Reductionism  

Reductionist Arguments Explaining Neath-death Experiences (NDEs) and OBEs

Providing a scientific explanation for the phenomenon of near-death experience has been a difficult challenge for scientists ever since data in the form of NDE testimonials started appearing in the mid 1970s. Some of the scientific arguments against the validity of NDEs (i.e., that they are only hallucinations) are also applicable to out-of-body experiences in general since out-of-body experiences are an important component of most NDEs.

When examining the Near-death experience, we might first ask the question, "Why did the NDE concept emerge when it did?"
One explanation is that prior to the 1970s, ambulances were little more than transport services whose personnel had little knowledge of emergency medicine. The result of this was that most serious injuries resulted in the death of patients before they reached the hospital or shortly thereafter. The medical art of resuscitation was in its infancy, and the well known role of the Emergency Medical Technician did not yet exist. Thus, few patients came back to describe their near-death experiences. The large amounts of data necessary to develop the NDE concept probably came into being as a result of improvements in emergency medicine.

As NDEs became better known, psychologists, physiologists, and neurologists began looking for ways to account for NDEs using physical and medical explanations. Reducing complex psychological phenomena to simpler material laws and processes is a primary occupation of scientists. The goal is to explain away the supernatural, and reduce it to physical causes such as brain chemistry (neural noise, hypoxia, etc.), psychological states (wish fulfillment or reliving the birth trauma), and sociological factors (religious fantasies based on social conditioning). The scientist's refusal to accept supernatural explanations for natural phenomena has in general been very advantageous for society, and resulted in many of the advances in material comfort that we see today. Their skepticism is therefore something to be praised and makes a valuable contribution to the world we live in.

However, when it comes to investigating the events and experiences which occur on the borders of life and death, their standard assumptions and methodologies become somewhat problematic. As with scientific attempts to describe the origins and fundamental makeup of matter or how objects behave at or beyond the speed of light, seemingly implausible or contradictory claims lead to questioning the basic premises of science when investigating borderline or liminal areas. Such areas of investigation as Near-death experience or subatomic matter seem to defy the clear explanations and rational analysis that are so fruitful in the other more common domains of scientific inquiry.
Because NDEs contain so many elements, a number of different complementary explanations are needed to account for this complexity. But in most cases, each explanation focuses on only one element of the NDE and ignores the others. Such explanations use the divide and conquer approach to weaken the overall NDE concept by reducing one of its component parts to physical causes.

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Near-Death Experience as a Limited Form of Spiritual Travel

One common form of spiritual travel seen in the modern West is near-death experience. The concept of near-death experience was developed by Dr. Raymond Moody Jr. in his book Life After Life in 1975. In near-death experience, a person comes close to death due to sickness or injury, and the person's soul temporarily leaves the physical body. In the early stages of a near-death experience, the spiritual traveler usually views his or her lifeless body and the surrounding physical environment from a short distance away. This is usually followed by a shift of awareness to a non-physical environment in the later stages of the experience where the traveler encounters a spiritual guide or "being of light". Near-death experience is a limited form of spiritual travel in three respects.

First, it occurs spontaneously as a result of a medical crisis rather than voluntarily as part of a spiritual search. Second, though the individual seems to exercise some control over out-of-body movements in the physical environment, the more religious and other-worldly elements of the experience are usually controlled by some outside force such as a guide. This guide directs the near-death experience without any request or permission from the traveler who has little power over what occurs. Third, near-death experience while many times uplifting and life-changing is usually limited to a series of repeating states or stages, and is not as broad or wide-ranging as spiritual travel experience.

Fortunately, it is not necessary for an individual to undergo a near-death experience (medical crisis) to have a spiritual travel experience.