Definition and Implications of the Digital Near-Death Experience: A Theoretical Essay on Preliminary Empiricism
Pedro Jacome de Moura
arXiv Preprint Archive October 22, 2021 preprint
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Cs.cy |
| Key points | Proposes that canceling participation in a major social networking platform constitutes a "digital near-death experience," a metaphor for the classic near-death experience. |
Abstract
Purpose: People are increasingly adhering to social networking platforms (SNP), and this adhesion is often unreflective, which makes them alienate data, actions, and decisions to tech giants. This essay discusses what happens when, eventually, someone chooses to cancel their participation in a large SNP. Methodology/design: This is a theoretical essay, whose narrative resembles a theoretical-empirical manuscript, grounded on the author's experience and his subjective perceptions regarding being out of the WhatsApp network (nowadays, the main SNP instance in the world). Findings/highlights: This study proposes a definition and implications of the supposedly new "digital near-death experience" concept, a metaphor for the classic near-death experience (NDE). A research agenda is also proposed.
Limitations: The resulting propositions are grounded on a set of assumptions, that if falsified, make the findings invalid.
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 | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | 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 |