Near Death Experiences and the main problem as I see it as to the veracity of what actually happened has everything to do with the fact that eye witness reports are the most unreliable source of information about any particular event or happening. The first person reporting of an NDE is nothing more than an eye witness account of what they claim to have seen and/or heard and/or experienced during a brief time while their body was not functioning consciously or apparently unconsciously.

We have all seen the studies where some very dramatic event is staged where it can easily be witnessed by a number of people, and immediately the organizers meet with and separate all the individuals who actually witnessed the event. This is to preclude there being an collusion or one person telling his version to the others thus coloring their recollection.

The accounts are all then documented and later compared, and the differences are so glaringly different that it becomes the subject of humorous episodes in the recounting of the statements given. And these are taken immediately after the witnessing, not after a period of time where the memories of what actually happened have time to ferment by the process where positive enjoyable things are magnified and negative things are allowed to fade, but all of which the witness will swear with conviction is a true and accurate account.

NDEs usually occur, obviously, when a person is experiencing either a massive trauma from an accident or assault, or a medical emergency where they are no only in danger of losing their life but they do in fact have their life force halted, linger in a limbo state, then be revive spontaneously or more commonly be revived through the quick action of those present at the time of the traumatic event or by medical intervention by being in a hospital or other such facility.

Where do NDEs come from and why

When the person, after some considerable time of recovery, gives their account of what they experienced during that "limbo" time of not alive but not dead, how can anyone regard any of such recollections as being in any way reliable for what may or may not have happened to their consciousness? So lets take a look at this situation and take into consideration what factors are at play for the person offering their account of their NDE.

CULTURAL INFLUENCES: In any given culture we see consistent NDE anecdotes being given which vary considerably from the accounts given by people with similar NDEs but who live in entirely different cultures. How can that be so if the basis for the NDE is to try to establish what actually is there on the other side which assumes that all people come from the one vast previous life pool and revert to that same common pool. Does this then indicate that the after life is segregated into groups by common attributes of the person when in the living world?

EXPECTATIONS: The content of the anecdote of a person who has had an NDE is very much based on what their expectations were about dying that had been formulated throughout all of their lifetime up to that "special" event. These expectations come from instilled beliefs about the existence of an after life long before the person entered into the NDE. Everyone carries with them their own interpretation of every after life story they have ever heard helped by listening to the views of any person considered to be an authority on the subject whose views are believable enough to be blended into that personal interpretation.

ANECDOTES FROM ANCIENT TEXTS: Another great influence on the way that people will later remember their NDE comes from the retelling of stories handed down from forebears which are simply reimagined and colored time after time by the continuous retelling and always offered up as truth because stories from ancient times are regarded as having some mystical access to truth that we no longer possess today. There is no logic to why people are so ready to accept this as being a reliable way of evaluating the veracity of any story.

RELIGIOUS INDOCTRINATION: Accounts of NDEs will also be strongly influenced by the religious teachings that the individual has accepted (without evidence) as being absolutely true. And again, the religious teachings will vary based entirely on geography. Where you were born will generally dictate what religious belief system that you will adhere to once indoctrinated into it from birth. To reject such teachings within any given culture will usually mean disfellowship by the rest of the community so even unbelievers will usually go with the flow just for an easier life. And those teachings will fly to the surface during the brain activity induced by shock, medications, or whatever trauma is being experienced bringing about the NDE.

DREAMS: Are NDEs nothing more than dreams? Many people dream of seeing and talking with family members who passed away. Most often these will occur during the time immediately following that person's death. This would be easily accounted for simply because that departed loved one is very much in our thoughts and recollections of who they were, what they looked like, how they spoke, etc. We could engage in studies to see if such dreams were actually a reflection of some actual mystical reunion that has great importance and gives "evidence" that there actually is an after life, your loved one is there, and is still wanting to talk with you just as they did when alive.

We cannot discount NDEs entirely by brushing them off as nothing more than dreams that most everyone has during very deep sleep. But the only way we know about these things is from the anecdotal evidence of those who claim to have experienced "death" and come back to tell the tale. And more than tell the tale, they then enlarge the story by claiming to have answered the ultimate question of all people of what happens after death. For me, as it is now and probably will stay, the real answer is we simply don't know and there is no way of knowing for sure.

The only thing that we can be sure of is that we all are going to some day find out for our selves.