Page 1 It may be rather rash of me to ask whether OBEs are evidence for survival, not because the answer is so obviously “No,” nor even because it is “Yes” or “Maybe,” but because some of the issues raised are so problematic. Nevertheless I think it is an important question because it forces us to confront the theoretical obstacles involved and the inadequacies of the evidence. Having considered these problems, I shall argue that it is far more profitable to look at the OBE in quite a different way This question has a long history and has never been satisfactorily answered.
When the Society for Psychical Research was founded over a hundred years ago, the major motivation behind it was the quest for evidence for survival. The subject has since had declines but now seems to be coming back into vogue. Both then and now OBEs have been considered as part of that evidence Page 2 From time to time people claim to have seen things at a distance during an OBE. That is therefore “paranormal” and provides an apparent justification for OBEs being considered to be “psychic experiences.” However, I believe that by far the more important reason is that having an OBE so often persuades people of personal life after death.
The argument goes something like this: “I have been out of my body during life. Therefore ‘I’ am not my body. I can live without my body and therefore when it is dead I shall still live.” In other words death is no more than an extended, or permanent, OBE. The argument is demonstrably false, but that does not detract from its power. It is strangely true that the persuasiveness of an argument need bear little relationship to its validity. The argument seems to be terribly convincing with very little justification Page 7 I shall consider any evidence that suggests something leaves the body.
There are at least three types. First there is evidence that during OBEs people can see things at a distance without using the recognized senses (i.e., using extrasensory perception [ESP]). Second ly there is evidence that the double or astral body can be detected. And finally there is evidence from OBEs occurring near death. I shall consider each in turn. Page 10 More recently, sophisticated apparatus has been used to try to detect the presence of a double or astral body while a subject is having an OBE in a different room.
The most notable of that research was a long series with the subject Blue Harary at the Psychical Research Foundation. Humans, animals, and a mass of different physical systems were used, but the final conclusion was, “Overall, no detectors were able to maintain a consistent responsiveness of the sort that would indicate any true detection of an extended aspect of the self” (Morris et al., 1978, p. 1) Page 11 Many people would argue with my conclusion that the evidence is not good enough. For example D. Scott Rogo (personal com munication, 1982) has argued that if I had been at the experiment with the kitten and seen its behavior, I would “know” that it had detected Harary’s presence. I can only say that I wish I had been there to see for myself. But going on the basis of published findings, I think the only fair conclusion is that of Robert Morris, et al. (1978). Page 12 I believe it is too early to say whether near-death experiencers can actually see things paranormally.
There is certainly evidence in that direction, but it is not clear-cut, and we shall have to await the results of future work to find out whether or not it stands the test of time However, it may be useful at this stage to consider what sort of evidence would be convincing. First, there could be better evidence for paranormal perception during NDEs. If that is obtained, then I would be forced to reconsider my position. But it would still be a long step to concluding that OBEs provide evidence for survival. We would still have to deal with the thorny question of ruling out ESP as an alternative explanation, even to conclude that something leaves the body. And even that is only the first step The second is to ask whether that “something” could survive death or operate without a physical body. One way of approaching the problem is to ask whether NDEs can occur when brain activity has ceased If a complex structured experience occurs, involves the paranormal acquisition of information, and could be shown to occur at a time when there was little or no brain activity, then that would strongly challenge any purely cognitive or psychological account of the experience. The ability to collect that kind of evidence is in sight, and it would be important if found. However, I must add that even that still would not get round the problem that anyone who can tell us about his or her NDE was not actually dead at the time.
Awkward problems like that beset the search for survival evidence at every turn I have now considered, albeit very briefly, the kinds of evidence that might persuade one that the OBE was evidence for survival, and the only verdict I can reach is “unproven.” The evidence, as it stands at the moment, is not sufficient to persuade me to reject my arguments against the possibility of something leaving the body, or of there being a double, astral body, spirit, or soul to survive. Why then do so many people disagree with me? I think there are two reasons. The first I have already discussed; that is, the convincing nature of OBEs to those who have them Page 13 But I think there is a more important reason. That is that the alterna tives presented are always so feeble. All too often the choice presented is between “something leaves – wow – we have a spirit – everything is exciting” and “it’s all in the mind, or just imagination. It is that “just” that infuriates me.
Imagination is far too vast and exciting a world to be denigrated with the word “just.” But the psychological theories of the OBE are very weak, as pointed out for example by Rogo (1983). It is therefore not surprising that people don’t take them seriously. What we need is a viable and exciting alternative to the “something leaves” theories. We could then make a reasoned choice between them.