Questions for the "dying brain hypothesis".
The Journal of near-death studies 1996 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-1996-15-1-p41-53. (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 9 |
| Key points | Argues that four questions about out-of-body perspective, unconditional love, variability among NDEs, and neural disinhibition pose a challenge to Blackmore's "dying brain hypothesis," suggesting the "afterlife hypothesis" may better account for some features. |
Abstract
I pose four questions for the "dying brain hypothesis" as propounded by Susan Blackmore in her book Dying to Live (1993). The first calls into question Blackmore's reductionist explanation of the "bird's-eye view" for a near-death experience (NDE) and asks why out-of-body perception from a supine position is not reported, given her theory. The second inquires as to how the materialist view explains NDErs' feelings of unconditional love, while the third ponders whether the variance among NDEs noted by Blackmore is not more consistent with the "afterlife hypothesis" than with the "dying brain hypothesis." The final question queries whether neural disinhibition, described by Blackmore, might be a possible release mechanism for an NDE. I suggest that these four questions pose a challenge to the "dying brain hypothesis."