The Skeptic's Corner on Near-Death Experiences

The Temple of Wisdom. Skepticism plays an important role in the scientific method in discovering what is true and what is false in the world around us. Methodological skepticism, as popularized by René Descartes, is an agnostic position of neither accepting nor rejecting a particular hypothesis until proven either true or false using the scientific method. Today there are many so-called "skeptics" who claim to be true skeptics but are actually pseudoskeptics. A pseudoskeptic is someone who takes a position that a particular hypothesis is either true or false without providing the scientific evidence to support it. Often such pseudoskeptics are "professional debunkers" and/or "media skeptics" - many of whom are stage magicians who are not actively engaged in scientific research. One such professional "media skeptic" is the Amazing Randi who is famous (or infamous) for making claims without doing the necessary research nor providing empirical evidence to support them. For example, concerning the near-death experience (NDE) phenomenon, pseudoskeptics claim consciousness is forever destroyed after irreversible death. They make this claim without the scientific evidence to support it and despite a growing "mountain" of evidence suggesting otherwise. On the other hand, true skeptics raise important questions which need to be investigated and addressed by NDE researchers. The following articles address some of these questions and are answered by some of the top researchers in near-death studies.

NDE Skeptics Index
1. NDEs should be demonstrated empirically 6. The existence of God is unlikely
2. NDEs are scientifically falsifiable 7. People don't survive actual death
3. The only compelling proof is remote viewing 8. Life outside the physical universe is unlikely
4. Self-awareness is only a function of the brain 9. Debunking the debunkers
5. Nothing useful is brought back from NDEs    

"The brain has not explained the mind fully." - Wilder Penfield, MD

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