near-death experience thread

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Are near-death experiences real?

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Hulkster

Hulkster

kiwifarms.net
Joined
Jul 28, 2025
I have been fascinated by the topic of NDEs for a couple of years. Initially I was pretty naive and believed almost everybody's near-death experience, but recently, after learning more about theology and seeing some videos, I've come to the conclusion that a large portion of near-death experiences are bullshit. Here are some goofy examples of near-death experiences I found on YouTube that solidify my view that near-death experiences have pretty much become a scam to grift money from well-meaning believers.
In this podcast, the guest, Michael, claims he saw Pope Francis and Michael Jackson in hell along with other celebrities. I think his belief that the Christian pope is in hell really makes me think this guy is bullshitting. Many of the comments on a clip of this podcast realized this, but the full-length podcast's comments are filled with what sounds like bots agreeing with him.
Here's another podcast where some Black chick claims she saw the notorious BIG in heaven, aka the notorious gangbanger and murderer. I don't doubt his Christian credentials, assuming Biggie was a Christian, but all of these stories about regular people meeting celebrities in heaven and hell and coming back to appear on podcasts and write books make this whole thing seem like a scam to grift money from naive people.
Here's a channel I found dedicated to near-death experiences. This channel features people claiming all sorts of afterlives, with many of the videos focusing on new age reincarnation and people claiming they were shown the truth of reincarnation despite this belief contradicting most major religions and the other near-death experiences from people claiming they saw celebrities burning in hell for not accepting Jesus as their lord and savior.
Here's another near-death experience channel that is filled with videos of people saying the exact opposite of the last channel, talking about seeing heaven and Jesus instead of reincarnation, which contradicts the Bible. I could go on forever with a list of these channels, including the AI slop dedicated to near-death experiences, but all of this is to say that either all near-death experiences are fake or a good amount of people are lying about their experiences for views.

So KiwiFarmers are near-death experiences bullshit, or will we reincarnate as Black women? Feel free to comment below.
 
I had a near death experience. My vision faded to black and then I saw what looked like white clouds. In front of me there was a yellow glowing shape. A figure to my right gestured to look left, and when I looked to my left a hole parted in the clouds and I saw a birds eye view of the British Isles. Then I spat up the chicken nugget I was choking on and woke up.
 
Late 2017 I was run over by a drunk driver and almost died. For me there was no white light, no visions of loved ones, nothing like that. It was like I was in a deep sleep, dreamless and only found out the severity of what had happened when I came to in the hospital days later.
 
i was riding my bike on the train tracks coming up to a crossing and had my headphones in,
the horn of the train that would have slammed into me and splattered me indian style saved me because i couldn't hear it the sounds of its engine over the music in my ears
 
You only enter and see the afterlife upon death and its finality, so I assume near death experiences are bullshit by default. But I keep an open mind because so much weird shit has happened in my life.
 
A relative of mine had a blood infection and was dead for several minutes. They said they only experienced blackness.

Oxygen deprivation to the brain will do funny things to you if you're conscious for it though.
 
If you want a theological perspective, I do not think people see heaven or hell. They may have an intense flood of emotions from a brain that is in shock. And these can feel heavenly or hellish; euphoric or agonizing. But it doesn’t mean a part of them entered a non-physical place. I do not think God would allow that to happen for three reasons,

1. Suppose someone did see Heaven. Well, that’s a bit cruel because now their experience on earth will feel “spoiled” by comparison. Like they were dragged back to earth. The reality here will easily pale when compared to heaven, which is better than we can possibly imagine.
2. Suppose someone did see Hell. Well, seeing is believing, and they will repent out of fear rather than wanting to seek a connection with God.
3. God wants humanity to choose Him not out of blind faith or fear. That is a hollow kind of love that is like an AI chatbot saying “I love you”. If someone chooses to love you for you, of their own free will, that is far more meaningful. Think of vapid forms of love that are for your money or your looks, which are vain and ephemeral. It’s not sincere.
 
Some are bullshit but a lot of them is just your brain losing oxygen and experiencing hallucinations.
 
A-Stump said:
A relative of mine had a blood infection and was dead for several minutes. They said they only experienced blackness.

Oxygen deprivation to the brain will do funny things to you if you're conscious for it though.
Click to expand...
As someone who experienced this exact thing twice in my life, can confirm this as a fact.
There was nothing, just blackness, void of nothingness.
 
I was in a bad car wreck many years ago. I remember the loud metallic bang of the impact, and then waking up in the hospital sometime later. Between those two points there was nothing. There were no dreams, visions, or sensations. Nothing but a black undefined emptiness.
 
