The Near-Death Experience, an Instance of Higher-Dimensional Phenomenal Consciousness?

Abstract

Phenomenal consciousness has no satisfactory explanation in the strict natural scientific physicalist framework. This may be an indication of consciousness not being a causal outcome of neurophysics at all. If this is the case, there would be no grounds for postulating that the collapse of neurophysical structures at death would dissolve consciousness and its constituent elements. If consciousness does not disappear when neurophysical functions terminate, the near-death experience could be an indication of the continuation of consciousness after the collapse of brain functions. This would be in line with the proposal that higher spatio-temporal dimensionality is involved in the emergence and maintenance of phenomenal consciousness, even after death.