Do Any Near-Death Experiences Provide Evidence for the Survival of Human Personality after Death? Relevant Features and Illustrative Case Reports

Ð One of the main reasons that near-death experiences have generated so much interest in recent years among the general public is because they seem to provide evidence that consciousness survives the death of the physical body. It is puzzling, therefore, that most researchers Ð both those interested in NDEs and those interested in survival research Ð have neglected to address the question of whether NDEs do provide evidence for survival. We describe three features of NDEs Ð enhanced mentation, the experience of seeing the physical body from a different position in space, and paranormal perceptions Ð that we believe might provide convergent evidence supporting the survival hypothesis. We then describe 7 published cases and 7 cases from our own collection that contain all three features. These cases are all Ð with one possible exception Ð somewhat deficient with regard to their recording and investigation, but they exemplify the type of case that should be identified earlier and investigated more thoroughly than these have been, and that may then help us decide the extent to which NDEs can contribute to the evidence for survival of consciousness after death.