| Revision as of 13:37, 9 January 2014 editCrisco 1492 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Administrators138,157 edits Reverted good faith edits by Der Spion (talk): Way, way, way, way too long, especially for a quote from a news article. Rephrase. (TW)← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:08, 9 January 2014 edit undoLiuthar (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users926 edits should be all rigth now... What about these "anchors to earth time in memory"?Next edit → | ||
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| Alexander’s book and publicity campaign have been criticized by scientists, including ] ], who described Alexander’s NDE account (chronicled in ''Newsweek'', October 2012) as “alarmingly unscientific,” and that “everything — ''absolutely everything'' — in Alexander’s account rests on repeated assertions that his visions of heaven occurred while his ] was 'shut down,' 'inactivated,' 'completely shut down,' 'totally offline,' and 'stunned to complete inactivity.' The evidence he provides for this claim is not only inadequate — it suggests that he doesn’t know anything about the relevant brain science.”<ref>Harris, Sam (12 Oct 2012), @ SamHarris.com.</ref> “Even in cases where the brain is alleged to have shut down, its activity must return if the subject is to survive and describe the experience. In such cases, there is generally no way to establish that the NDE occurred while the brain was offline.”<ref>{{cite web |author=Sam Harris |title=Science on the Brink of Death |url=http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/science-on-the-brink-of-death |date=November 11, 2012 |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> ] and writer ] agreed with Harris, saying that "to deny the possibility of any natural explanation for an NDE, as Dr. Alexander does, is more than unscientific — it is antiscientific."..."The one most plausible hypothesis in Dr. Alexander's case...is that his NDE occurred not during his coma, but as he was surfacing from the coma and his cortex was returning to full function. It is curious that he does not allow this obvious and natural explanation, but instead insists on a supernatural one."<ref>Sacks, Oliver, , '']'' (12 December 2012).</ref> | Alexander’s book and publicity campaign have been criticized by scientists, including ] ], who described Alexander’s NDE account (chronicled in ''Newsweek'', October 2012) as “alarmingly unscientific,” and that “everything — ''absolutely everything'' — in Alexander’s account rests on repeated assertions that his visions of heaven occurred while his ] was 'shut down,' 'inactivated,' 'completely shut down,' 'totally offline,' and 'stunned to complete inactivity.' The evidence he provides for this claim is not only inadequate — it suggests that he doesn’t know anything about the relevant brain science.”<ref>Harris, Sam (12 Oct 2012), @ SamHarris.com.</ref> “Even in cases where the brain is alleged to have shut down, its activity must return if the subject is to survive and describe the experience. In such cases, there is generally no way to establish that the NDE occurred while the brain was offline.”<ref>{{cite web |author=Sam Harris |title=Science on the Brink of Death |url=http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/science-on-the-brink-of-death |date=November 11, 2012 |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> ] and writer ] agreed with Harris, saying that "to deny the possibility of any natural explanation for an NDE, as Dr. Alexander does, is more than unscientific — it is antiscientific."..."The one most plausible hypothesis in Dr. Alexander's case...is that his NDE occurred not during his coma, but as he was surfacing from the coma and his cortex was returning to full function. It is curious that he does not allow this obvious and natural explanation, but instead insists on a supernatural one."<ref>Sacks, Oliver, , '']'' (12 December 2012).</ref> | ||
| In November 2012, Alexander responded to critics in a second ''Newsweek'' article: | |||
| In November 2012, Alexander responded to critics in a second ''Newsweek'' article: "My synapses—the spaces between the neurons of the brain that support the electrochemical activity that makes the brain function — were not simply compromised during my experience. They were stopped. Only isolated pockets of deep cortical neurons were still sputtering, but no broad networks capable of generating anything like what we call 'consciousness.' The E. coli bacteria that flooded my brain during my illness made sure of that. My doctors have told me that according to all the brain tests they were doing, there was no way that any of the functions including vision, hearing, emotion, memory, language, or logic could possibly have been intact."<ref>{{cite news |author=Eben Alexander |title=The Science of Heaven: Can consciousness exist when the body fails? One neurosurgeon says he has seen it firsthand—and takes on critics who vehemently disagree. |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/11/18/the-science-of-heaven.html |publisher=''Newsweek'' |date=November 18, 2012 |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> | |||
| {{bquote|Critics have maintained that my near-death experience, like similar experiences others before me have claimed, was a brain-based delusion cobbled together by my ]s only after they had somehow recovered from the blistering weeklong attack. I also experienced that transitional period, when my mind began to regain consciousness: I remember a vivid paranoid nightmare in which my wife and doctors were trying to kill me, and I was only saved from certain death by a ninja couple after being pushed from a 60-story cancer hospital in south Florida. But that period of disorientation and delusion had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to me before my cortex began to recover: the period, that is, when it was shut down and incapable of supporting consciousness at all. During that period, I experienced something very similar to what countless other people who have undergone near-death experiences have witnessed: the transition to a realm beyond the physical, and a vast broadening of my consciousness. The only real difference between my experience and those others is that my brain was, essentially, deader than theirs.<ref>{{cite news |author=Eben Alexander |title=The Science of Heaven: Can consciousness exist when the body fails? One neurosurgeon says he has seen it firsthand—and takes on critics who vehemently disagree. |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/11/18/the-science-of-heaven.html |publisher=''Newsweek'' |date=November 18, 2012 |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref>}} | |||
