Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology.
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality February 1, 2010 DOI: 10.1037/a0018548 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Psychotherapist Psychoanalysis |
| Citations | 94 |
| Key points | Argues that near-death experiences challenge materialist reductionism and require a psychology based on quantum physics that includes consciousness. |
Abstract
Classical physics, anchored in materialist reductionism, offered adequate descriptions of everyday mechanics but ultimately proved insufficient for describing the mechanics of extremely high speeds or small sizes, and was supplemented nearly a century ago by quantum physics, which includes consciousness in its formulation. Materialist psychology, modeled on the reductionism of classical physics, likewise offered adequate descriptions of everyday mental functioning but ultimately proved insufficient for describing mentation under extreme conditions, such as the continuation of mental function when the brain is inactive or impaired, such as occurs near death. “Near-death experiences” include phenomena that challenge materialist reductionism, such as enhanced mentation and memory during cerebral impairment, accurate perceptions from a perspective outside the body, and reported visions of deceased persons, including those not previously known to be deceased. Complex consciousness, including cognition, perception, and memory, under conditions such as cardiac arrest and general anesthesia, when it cannot be associated with normal brain function, require a revised psychology anchored not in 19th-century classical physics but rather in 21st-century quantum physics that includes consciousness in its conceptual formulation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religion, Spirituality and the Near-Death Experience | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 27
- Near-death experiences between science and prejudice Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Epistemological implications of near-death experiences and other non-ordinary mental expressions: Moving beyond the concept of altered state of consciousness Medical Hypotheses April 11, 2015
- Near-Death Experience: Out-of-Body and Out-of-Brain? Review of General Psychology March 1, 2011
- Compassion as a Skill: A Comparison of Contemplative and Evolution-Based Approaches Mindfulness August 3, 2023
- Almost 40 Years Investigating Near-Death Experiences The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease October 29, 2014
and 22 more in the library
Cites 11
- Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands The Lancet December 1, 2001
- Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit General Hospital Psychiatry July 1, 2003
- Features of "near-death experience" in relation to whether or not patients were near death The Lancet November 1, 1990
- Dissociation in people who have near-death experiences: out of their bodies or out of their minds? The Lancet February 1, 2000
- The Near-death Experience The British Journal of Psychiatry November 1, 1988
and 6 more in the library