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Near Death Experiences & Brainstem Cardiac Arrest and Pim van Lommel
A book explaining the biology of NDEs
Read Chapter 5 to learn more about how the blind can see during NDEs
The necessity for atheism proven by the Bible and Koran
Followers of Islam doomed by the Sunnah
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Blind from Birth and Near Death Experiences © G.M. Woerlee
Many reports of near death experiences and out of body experiences contain elements where people report what happened in their vicinity during the near death experiences and out of body experiences they underwent. Often these stories are absolutely correct. These people made observations of actual events that really did occur while they lay apparently dead, or that the very least, apparently unconscious. I say apparently, because people undergoing near death experiences and out of body experiences are most certainly undergoing a conscious experiences (see Near Death Experiences & Brainstem). Not only are they conscious during such experiences, but the functioning of their conscious brains is affected by the disorders causing them to undergo near death experiences and out of body experiences. This is proven by the very fact they cannot arouse their bodies to speak or to move during their near death experiences and out of body experiences, even though some of them do try (see chapters 10,11,12 in reference 1). And because they cannot tell of their experiences during their near death experiences or out of body experiences, they must remember their observations in order to be able to report them at a later moment when the functioning of their brains has recovered sufficiently for them to be able to speak. This means they must remember things with abnormally functioning brains (see chapters 16 and 18 in reference 1), as a result of which their reports of what they quite accurately observed during their near death experiences and out of body experiences are memories colored by the functioning of their brains at that time, as well as being memories containing individual interpretations of their perceptions (see Near Death Experience-Types for a more extensive explanation). But is it possible for people to make conscious perceptions when they are apparently unconscious and do not breathe or move? This is described in some detail for on this website for situations such as anesthesia (see Anesthesia and Pam Reynolds), as well as for the situation of cardiac arrest (see Cardiac Arrest). People undergoing near death experiences in all these situations are conscious but paralyzed. Furthermore they do not, and cannot breathe, because this paralysis also affects their breathing muscles. Yet they are conscious and able to perceive what happens around them. This is a situation very similar to the example of a man who lies blindfolded and unmoving on a bed. Consider the situation of a blindfolded man who lies unmoving on a bed. People approach and walk away from this man who perceives their coming and going by means of the sounds of their footsteps, their breathing, their talking, their displacement of air, their smell, and many other subtle physical signals. These perceptions are sufficient for the man lying on the bed to tell if the person approaching them is male or female, the age of the person, the social class of the person, the presence of disease or other bodily defects. If one of the people next to the man lying on the bed lifts the blindfold, then even if the eyes of the man only stare straight upwards, he can still make fleeting observations of those near to him. If those other people lift or move the man, then that ma knows exactly what is happening, the height he is lifted, the direction, etc. The man hears the other people talking, commenting to each other on their clothing, their hairstyles, their makeup, as well as many other things. All quite normal items of daily conversation. They also talk about other matters. All these things are perceived by the man lying on the bed, who then integrates all these observations into a very accurate mental picture of what is happening to his body, and around his body. In other words, this unmoving blindfolded man lying on a bed can make very accurate observations. No magic or paranormal senses are needed for these things - just normal physical senses. And this is the same situation in which people undergoing near death experiences and out of body experiences find themselves. They too can make very accurate observations (see chapter 12 in reference 1). But what about blind people, especially those blind from birth? The areas of the brain concerned with vision never develop in those blind from birth. They have no concept of color, except as told to them by sighted people. They have no concept of sight such as that experienced by sighted people. So the ways they perceive their surroundings are quite different to those of a sighted person. They are in the same situation as the blindfolded man in the situation above, except for the fact that no-one can ever lift the "blindfold" of their everlasting blindness. This brings us to the fascinating accounts of blind people who report having been able to "see" during near death experiences and out of body experiences. Many people refer repeatedly to the apparently veridical reports made by these blind people during near death experiences and out of body experiences, claiming these prove that the blind can see in the same way as sighted people during near death experiences and out