near to death episodes: a new study (Endings)

by dhw, Monday, July 31, 2017, 08:30 (2671 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: 154 people with NDE's are analyzed for similarities and differences in their episodes:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170726102934.htm

QUOTE: The most frequently reported features were feeling of peacefulness (80% of participants), seeing a bright light (69%) and encountering with spirits/people (64%), whereas the two most uncommon experiences were speeding thoughts (5%) and precognitive visions (4%).

Always an interesting topic. Thank you. I don’t know what they mean by “speeding thoughts”. For me, the most important feature of all these experiences is knowledge of earthly events which the patients could not possibly have known at the time and which are subsequently confirmed: e.g. meeting the spirit of someone who has just died. Is this what they mean by “pre-cognitive visions”? Such knowledge would certainly defy the prosaic explanations offered by the sceptics. (As usual, I sit on my fence.) Another interesting statistic is how many people who survive clinical death have actually had such NDEs. I found the following on Wikipedia:

The prevalence of NDEs has been variable in the studies that have been performed. A 1980–1981 survey of the American population showed that 15% described themselves as having had an "unusual experience" when on the verge of death or having a "close call".
A more selective study in Germany found that 4% of the sample population had had an NDE.
A 2005 telephone survey in Australia concluded that 8.9% of the population had had an NDE.
Incidence among cardiac arrest patients
A number of sources report incidences of near death experiences of:
• 17% amongst critically ill patients, in nine prospective studies from 4 different countries.
• Of these studies, one from 2001 found that 62 patients (18%) had had an NDE, of whom 41 (12%, or 66% of those who had an NDE) described a core experience. Another found an incidence of 6.3% of mental states consistent with NDE.

If there really is a soul that survives the body, why doesn’t every clinically dead patient have an NDE?