Challenges Faced by Scientists - Essay Example

Challenges Faced By Scientists in Proving the Validity of Near Death Experiences Near death experiences have been the topic of a great deal of controversy for some time. The topic bridges between psychic phenomena and scientific impossibility. The quest for scientists to prove the validity of this occurrence has been more than challenging and almost impossible. The purpose of this paper is to explore the topic of near death experience as viewed by scientists and their search for empirical evidence on the matter. In many cases of near death experiences, individuals who claim to have experienced an out of body journey, lay claims to events that are later confirmed to be true. This is part of the phenomenon surrounding the issue. Certainly, if individuals who have experienced such out of body events were only undergoing some sort of chemical reaction or hallucination, there would be no way for them to be aware of some of the events and occurrences that they claim to have seen while dying. In the event of most NDE (near death experiences), most patients are clinically brain dead. This means that there is no brain activity taking place and any kind of consciousness is presumably spiritual or otherwise. In one account of an NDE, Dr. Michael Sabom describes a rare procedure conducted on a woman in which it was necessary to render her brain dead in order to safely undergo the procedure that she required. Her basil body temperature was reduced to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and all brain activity has ceased on monitors. The patient later reported details occurring in the operating room which she could not have known unless present when they happened. She also reported similar events that other patients reporting NDEs have reported. Seemingly the only real evidence science may have at this point on the validity of NDEs is the reports from patients who provide information that they would otherwise have no access to. (Sabom, 1998). In research conducted by author Mark Fox, an religious or spiritual approach is taken on the topic of NDEs. On one hand, there is the aspect of scientific research that seeks out empirical evidence for such occurrences, but for those who embrace spirituality and a notion that people are more than just physical beings, the concept of life after death is a topic of faith and not science. Most NDEs are described as a feeling of floating, beinf in a tunnel of sorts, the presence of a being or of light, visions or encounters with deceased friends or loved ones, visions of floating over top of their own dying or dead body. From a scientific aspect, this has been explained as a series of chemical reactions that take place in the brain as a response to lack of blood flow or lack of oxygen to the brain. Another platform taken by scientists and physicians is that the human evolutionary will to survive is quite strong and persists even in comatose or near death states. Scientists have also examined the idea of light and its involvement with NDEs. Light is infinite as an energy source and travel at the speed of light superseded time. Therefore, if one could travel potentially at the speed of light, one could truly live forever and never age, “Time stops at the speed of light. This means that if you could travel at the speed of light, you could travel anywhere in the universe and live forever (never age). The speed of light is constant for all observers regardless of their relative speed or direction. Light particles can communicate with each other. Human observation transforms light waves into light particles to experience reality. Humanitys scientific discovery of the nature of light is the cornerstone of modern physics and natural law. It is also the cornerstone of NDE research and consciousness research” (Williams, 2007). In physics, the quantum theory is now being used to describe or understand near death experience. It has been thought for sometime that matter was the basic element or building block of the universe. Quantum physics however, now seeks to explain that perhaps it is consciousness and not matter that is the very basis of the universe. This theory would serve to prove that if in fact consciousness is the most basic element of the universe, than a NDE is merely the consciousness of a human being existing beyond the physical body or element of matter. It would also serve to prove that since light is a constant and infinite energy source, the visions of light that NDE individuals witness, is merely the existence of their conscious reuniting with light as an infinite energy source. Quantum physics also aims to prove that on an infinite time line, anything is possible. This means that if someone were to attempt a numerical calculation as to the possibility of NDE’s really occurring, one could do so by using an infinite time line. This may be ultimately a ridiculously small number once the formula is complete, but along with quantum physics and the string theory, there is not quantification for anything to be impossible, including NDEs. Another aspect of this is the research indicating that individuals in hospitals tend to improve health wise, from the prayers of strangers without ever having known that they were being prayed for. Quantum physicists are working to explain that this is an indicator that not only is the conscious an ever present and infinite element of the universe, but that it operates somehow as a magnetic field explaining quite a bit of “religious” experience. Like so many occurrences of metaphysical phenomenon, NDEs are critically studied from both the scientific angle and the spiritual one. Unfortunately, there is no certain way at this point in time to gain empirical evidence on the matter as to whether it is a factual occurrence or a strong hallucination brought on by a series of organic chemical reactions prior to death. We know that the body has a way of compensating for a physical, mental and emotional stimuli that it perceives as invasive or detrimental. When we are severly injured and a certain amount of pain is perceived by the brain, the body naturally goes into a state of shock. The body is also capable of producing a natural type of morphine to protect itself against painful stimuli. The body is even capable of virtually shutting itself down into a comatose state during times of severe brain distress in order to allow the brain to heal. It may also be theorized that NDEs or “seeing the light” or even the sense of calm that one experiences is simply a chemical response to a complete system shutdown or impending death. It is also possible that advanced quantum physics has the explanation for NDEs as proof that the conscious persists long after the physical body stops working is in fact the conscious is the very basis of the universe and everything in it. Lastly, it is also possible that science is not able to explain certain spiritual or metaphysical events as they defy every natural law that we have. The Christian belief is that followers of God go to heaven and are immediately in God’s presence at time of death. Agnostics and atheists believe that the end to the physical body is an end to the life of an individual permanently and certainly with no after life or existence. It may be scientifically impossible in this generation to ascertain the validity of NDEs, despite the accurate and startling accounts given by the many people that experience them first hand. Doctors attempt to gain documentation of such events but since all brain activity ceases during an NDE, there is really no way to document what happens when someone crosses over from existing on a monitor to becoming a flat line and clinically dead. References: Fox, Mark. (2003) Religion, Spirituality and the Near Death Experience, London, Routledge Sabom, M. (1998). Light and Death: One Doctors Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/03102199 Williams, Kevin (2007) The NDE and Science, retrieved from website at: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research08.html Read More