| He continues, explaining that his synapses were completely stopped and that only isolated pockets of deep cortical ]s were still sputtering, yet no broad networks capable of generating anything like what we call “consciousness”. Alexander's doctors have, as he states, told him that according to all brain tests carried out, there was no way that any of the functions including vision, hearing, emotion, memory, language, or logic could possibly have been intact. This was made sure by the ] that flooded his brain. | |||
| On the website ''skeptiko.com'' Alexander also states in a response to Sam Harris' blog posts that he knows his NDE took place within the coma because of certain anchors to earth time in memory<ref> (16 October 2012).</ref>, which remains unspecified. | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| {{official website|http://lifebeyonddeath.net}} | |||
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| | NAME = Alexander, Eben | | NAME = Alexander, Eben | ||
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Revision as of 19:08, 9 January 2014
This article is about the neurosurgeon and author. For his great-grandfather, see Eben Alexander.| Eben Alexander III | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 11, 1953 (1953-12-11) (age 71) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, neurosurgeon |
| Website | www |
Eben Alexander III (born December 11, 1953) is an American neurosurgeon and the author of the best-selling Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, in which he describes his 2008 near-death experience and asserts that science can and will determine that heaven really does exist.
Early life and education
Alexander attended Phillips Exeter Academy (class of 1972), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (A.B., 1975), and the Duke University School of Medicine (M.D., 1980).
Alexander was an Intern in General Surgery at Duke University Medical Center, a resident at Duke, Newcastle (U.K.) General Hospital. He was a resident and research fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital and is certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American College of Surgeons (F.A.C.S.).
Career
Academic and clinical appointments
Alexander has taught at Duke University Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the University of Virginia Medical School.
He has had hospital appointments at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and Lynchburg (Virginia) General Hospital-CentraHealth. He currently has been without surgical privileges since 2007.
Professional activities
Alexander is a member of the American Medical Association and various other professional societies. He has been on the editorial boards of various journals.
Proof of Heaven
Content
Alexander is the author of the 2012 autobiographical book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife, in which he asserts that his out of body and near death experience (NDE) while in a meningitis-induced coma in 2008 proves that consciousness is independent of the brain, that death is an illusion, and that an eternity of perfect splendor awaits us beyond the grave — complete with angels, clouds, and departed relatives, but also including butterflies and a beautiful girl in peasant dress who Alexander finds out later was his departed sister. According to him, the current understanding of the mind “now lies broken at our feet ”— for “What happened to me destroyed it, and I intend to spend the rest of my life investigating the true nature of consciousness and making the fact that we are more, much more, than our physical brains as clear as I can, both to my fellow scientists and to people at large.” Alexander’s book was excerpted in a Newsweek magazine cover story in October 2012. (In May 2012, Alexander had provided a slightly more technical account of the events described in his book in an article, "My Experience in Coma", in AANS Neurosurgeon, the trade publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.)
As of July 3, 2013, Proof of Heaven has been on the The New York Times Best Seller list for 35 weeks.
Criticism
In a wide-ranging investigation of Alexander's story and medical background, Esquire magazine reported (August 2013 issue) that prior to the publication of Proof of Heaven, Alexander had been terminated or suspended from multiple hospital positions, and had been the subject of several malpractice lawsuits, including at least two involving the alteration of medical records to cover up a medical error. The magazine also found what it claimed were discrepancies with regard to Alexander's version of events in the book. Among the discrepancies, according to an account of the Esquire article in Forbes, was that "Alexander writes that he slipped into the coma as a result of severe bacterial meningitis and had no higher brain activity, while a doctor who cared for him says the coma was medically induced and the patient was conscious, though hallucinating."
Alexander issued a statement after the Esquire article's publication: "I wrote a truthful account of my experiences in PROOF OF HEAVEN and have acknowledged in the book both my professional and personal accomplishments and my setbacks. I stand by every word in this book and have made its message the purpose of my life. Esquire's cynical article distorts the facts of my 25-year career as a neurosurgeon and is a textbook example of how unsupported assertions and cherry-picked information can be assembled at the expense of the truth."