of body experiences, claiming furthermore that these veridical reports could only occur as a result of spiritual or paranormal causes. A fascinating book called "Mindsight" is a careful study performed by Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper of veridical reports of events observed by blind people during near death experiences and out of body experiences (2). A study of this book reveals that it does not claim that "the blind can see in the same way as sighted people" during near death experiences and out of body experiences. Instead this book reveals nuances and differences between different types of blind people. For example, there were reports made by people who were partially sighted, or who had become totally blind after having possessed the ability to see. Such blind people reported actual visual near death experiences, seeing actual colors and their surroundings. Yet these were people who were either partially sighted such as the case of "Debbie" and "Carla" (pages 80-91 in reference 2), or people who became blind after previously having had sight such as the case of "Marilyn" (pages 91-96). Such "visual" near death experiences are quite understandable in such people, because they know what color is, they know the experience of sight, and the parts of their brains necessary for these things are developed, although now unused. Even so, there are interesting aspects to these reports, such as that of the report of a man called "Frank" (pages 105-107 in reference 2). This was a man who had become totally blind after having been sighted for at least 40 years. This totally blind man "saw" the pattern and colors on a new tie during an out of body experience, even though everyone denied having ever described it to him. Yet is this entirely true? After all, someone could have later commented to him, "Nice tie ....Great colors, and strong pattern", and then described the tie, a description he later used in his report of his out of body experience. Furthermore his report was never corroborated, because the one person who could corroborate it, could not remember the exact events on the day this incident occurred, being only able to confirm that Frank was a sensible and "down to earth" man who was unlikely to lie. So who knows? And then this book also discusses the out of body experience and near death experience reports of people "blind from birth". The parts of the brains of these people concerned with sight, and visual seeing, will never have developed in these people. They will have never developed an understanding of the sense of color and sight. When you examine the "veridical" reports in "Mindsight" (2), you see they are often unqualified reports just stating that these people were "blind from birth". In one of these reports, that of "Helen", also "blind from birth", there is a passage where she states, "And then I thought, 'Oh, did I get my sight back?'" (page78-79 in reference 2). So was Helen actually blind from birth, or did she become blind at some later date? I do not know from this book. Indeed, there are many such curious inconsistencies in this book (2). Furthermore, many of those blind from birth were not totally blind, but could distinguish dark and light, and could distinguish color. These people can make such visual distinctions. So while the reports are surprising, these reports of veridical near death experiences and out of body experiences do not need paranormal or supernatural causes to explain them the various aspects of the functioning of the human body explains all such observations during near death experiences and out of body experiences (1). The conclusion of "Mindsight" is a tribute to the authors scientific impartiality. They state that blind people do not perceive things during their near death experiences and out of body experiences as a sighted person perceives things - rather they perceive them as images in their minds, only in the same terms as they experience their world, yet with greater awareness and accuracy of perception (see pages 185-187 in reference 2). And they called this type of perception "mindsight", because it is a perceived image built up in the minds op people without sight. So stories of blind people being able to see in the same way as sighted people during near death experiences and out of body experiences are no more than wishful, and very literal misinterpretations of an otherwise quite careful study of near death experiences and out of body experiences in the blind - misinterpretations made by people who often have not carefully examined the book "Mindsight", or even read it at all. What is left is the fact that people can make quite accurate perceptions of their surrounding while apparently conscious during out of body experiences and near death experiences. But such veridical observations made during these experiences are not proof of anything spiritual or paranormal. This leaves us in the same position postulated by Susan Blackmore in 1993 as to how people are able to make veridical observations during these experiences: The answers include prior knowledge, fantasy and lucky guesses and the remaining operating senses of hearing and touch. Add to this the way memory works to recall accurate items and forget the wrong ones, and we have the basis for an alternative account of why people are able to "see" what is going on (page 115 in reference 3). As yet, no-one has managed to provide evidence to the contrary. References:
© G.M. Woerlee Last revised 1 July 2008
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