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A chat on 4chan
human
Are near-death experiences what they seem to be - glimpses of the afterlife, or are they just hallucinations created by the dying brain?

Personally, I can't decide. I've read a lot of books about NDEs and I've also read many science-based counterarguments, and each side has strong support.

Here's from Wikipedia:

>According to Greyson some NDE phenomena cannot be easily explained with our current knowledge of human physiology and psychology. For instance, at a time when they were unconscious, patients could accurately describe events as well as report being able to view their bodies 'from an out-of-body spatial perspective'. In two different studies of patients who had survived a cardiac arrest, those who had reported leaving their bodies could describe accurately their resuscitation procedures or unexpected events, whereas others 'described incorrect equipment and procedures'. Sam Parnia also refers to two cardiac arrest studies and one deep hypothermic circulatory arrest study where patients reported visual and/or auditory awareness occurring when their brain function had ceased. These reports 'were corroborated with actual and real events'.

>Five prospective studies have been carried out, to test the accuracy of out of body perceptions by placing 'unusual targets in locations likely to be seen by persons having NDEs, such as in an upper corner of a room' Twelve patients reported leaving their bodies, but none could describe the hidden visual targets. Although this is a small sample, the failure of purported out-of-body experiencers to describe the hidden targets raises questions about the accuracy of the anecdotal reports described above.

And here's the science based arguments:

>A wide range of physiological theories of the NDE have been put forward including those based upon cerebral hypoxia, anoxia, and hypercapnia; endorphins and other neurotransmitters; and abnormal activity in the temporal lobes.
gpt
there's no such thing as 'afterlife', because there's no such thing as death
the experiences you're talking about is just your consciousness returning to its fundamental and disembodied state