near to death episodes: latest study (Endings)

by dhw, Saturday, October 28, 2017, 13:43 (2581 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: To explain further the brain death I'm describing after 4-6 minutes (15 minutes in very young children) is the whole cortex. The deeper structures live much longer, and it is here it is argued by some that consciousness could be hiding, but those areas are mainly fiber connections. Patients do describe events, and it is strong evidence for dualism.

dhw: The longer the physical structures live, the more evidence they provide for materialism. It is only when the materials are well and truly dead that we can say the events described – especially those outside the operating theatre and producing hitherto unknown information – provide evidence for dualism. (Such events have indeed been described, which is why I remain open-minded on the subject.)

DAVID: The area of discussion must remain the human cortex. The time limits I've given are related to postmortem examination of brains which did not survive resuscitation and showed very extensive damage to the cortex, which is very sensitive to oxygen supply. Note, heart stops, unconsciousness in 20 seconds or less. To the best of our knowledge the cortex is where consciousness is conducted.

But the researchers claim that the patients must have been conscious for a few minutes after what they regarded as clinical death. If the cortex continues to function for 4-6 minutes and is where “consciousness is conducted”, and patients register information for 4-6 minutes, and the information relates to events that occur during the 4-6 minutes after clinical death, the implication is that consciousness does NOT end after 20 seconds or less, and that the cortex is the source of consciousness. Only when the cortex ceases to function, and the patient undergoes experiences that can later be authenticated can we say that we have evidence of dualism.