Last week I posted about a new best-selling book concerning near-death experiences: Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences by Dr Jeffrey Long and Paul Perry. For more information on the book, make sure you have a listen to the latest Skeptiko podcast which features Dr Jeffrey Long discussing his research, and responding to skeptical arguments against the NDE:

While some near-death experience researchers have been reluctant to make the leap from NDEs to proof of the afterlife, Dr. Long is convinced by his research findings, “I’ve gone over every skeptic argument I can get my hands on. At the end of the day, I have no doubt in my mind near-death experience is for real. It’s a profound and reassuring message that we all have an afterlife. Every single one of us. And it’s wonderful. It is probably the greatest thrill of my life to be able to carry forward that important message to the world. I wouldn’t do it if I weren’t absolutely convinced that it’s correct.”

The conclusions of this research will be controversial, but Dr. Long stands ready to take on the critics, “I would be delighted to debate any near-death experience skeptic, any time, any place, on any media, as long as they’re scholarly, well informed, and as long as it can be a very high-level, intellectual debate.”

For those with limited download capacity, note that there is also a text transcription of the interview available.

The Windbridge Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to investigating human potential. One of their lines of research is anomalous information transfer received through 'mediums', and how this may provide proof of the survival of consciousness after the physical death of the body (see my interview with Dr Julie Beischel of the Windbridge Institute for more).

As part of their on-going research into these areas, the Windbridge Institute is currently seeking volunteers to act as sitters who will receive and score mediumship readings. If this interests you, head to their website for more information, and a secure, on-line pre-screening questionnaire.

Separately, Dr Beischel's former colleague Dr Gary Schwartz is recruiting for the Sophia Project Entity Communications Study:

Numerous individuals in various cultures throughout history have reported an ability to communicate with non-human entities, deceased people, and other-worldly beings. Over the past few years, an increase in the reporting of these types of experiences has been seen in popular American culture including books, websites, and television shows. The rational scientific investigation of this topic is necessary to either validate the experiences or elucidate the psychological mechanisms behind these phenomena. This study is intended to investigate this controversial topic in a thorough and objective manner.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of people who claim to channel or communicate with Deceased People, Spirit Guides, Angels, Other-Worldly Entities / Extraterrestrials, and / or a Universal Intelligence / God. The ultimate objective is to investigate if these communications can be validated under controlled conditions.

Zener cards seem so quaint by comparison...

The metaphor of science as 'a candle in the dark' originated with Carl Sagan, as the subtitle to his 1995 book The Demon-Haunted World (Amazon US). Since then, skeptics and atheists have adopted the line in force, from simply quoting Sagan through to naming conferences after it. In Chapter 2 of his book, Sagan outlines how he came to adopt the subtitle:

A Candle in the Dark is the title of a courageous, largely Biblically based, book by Thomas Ady, published in London in 1656, attacking the witch-hunts then in progress as a scam 'to delude the people'. Any illness or storm, anything out of the ordinary, was popularly attributed to witchcraft. Witches must exist, Ady quoted the 'witchmongers' as arguing, 'else how should these things be, or come to pass?' For much of our history, we were so fearful of the outside world, with its unpredictable dangers, that we gladly embraced anything that promised to soften or explain away the terror. Science is an attempt, largely successful, to understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get hold of ourselves, to steer a safe course. Microbiology and meteorology now explain what only a few centuries ago was considered sufficient cause to burn women to death.

Ady also warned of the danger that 'the Nations [will] perish for lack of knowledge'. Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves. I worry that, especially as the millennium edges nearer, pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before? Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us - then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls.

The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir.

Given the wide usage of this (rather hyperbolic) metaphor by the skeptical community, I was rather amused to read the following passage in Alan Gauld's The Founders of Psychical Research (page 149), published in 1968, which (pre-emptively) presents a rather different, almost contradictory, usage:

Myers once said that the most important question one could ask was 'Is the Universe Friendly?' and with this view several of his colleagues would in one way or another have concurred. There had lately been much to suggest to them that the Universe was neither friendly to mankind nor yet unfriendly; it was just blankly indifferent. Psychical research seemed to offer a touch of warmth and hope in face of this chilling prospect. It was at least a candle in the darkness which was beginning to loom on every side.

So is science a candle in the dark, or is it the encroaching darkness?

I was pleasantly surprised this week to note that a new book about near-death experiences, Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences, had shot into Amazon's Top 10 (and is comfortably sitting within the top 100 a few days later). The book is written by Paul Perry and radiation oncologist Jeffrey Long, who is on the board of directors of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), and is an active researcher in the field of NDEs. Dr Long set up the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) website more than ten years ago, which provides information about this fascinating phenomenon, and also requests that NDErs report their experience through a form on the NDERF website. The data collected through this form has been compared and analysed by Dr Long, and he believes it shows evidence that human consciousness survives physical death:

Evidence of the Afterlife shares the firsthand accounts of people who have died and lived to tell about it. Through their work at the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, radiation oncologist Jeffrey Long and his wife, Jody, have gathered thousands of accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) from all over the world. In addition to sharing the personal narrative of their experiences, visitors to the website are asked to fill out a one hundred–item questionnaire designed to isolate specific elements of the experience and to flag counterfeit accounts.

