"What many skeptics have noted is that Dr. Alexander doesn’t consider the possibility that his experience might have occurred as he surfaced from his coma. We all have dreams that feel like hours and discover upon awakening that they spanned only a few minutes. The scientific literature on NDE describes some long experiences that occurred within as little as 30 seconds. It’s possible that this otherworldly experience occurred shortly after his neocortex became active. But that’s something the former scientific skeptic oddly overlooks.
Moreover, if Dr. Alexander wanted to prove his scientific veracity, why didn’t he submit his evidence in a paper for peer review in the scientific community and share that with us in the book?
He hints that he was eager to share his discovery with the world. Or maybe he’s not trying to convince the skeptics but reassure and confirm the beliefs of the buying public.
While well-written and sometimes poignant, the book reads like part Chicken Soup for the Soul and part creed screed. Dr. Alexander blasts scientific materialism and argues that by rejecting it, we can get in touch with our spiritual selves through love and compassion. But I don’t see how love and compassion are empty without God. After all, even if our brains are nothing more than electrical-chemical signals in an all-too-biological machine, that does not negate the real subjective experience of the “machine” (a inexact comparison he and other neurosurgeons toss around too readily, because machines are not conscious and self-aware)."
I am willing, even anxious, to reconsider my position on NDEs', but single unexplained personal experiences, even by a neurosurgeon, just don't do it for me. Without review and input from the scientific community, there are still too many other plausible explanations.
