Literature Review #3

 Visual:

Citation:

Lichfield, Story by Gideon. “The Science of Near-Death Experiences.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 23 Nov. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-science-of-near-death-experiences/386231/?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share. 

Author/ Summary:

This article was written by Gideon Lichfield, a senior editor at quartz and writer for The Atlantic.

The article is a good segway into understanding the topic of NDEs and the research that has been conducted regarding them. Lichfield discusses a majority of the aspects of the NDE field, from the tennis shoe case to the Aware study to the debate over consciousness. He remains unbiased and presents both sides of the debate over NDEs; whether or not they are a real and spiritual event or just a result of brain functions. In addition, he explores well known cases of NDEs, but also presents the opposing argument. 

Key Terms:

One of the key terms of this article is “consciousness”. Lichfield goes into great detail regarding the debate over consciousness or the boundary between life and death. Even if it was proved that NDEs are just a mere result of spasms in the brain, this poses a challenge to the current understanding and definition of consciousness. Another key term from this article is scientific theories. Lichfield explains that what makes a scientific theory just that is that it must be testable. He goes on to describe how the current scientific and medical theories and explanations about NDEs cannot be tested against or for and therefore, cannot be definitive. 

Quotes:

“One of the most celebrated is the story of “Maria,” a migrant worker who had an NDE during a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Seattle in 1977. She later told her social worker that while doctors were resuscitating her, she found herself floating outside the hospital building and saw a tennis shoe on a third-floor window ledge, which she described in some detail. The social worker went to the window Maria had indicated, and not only found the shoe but said that the way it was placed meant there was no way Maria could have seen all the details she described from inside her hospital room.” (Lichfield).

“The results of the Aware study immediately highlight the key problem with this kind of research: it’s very hard to get enough data. Over four years, the study recorded a total of 2,060 cardiac arrests...Of those two, one became too ill to interview further. That left just one subject who could recount what he’d seen in detail” (Lichfield).

“ The patient, a 57-year-old man, described floating up to a corner of the room, seeing medical staff work on him, and watching himself be defibrillated. According to Parnia’s paper, several of the details he described checked out. What’s more, after triangulating the patient’s description with the workings of the defibrillator, the researchers think he may have seen things that happened for as long as three minutes after his heart stopped.” (Lichfield).

Value:

I find this article to be extremely valuable. While it may not be a peer reviewed source, it certainly remains unbiased and factual. Lichfield presents both sides of the debate and discusses widely known cases that support the reality of NDEs.