NDExp Frequently Asked Questions.
What is the
Near Death Experiment?
Are there any secondary
objectives of the NDExp?
Flatlining? Isn't
that dangerous?
Why not just do the research on people
already being flatlined for surgery?
Why not just use hypnotism, or people
who have trained themselves to have Out of Body Experiences?
What's the big deal
with being so scientific? I know of heaps of people who have proven
psychic and paranormal phenomena of one sort or another.
Can research, such
as the NDexp prove the existence of life after death?
Are you people barking
mad?
You don't need to
do this! Haven't you heard the good news about "Insert name
of deity here"?
What is the
Near Death Experiment?
The Near Death Exploration Project is an effort
to scientifically explore the initial stages of death, in order
to establish whether a person does leave their body on death.
It will do this by firstly “flatlining” and resuscitating
a person and then finding out if they were aware of anything going
on in their environment, while they were “dead”.
If a person is able to describe events taking place while they
are effectively “dead”, then we will have established
to a high degree of probability that that person did in fact leave
their body, while they were dead.
Are
there any secondary objectives of the NDExp?
In addition to attempting to obtain a scientific
answer on the question of a person leaving their body after death,
the NDExp also seeks to investigate the phenomenon of the Near
Death Experience (NDE) and the psychological and physiological
after effects that are claimed by many researchers.
It will do this, by having all participants undergo an intensive
medical and psychological profiling prior to their being flatlined
and then by re-examining them on a frequent basis for at least
5 - 10 years afterwards.
Flatlining?
Isn't that dangerous?
Yes, but not as dangerous as you might suspect.
The flatlining of patients will be achieved through the use of
Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest (HCA). This is a surgical procedure
in which a person’s body temperature is reduced, by running
their blood through a Heart-Lung Machine with an attached cooler.
This cools the body rapidly, ensuring minimal damage to the brain.
In addition, while it is not uncommon to flatline patients for
30 minutes or more during surgery, the NDExP, will only require
they be flatlined for 10 minutes, at the most.
Why
not just do the research on people already being flatlined for
surgery?
This just wouldn't be ethical.
People who are being flatlined as a part of surgery are often
very ill and the last thing they, or the doctors need is a mob
of experimenters running around doing silly things and asking
silly questions. In addition, the very nature of the NDExp requires
a highly controlled environment, that simply isn't achievable
within a normal surgical environment.
Why
not just use hypnotism, or people who have trained themselves
to have Out of Body Experiences?
Because from a scientific perspective
it simply won't work. Several researchers have already tried to
research Out of Body Experiences, in this manner, but none have
yet produced conclusive, unambiguous, scientifically reproducible
positive results. While many would consider it a somewhat drastic
approach, any positive result produced by the NDExp will be inherently
reproducible by anyone, anywhere and therefore able to stand up
in the court of scientific opinion.
Can
research, such as the NDExp prove the existence of life after
death?
Strictly speaking, no. Because all of our participants
will be resuscitated, they cannot be said to have “died”
any any permanent sense. At best the experiment will be able to
demonstrate life during death, which would certainly provide a
hint of life after death.
What's the
big deal with being so scientific? I know of heaps of people who
have proven psychic phenomena of one sort or another.
We are glad you do, because we
aren't aware of a single psychic, or paranormal phenomena (assuming
normal usage of the term) that has been accepted by mainstream
scientists. Frankly, if something hasn't been established scientifically,
then it hasn't been established at all. Broadly, in order for
something to be established scientifically, the result needs to
be verifiable and reproducible for anyone
using the same methodology and equipment. If successful the NDExp
will provide that.
Are you people
barking mad?
This is probably the most common reaction that
we get when discussing the NDExp. Most people simply cannot understand
why anyone would want to flatline themselves in order to explore
the realms of death, and assume it is merely a “morbid”,
or suicidal fascination.
This response to the NDExP, is however merely
a reflection of our society’s somewhat irrational fear of
death. It is said that there are two things that we can’t
avoid, Death and Taxes. The fact is that many people do avoid
taxes, but none can avoid death. Given the number of people who
are in the business of exploring tax, it shouldn't be surprising
that a few want to explore death.
Like any exploration the journey is likely to
be dangerous, but if humans as a race were always to avoid danger,
we would still be nervously clinging to the fire afraid to leave
the cave.
Its not like we are climbing Mount Everest or
going into space. Now that would be mad! ;-)
You don't need to do this! Haven't
you heard the good news about "My Favorite Deity (tm)"?
Please. Don't even go there...
