023 (13 comments)
People experience ‘new dimensions of reality' when dying: study - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37725115 - Oct 2023 (66 comments)
In January, 2022, I experienced a 100% blockage of my Left Anterior Descending artery (a "widowmaker" heart attack), and I experienced cardiac arrest for a minute or two while on the exam table in a local emergency room. CPR was administered, and I was shocked back into rhythm, whereupon I regained consciousness immediately. During the time I was dead, I have a memory. It is a singular experience of non-existence. Ev…
> First, most of the 53 survivors initially flat-lined on the EEG, but, with continued CPR, recovered brain activity up to 60 minutes later. This result not only encourages first responders to persist, it also suggests the possibility of to-be-recalled cognitive activity in comatose patients.
> Second, 6 of the 28 interviewed survivors (21 percent) had a “transcendent recalled experience of death.” This roughly accords with prior studies’ finding that 10 to 15 percent of cardiac arrest survivors report a memorable transcendent conscious experience (which Parnia labels a “recalled experience of death” rather than a “near-death experience”).
> Third, the study enabled an unprecedented objective test of survivors’ recall accuracy. ... Parnia and his three dozen collaborators creatively devised and implemented a plan to put claims of death-experience recollections to the test. As patients underwent CPR, a tablet computer displayed one of ten visual images, such as an animal, a person, or a monument. When later interviewed, could the 28 survivors report the image displayed during their death experience? If not, could they, when shown the ten possible images, guess which image had been displayed? The result: “Nobody identified the visual image."
> During 5 minutes of the CPR, patients also were repeatedly exposed through the headphone audio to the names of 3 fruits: apple, pear, banana. When the 28 survivors were later asked to guess the 3 fruits, how many correctly recalled them? One person. (A chance result? When a colleague invited his psychology students to name 3 fruits, a similar 2 of 50 named an apple, pear, and banana.)
So near-death experiences are fairly common, but no evidence that memories of out-of-body experiences reflect reality.
The brain is a strange thing. Perception and experience is very difficult to wrap one's head around. I have fainted several times, for different reasons. Often in medical settings but also in other settings. Often when I wake up I am in a state where I feel like I’ve been gone for hours, it feels like I’ve been basically dreaming the equivalent of a full length movie, when in reality I’ve been out for maybe a minute.…
I experienced the “life flashing before my eyes” once. It was a situation where I thought I was about to die. It was like a very high speed real of all my memories playing. I was amazed (while it was happening) that it was happening just like I’d heard about - so at least in my opinion it wasn’t an invented memory later. Of course I might say that even it was. My theory is the mind was desperately trying to find a si…
I am religious. I believe in life after death of some sort. I don’t see any evolutionary purpose for seeing a life review before death. I believe the creator made the universe and we have a purpose within it, even after death.