The website has become the largest NDE research database in the world, containing over 1,600 NDE accounts. The people whose stories are captured in the database span all age groups, races, and religious affiliations and come from all over the world, yet the similarities in their stories are as awe-inspiring as they are revealing. Using this treasure trove of data, Dr. Long explains how medical evidence fails to explain these reports and why there is only one plausible explanation—that people have survived death and traveled to another dimension.

No doubt helping the success of the book was Dr Long's appearance on The Today Show last week, which I've embedded below:

However, it does show that interest in this subject is high, as long as people are pointed in the right direction. While this book, with national publicity, has shot to the upper regions of Amazon's charts - indicating that people are open to the idea - other authoritative works on the topic such as The Handbook of Near Death Experiences (which Long is a contributor to) remain languishing in purgatory. Meanwhile, other works with perhaps even more importance from an evidential point of view, such as Robert Crookall's The Supreme Adventure(which looks at the the crossovers between early NDE accounts and descriptions of the afterlife 'through' mediums), aren't even available for sale.

Perhaps, with the original publication of Raymond Moody's seminal Life After Life being 35 years ago, new generations are only now discovering that there is in-depth research being done on this topic...and that, despite what skeptics say, it is worthy of consideration. I'm hopeful that is the case, as I think thus far (apart from the blip occasioned by Life After Life), the topic of afterlife studies is one that has been largely ignored by scientists and the public alike.

Previously on TDG:

• Death Before Life After Life
• The Near Death Experience: Dr Bruce Greyson (video)
• Afterlife Ethics
• The Departed: An Interview with Mediumship Researcher Dr Julie Beischel
• Fascinating Skeptiko

According to this recent Pew poll, roughly 1 in 5 Americans claim to have had ghostly experiences. Though I'm sadly not part of the 18% (or even American, so all-round fail on that one), the topic does interest me greatly. In a happy coincidence, at the end of last year Public Parapsychology posted an intelligent, multi-part primer on apparitional experiences - if the topic interests you then it's definitely worth a read:

• Introduction
• Types of Apparitions
• Characteristics of Apparitions
• Spontaneous Cases and Field Research
• Apparitions in the Laboratory
• Characteristics of Experiencers
• Theories and Perspectives on Apparitions
• Conclusion

Anybody out there got an 'apparitional experience' of their own to share?

I was bemused to see an article in the last issue of Skeptical Inquirer titled "NDE Experiment: Ethical Concerns", by Sebastian Dieguez, a PhD student in Neuroscience. The article criticises the AWARE study (which we've covered here on TDG previously in the past), where researchers will study whether people who have an NDE can see 'hidden targets' during the OBE component of their experience. The author claims that because the targets are there during the crisis situation (even though hidden from 'normal' vision), they represent an experiment being done without the consent of the subject.

In short though, Dieguez's real issue with the AWARE study is that *he* thinks it is nonsense - therefore involving critically ill patients in the research is disrespectful to them and their families. This is most obvious when he acknowledges that, despite his own concerns, the AWARE study must have done what was necessary to jump through the hoops of ethical review boards and the like (which are very strict in patrolling these matters):

My point in this article is not to charge anyone with not having done the appropriate paperwork; I take issue with the very approval of such a study: I simply deplore the use in parapsychological studies of patients with acute cardiac arrest who cannot give their consent.

Remember though, the 'consent' part is just the hidden target - the patient is given the option afterwards whether to participate 'further'. It amazes me that Skeptical Inquirer would even print this sort of thing as a valid argument - it just goes to show how unscientific SI and CSICOP often are when confronted with research moving outside the materialist paradigm. But all is not lost in modern skepticisim - prominent skeptics Susan Blackmore and Chris French both responded to the article, taking issue with its stance on parapsychological research. Blackmore explained that "anecdotal reports of veridical NDEs may be 'unconvincing' to Dieguez, but they convince many people...if experiments can show that paranormal claims are unverifiable (which I expect they will) and can also explain why people have these experiences even if nothing leaves the body, then this would greatly improve people’s understanding of death and dying." Chris French pointed out that Dieguz's argument "rests on the assumption that the outcome is already known...While it is clear from my own writings on this topic that I think this is almost certainly true, I think it is important for skeptics to acknowledge that they just might be wrong."

I spoke to NDE research authority Dr Bruce Greyson about the article, but he had little to say other than being surprised that SI printed it - he thought that Blackmore and French both covered the arguments against Dieguz's criticism fairly comprehensively and so had little else to add.

Speaking of Dr Greyson, I'm currently reading The Handbook of Near Death Experiences (available from Amazon US. It presents a number of scholarly articles by authorities in the field (Greyson, Carlos Alvarado, Jan Holden, Peter Fenwick, Ken Ring etc) summarising various elements of NDE research over recent decades. Quite dry, with plenty of statistical analysis of various aspects, but I think essential reading for anyone genuinely interested in the phenomenon as it brings you 'up to date' with what has been discovered thus far.

