Skeptic Check: Near Death Experiences

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2024

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Near death experiences can be profound and even life changing. People describe seeing bright lights, staring into the abyss, or meeting dead relatives. Many believe these experiences to be proof of an afterlife. But now, scientists are studying these strange events and gaining insights into the brain and consciousness itself. Will we uncover the scientific underpinning of these near-death events? Guests: Steve Paulson - executive producer of To the Best of Our Knowledge for Wisconsin Public Radio Sebastian Junger - journalist, filmmaker and author of “The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea” Christoph Koch - neuroscientist at the Allen Institute in Seattle and chief scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation in Santa Monica California Daniel Kondziella - neuroscientist in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Copenhagen Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Originally aired September 25, 2023 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:04.2	I'm Matt Kaplan, the host of Safeguarding Sound Science, Evolution Edition.
0:09.6	Evolution is the unifying principle of biology, yet it still breeds controversy a century
0:15.3	and a half after Charles Darwin.
0:17.7	Join us as we meet the passionate researchers and communicators who are expanding our knowledge
0:23.0	and fighting to keep good science in our schools and politics. Subscribe to Safeguarding Sound
0:29.3	Science on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you like to listen.
0:49.3	Near-death experiences that happen during medical emergencies can be as weird as they are profound.
0:50.2	Some say it feels like having your soul sucked out of your body or having time and space stop.
0:56.0	It's as if infinity, a sort of infinitely dark, black, infinity had emerged next to me.
1:06.0	The phenomena of near-death experiences are poorly understood.
1:10.0	The most common explanations are often tied to religion or mysticism.
1:14.4	Some even claim they are proof of an afterlife.
1:17.3	Now, researchers in various disciplines are diving deep into these bizarre events.
1:22.5	With this new approach, will we uncover the scientific underpinning of these events?
1:27.1	This is Big Picture Science from the SETI Institute, and I'm Seth Shostak.
1:31.3	I'm Molly Bentley.
1:33.3	In this episode, an exploration of the conscious mind, what we do and don't know about
1:37.3	near-death experiences, and a possible evolutionary explanation for having visions at death's door. This episode in our regular look at
1:46.1	critical thinking is skeptic check near-death experiences. I was surprised to learn that near-death
1:59.4	experiences are so common.
2:01.5	Nearly one in ten critically ill patients have them.
	...

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