Thanks again Ian for clarifying your position further. Sorry, if I didn't grasp your own unique viewpoint at first.

On the note of 'preparation' that could be my own ignorance of what people actually believe about NDEs. I had believed that people who hold NDEs to be genuine experiences might believe these to be a preparation for the soul to leave the body, but as you've explained it I was wrong about this.

For my own part, and opinion, it would be hard to trust in a subjective experience with multiple neurological issues occurring. For instance, many people with macular degeneration and Charles-Bonnet Syndrome report seeing people, or shapes or what I would term hallucinations. I don't need to believe that they are seeing something that's real, or that a deficiency in eyesight allows them to see past this existence.

I'm also going to add a confession here, which is that I'm entirely ignorant of the NDE literature. I had heard of Raymond Moody as he was mentioned by the authors of the study but haven't read or consumed his work. So I may have a lot of misconceptions about what it is individuals such as yourself believe in relation to NDE's and the afterlife.

That's one reason why I really appreciate you responding to fill the gaps I might have regarding this.

Here are a couple of questions that I would love you to answer if you have the time.

Have you or anyone you know had an experience like this? How did this impact you, or have you always held the existence of an afterlife?

I wasn't quite sure what you mean by "people feel more conscious" during these experiences, would love you to elaborate on what that means. Since I already misunderstood about 'preparation' I want to try and avoid misunderstanding you again.

One more question - Do you hold that all NDEs are glimpses of an afterlife, or that some might be down to neurological dysfunction?

I'm going to reiterate here that my purpose here is not to convince you there is no afterlife, since that is not my place. I just love conversation and want to bring back a time when people can have differences of opinion and still maintain enjoyment and pleasure of a conversation.