For those that missed it when I posted it earlier this year, here's Dr Greyson with a short summary of mind-brain anomalies deserving of further scientific research:

• Watching Death
• Bruce Greyson on the NDE

Earlier this week I mentioned an upcoming book release, The Handbook of Near Death Experiences. I've just received further information from the book's senior editor, Jan Holden, about the book and some related free content on the web:

In 2005, I was president of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), and Debbie James, a nurse educator at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, was the IANDS conference director. I realized it was the 30th anniversary of the publication of Raymond Moody's book Life After Life that opened the field of near-death studies. I approached Debbie about making our 2006 conference a 30-year retrospective of the field and learned she had been thinking of hosting a conference at M. D. Anderson. This seemed like the perfect marriage of ideas.

IANDS did hold the conference in the fall of 2006...I invited the leading NDE researchers from around the world to present comprehensive, critical reviews of all research to date on these topics; their presentations comprised the first two days of the four-day conference. DVDs of those presentations are available for sale at the IANDS website. Most of the chapters from The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences derived from those 2006 conference paper presentations. Bruce Greyson, the leading active NDE researcher, was a shoe-in to serve as second editor, and Debbie James, 2006 conference director, as third editor. Veteran NDE researcher Ken Ring, now retired from the field of near-death studies, wrote the Foreword to The Handbook.

For your additional information, anyone interested in a 1 hour, 15 minute online introduction to NDEs may access such a program at no cost at http://www.iands.org/education/education... The program first reviews the field of near-death studies (addressed in Chapter 1 of The Handbook), then addresses the topic of the contents of pleasurable Western adult NDEs, the most researched subtopic in the field (the topic of Chapter 2 of The Handbook), including audio and video clips of NDErs describing their experiences. Right now, Texas mental health professionals can earn CE credit for viewing the program and passing a quiz; we're in the process of becoming able to offer CE credit to a larger range of health professionals. This program is the perfect accompaniment to The Handbook.

The book is scheduled for release later this month, and is available for preorder from Amazon. Contributors include Bruce Greyson, Peter Fenwick, and Carlos Alvarado. Sounds like a definite for my bookshelf.

Last weekend I posted my article from the latest Darklore (Amazon US and UK), "Death Before Life After Life", which looked at accounts of near-death experiences from before the phenomena became well-known through Raymond Moody's book Life After Life (you can read the article in its original format as a PDF at the Darklore website). I was therefore very interested to read a new blog post this week from Michael Tymn - who's a fair expert on afterlife-related literature - titled "A Near-Death Experience to Die For". In his posting, Mike looks at an NDE first published in 1917, in Fanny Ruthven Paget's book How I Know that the Dead Are Alive, which I didn't cover in my article.

Paget's account of what happened to her when she 'died' is a very detailed one, and includes many elements that you don't find in the 'vanilla' NDE report. However, it does contain a number of the standards, including the OBE, the guide, meeting loved ones, and the life review. I had some chills though when I read her description of the "city of light", which she said was constructed of a material that had "the transparency of glass of a variegated whiteness, into which colors, harmonizing in the most delicate way, were coming and going, ever changing". Not only did I touch on this aspect of "transparent architecture" in my article (when discussing the NDE of Leonora Piper), but I have previously written about this in detail in my 2004 article "Cities of Transparent Gold".

Curiouser and curiouser....

There's a few fascinating books on afterlife research starting to come out which readers might like to check out. Here's the quick rundown:

• David Fontana, author of the popular overview Is There an Afterlife?, has written a new book discussing descriptions of the 'summerlands' from NDErs and mediums titled Life After Death: The Nature of the Afterlife, which is available from Amazon UK.
• A more personal story of the history of research into the afterlife can be found in Trevor Hamilton's Immortal Longings: F.W.H. Myers and the Victorian Search for Life After Death. Fred Myers is an interesting character, and his story of contact with a 'lost love' through various mediums would make for fascinating reading.
• Lastly, on the near-death experience front, later this month The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences will be released. It's got Dr Bruce Greyson's name attached to it, one of the world's leading authorities on the phenomena, so it should be a worthwhile addition to the bookshelf. I've contacted Dr Greyson asking for more information about it, so if I find out anything new I'll let y'all know.

Interesting to see these books about afterlife research coming out, on the back of recent releases of Deborah Blum's excellent Ghost Hunters, Mary Roach's Spook and Archie Roy's The Eager Dead. I'm actually working on my own book regarding afterlife research at the moment, which I'm hoping to have done before the year is out - so stay tuned for that.

A nice little summary on why the Near Death Experience (NDE) is worthy of scientific research, by Dr Bruce Greyson - probably the world's foremost expert on the phenomenon:

For those that might have missed it, I wrote about how NDEs have been reported through history - as well as discussing some of the strange, common elements found in the experience - in the latest Darklore release. You can read my article as a 'free sample' at the Darklore website.

Previously on TDG:

• The Dualism Battleground
• Bruce Greyson on the NDE (video)
• UV and the Afterlife