Dagoth AMOGUS said:
1. Suppose someone did see Heaven. Well, that’s a bit cruel because now their experience on earth will feel “spoiled” by comparison. Like they were dragged back to earth. The reality here will easily pale when compared to heaven, which is better than we can possibly imagine.
Click to expand...
I actually remember hearing a story like that. A friend of my mom, devout catholic, jumped head first into a shallow pool. The obvious happened and so he was floating in the water for a few minutes without oxygen. When they got him out and resuscitated him, he was extremely angry and yelled profanities (very much unlike him) at the people who rescued him.

But as with most people's visions of saints, God, the afterlife, I don't think it was actually that. More likely a halucination of an oxygen deprived brain. I do believe God sends these sorts of revelations sometimes to some people, but it's dangerous to your spiritual life to just believe it. It might actually be from God, it may be your brain freaking out, it might even be a sinister influence. You should look to the church for guidance in a situation like this.
 
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Dagoth AMOGUS said:
Suppose someone did see Heaven. Well, that’s a bit cruel because now their experience on earth will feel “spoiled” by comparison.
Click to expand...
Whether you believe the phenomenon or not, many people have tried to study it and have recorded hundreds of testimonials. The people who saw "heaven" or something like it did generally report wanting to stay but that after they returned felt a much greater sense of peace in their life and a generally more altruistic frame of mind.
 
So the thing with near death experiences is that when your body thinks its dying it releases a ton of the good chemicals, for unknown reasons, endorphins, serotonin, whatever, and it's theorized that this makes you high as fuck in your final moments. Basically, you'll see what you want to see, and if you're resuscitated you fill in the gaps later.
 
I'm fairly convinced that NDEs are something real, but I don't exactly know what. They don't quite fit with any established religion.

Having an NDE is rare, even for those who have a brush with death. I'm not convinced this tells us much. Whether it's a legitimate spiritual experience or a mundane chemical reaction, you have the same question: Why? Why the inconsistency? I don't think we know at this point.

NDEs have a number of strange aspects. Thought tends to become much clearer, which is the exact opposite of what you'd expect in a dying brain, especially from oxygen deprivation. They happen regardless of religious belief, or history of mental illness. They happen at every age in every culture.

There are a number of common reports such as going through a tunnel, a life review, meeting dead family members, and visiting a place usually called the Meadow. Interestingly, meeting religious figures is relatively rare. Many NDEs claim an encounter with a god-like being described as infinite warmth, light, and love. However it's rarely called God. People will say that maybe it's God, but much bigger than the God they heard about in church (which, to me, they're describing God, but never mind). Or they'll say it's not God, but that's the closest word they can come up with. Negative experiences can also happen, but they seem to be in a small minority.

To some degree the NDE can be shaped by cultural experiences, but this is mostly interpretation of events, not the actual events. For example, one rare type of NDE involves floating in a dark void for what seems like an extremely long time. Westerners who experience this consider it hell. Eastern cultures think of it as Nirvana.

The after effects are equally strange. People become more spiritual, but less dedicated to any specific religion. They become more altruistic. Less violent. Less materialistic. Less afraid of death. It's not uncommon for cops or soldiers to quit their jobs because they feel like they can no longer harm other humans. Sometimes divorces happen over NDEs because it changes the person so completely.

It's generally agreed that ketamine can create effects which are similar, but not identical. Whether the human body might be able to synthesize ketamine or a similar substance is beyond my knowledge and I haven't found any information on it either way. Either it hasn't been studied or I don't know how to look for medical literature. The second one is definitely true. Drug chemistry is not my expertise.

Undoubtedly some of the claims are fake. That's true of supernatural claims in general, or even mundane claims that might get you a book deal. I've always been skeptical of the Eben Alexander story, who is kind of the poster child for this stuff. I'm more interested in the smaller stories that people are hesitant to talk about, usually because they're afraid people will think they're crazy. There are enough of these that I don't think they're easily written off.

If you're seriously interested in this stuff, I would recommend checking out a book called After by Bruce Greyson.
 
@Lord of the Large Pants Many of those who experience NDE often do so after having been through a traumatic accident rather than something like, say, a long term illness. Drownings, falls, car crashes. This means the body is dumping a ton of adrenaline in response to the situation (leading to a sharp clarity even when you're losing oxygen). This coupled with the release of serotonin as the brain is shutting down leads to heavenly experiences. Maybe those experiencing Hell/dread have the adrenaline part but their brains aren't giving them serotonin.
 
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