AwareofAware

Evolving news on the science, writing and thinking about Near Death Experiences (NDEs)

Contacting me directly

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22 thoughts on “Contacting me directly

  1. Pierre Lussier on said:

    could you be kind enough to tell me what means recruitments in Dr. Parnia’s words?
    Is it hospital numbers or patients? If it is patients, how do he knows in advance those who will have a cardiac arrest?

    please have another great day of …patience. Sir

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  2. Paul M Battista on said:

    I’ve been studying NDES for many years now. I run a Facebook page called project consciousness Facebook page. It’s very informative about NDES and similar phenomenon. Feel free to check it out and post any comments or articles you like.

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  3. Hi I am just striving for an answer to this question:

    when the Cortex goes down, can’t other parts of the brain step up and take on those functions (deeper part of the brainstem, or cerebellum)? And if not them, can’t other nerves we have in the body somehow take on those functions? The huge nerve complexes in the abdomen? Maybe something else? And if that is theoretical but possible, then why do some NDE researchers say that it is impossible to experience consciousness during cardiac arrest or general anesthesia? Since this mechanism could make such consciousness possible. Can this mechanism actually explain the lucid consciousness in survivors of cardiac arrest??

    Thank you so much everyone and I really hope I get an answer

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Paolo,
      There needs to be a good supply of oxygenated blood to the brain for there to be any function. It consumes enourmous amounts of energy, and without constant blood flow cannot function. A recent study in rats in which sensors were planted deeper in the brain shows that total depolarisation occurs rapidly across the whole brain, and within a short period after blood supply has stopped.

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      • Dear Ben Williams,

        Thanks for your reply, what I was referring to was about the possibility of  other parts of the brain stepping up and taking on those functions of the cortex when it is gone (deeper part of the brainstem, or cerebellum)? And if not them, maybe other nerves we have in the body can somehow take on those functions? The huge nerve complexes in the abdomen?

        I heard this in an interview with Bruce Greyson, world’s top NDE researcher, who said this mechanism was plausible, but that there is no evidence it can happen. But if it’s possible (and it hasn’t been disproved yet), than this opens up the possibility of consciousness during survivors of cardiac arrest to be explained within a physicalist framework…right??

        Thank you and Kind Regards, Paolo

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      • It’s not possible without sufficient blood flow. End of.

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      • Ok. Sorry for having upset you. It’s just that you’re the only person that has told me that this mechanism is impossible. I have contacted Pim Van Lommel and Bruce Greyson before and they don’t believe in the idea, but regard it as speculation, and not as an impoissible mechanism, as you do. I would like to know why that is…

        Kind Regards

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      • But I was not saying if the brain could fonction, but if other parts of the brain that are not immediatly damaged after cardiac arrest, could take on the fonctions of the parts that are damaged, like the Cortex. Also, Bruce spectulated about the idea of nerve complexes in the body taking on those fonctions, and they are certainly not damaged by cardiac arrest. Granted, I know this is pure speculation, but since it is not disproved and remains plausible, it could ‘possibly’ serve as an explanation of lucid consciousness during general anesthesia or cardiac arrest…

        Thank you and Kind Regards

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  4. Paolo on said:

    Hi I am just striving for an answer to this question:

    when the Cortex goes down, can’t other parts of the brain step up and take on those functions (deeper part of the brainstem, or cerebellum)? And if not them, can’t other nerves we have in the body somehow take on those functions? The huge nerve complexes in the abdomen? Maybe something else? And if that is theoretical but possible, then why do some NDE researchers say that it is impossible to experience consciousness during cardiac arrest or general anesthesia? Since this mechanism could make such consciousness possible. Can this mechanism actually explain the lucid consciousness in survivors of cardiac arrest??

    Thank you so much everyone and I really hope I get an answer

    Like

  5. Hi,

    I read a discussion between a Skeptic named Michael and Bruce Greyson, and this Michael proposed a different explanation for accurate OBE perceptions; namely, he stated that accurate OBEs are due to “perspectival extrasensory process (physiological mechanism) that would not necessary involve postmortem survival”, instead of the “separation of consciousness from the body”. Bruce Greyson regarded this mechanism in term of physiological, and said that it was plausible, but I Thought ESP and all kind of psy involved a consciousness beyond the brain. If it’s an entirely brain-based physiological mechanism, then how does this explain how people are able to see things accuratly even miles away when they are in cardiac arrest?

    Thank you

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  6. Michele on said:

    Hi and here is my question,

    I heard an argumet from a skeptic who suggested that accurate OBE perceptions were due to people’s electromagnetic (EM) fields interacting with the OBErs brain. And when asked how could people see things that were invisible for other people and definitely could not emit any EM fields, this person replied that “external third party synchronised fields might sometimes interact with the OBEr’s brain, whilst the OBEr’s brain is dysfunctional”. What do you say about this argument??

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  7. I have read and heard that there are many similarities bewteen psychedelic trips and NDEs. For example, Ketamine experiences cover almost all features of NDEs. DMT and ayuascha experiences also have this sense of Empathic Knowledge, in wich people are able to experience from another person’s point of view, exactly like in the life review. Also some psychedelic trips contain flash-forwards and previews, in which people see both future and past events, like in some Life Reviews. Deceased spirits are sometimes seen in ayuascha experiences. The idea is that a mix of these explanations create a comprehensive explanation of the entire phenomena. Drugs (or maybe one currently unknown drug released near-death is/) are released, and along with maybe other explanations like hallucinations, depersonalization and so on…

    Thank you so much in advance and really hope you can answer me
    Kind Regards, David

    Liked by 1 person

    • I am going to create a post this weekend about psychedelics and NDEs. I do not have a problem with the idea that drugs or electromagnetic radiation can disrupt the normal relationship between the consciousness and the brain allow glimpses of our wider reality. It supports the understanding that our brain is but a host of our consiousness.

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      • Alright. But I was just wondering because at this point, if psychedelics cover almost all features of NDEs, then why don’t we just use that as a materialist explanation? Also given the fact that the experiences (visions, feelings ect) under psychedelics have been already explained by reductionist neuroscience. Also, why do some researchers say that there are similarities, and then some, like Sam Parnia, say that they are completely different experiences?

        Thanks

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      • Data is data, how scientists interpret that data is subjective.

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      • ok. Could you please send me your article about psychedelics and NDEs once you publish it?

        Thanks

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      • Pierre Lussier on said:

        A simple way to PROVE that OBEreally exist, is to ask a person who claims that she or he can experience it, to lie down on its back on an elevated bed, and discreetly bring into the room, a lage and colorful object beside her bed. And after she regains conscience, ask her what she had seen.

        Under professionnal supervision, naturally

        Plain and simple

        No need of a brainscan

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      • Yes, in fact that could be one way

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