Alexander’s book and publicity campaign have been criticized by scientists, including neuroscientist Sam Harris, who described Alexander’s NDE account (chronicled in Newsweek, October 2012) as “alarmingly unscientific,” and that “everything — absolutely everything — in Alexander’s account rests on repeated assertions that his visions of heaven occurred while his cerebral cortex was 'shut down,' 'inactivated,' 'completely shut down,' 'totally offline,' and 'stunned to complete inactivity.' The evidence he provides for this claim is not only inadequate — it suggests that he doesn’t know anything about the relevant brain science.” “Even in cases where the brain is alleged to have shut down, its activity must return if the subject is to survive and describe the experience. In such cases, there is generally no way to establish that the NDE occurred while the brain was offline.” Neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks agreed with Harris, saying that "to deny the possibility of any natural explanation for an NDE, as Dr. Alexander does, is more than unscientific — it is antiscientific."..."The one most plausible hypothesis in Dr. Alexander's case...is that his NDE occurred not during his coma, but as he was surfacing from the coma and his cortex was returning to full function. It is curious that he does not allow this obvious and natural explanation, but instead insists on a supernatural one."
In November 2012, Alexander responded to critics in a second Newsweek article:
Critics have maintained that my near-death experience, like similar experiences others before me have claimed, was a brain-based delusion cobbled together by my synapses only after they had somehow recovered from the blistering weeklong attack. I also experienced that transitional period, when my mind began to regain consciousness: I remember a vivid paranoid nightmare in which my wife and doctors were trying to kill me, and I was only saved from certain death by a ninja couple after being pushed from a 60-story cancer hospital in south Florida. But that period of disorientation and delusion had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to me before my cortex began to recover: the period, that is, when it was shut down and incapable of supporting consciousness at all. During that period, I experienced something very similar to what countless other people who have undergone near-death experiences have witnessed: the transition to a realm beyond the physical, and a vast broadening of my consciousness. The only real difference between my experience and those others is that my brain was, essentially, deader than theirs.
He continues, explaining that his synapses were completely stopped and that only isolated pockets of deep cortical neurons were still sputtering, yet no broad networks capable of generating anything like what we call “consciousness”. Alexander's doctors have, as he states, told him that according to all brain tests carried out, there was no way that any of the functions including vision, hearing, emotion, memory, language, or logic could possibly have been intact. This was made sure by the E. coli bacteria that flooded his brain.
On the website skeptiko.com Alexander also states in a response to Sam Harris' blog posts that he knows his NDE took place within the coma because of certain anchors to earth time in memory, which remains unspecified.
See also
- 23 Minutes in Hell
- 90 Minutes in Heaven
- Heaven is for Real
- Howard Storm (author)
- The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven
References
- "Dr. Eben Alexander – NDE". NDE Stories. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
- Alexander, Eben (2012), Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, Simon & Schuster, pg 169.
- Alexander, Eben (2012), Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, Simon & Schuster, pg 40.
- Alexander, Eben (8 Oct 2012), “Heaven Is Real: A Doctor’s Experience With the Afterlife”, Newsweek.
- Eben Alexander III (2012). "My Experience in Coma". AANS Neurosurgeon. 21 (2). Retrieved 2012-11-23.
- "Best Sellers". Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. July 7, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-03. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
- ^
Dittrich, Luke (August 2013). "The Prophet: An Investigation of Eben ALexander, Author of the Blockbuster "Proof of Heaven"". Esquire. New York City: Hearst Communications, Inc.: pp 88–95, 125–126, 128.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) Page 95: "On August 6, 2008, the patient filed a $3 million lawsuit against Alexander, accusing him of negligence, battery, spoliation, and fraud. The purported cover-up, the changes Alexander had made to the surgical report, was a major aspect of the suit. Once again, a lawyer was accusing Alexander of altering the historical record when the historical record didn't fit the story he wanted to tell." - ^ "Was 'Proof of Heaven' author hallucinating?". Retrieved July 13, 2013. Daily Mail Online, Published July 2, 2013. Includes photos of the Esquire magazine August 2013 cover and the article's author, contributing editor Luke Dittrich, and a response from Alexander on the controversy.
- ^ Jeff Bercovici. "Esquire Unearths 'Proof Of Heaven' Author's Credibility Problems". Forbes. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
- Harris, Sam (12 Oct 2012), “This Must Be Heaven’’ @ SamHarris.com.
- Sam Harris (November 11, 2012). "Science on the Brink of Death". Retrieved 2012-11-26.
- Sacks, Oliver, “Seeing God in the Third Millennium”, The Atlantic Monthly (12 December 2012).
- Eben Alexander (November 18, 2012). "The Science of Heaven: Can consciousness exist when the body fails? One neurosurgeon says he has seen it firsthand—and takes on critics who vehemently disagree". Newsweek. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - "Sam Harris Won’t Debate Dr. Eben Alexander on Near-Death Experience Science" (16 October 2012).