Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon suffered a grand mal seizure in 2008 and was in a coma for seven days. After he regained consciousness, he claimed to have a clear memory of everything that he experienced while unconscious. His son advised him to write down a detailed account immediately while his memory was still fresh. He wanted to tell his story before he could be influenced by what others might think, especially the medical authorities. The result was his book, Proof of Heaven, A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife published in 2012.
Dr. Alexander described his first memory while in a coma as “Darkness, but a visible darkness–like being submerged in mud yet able to see through it.” He called it the “Realm of the Earthworm’s Eye View.” The “realm” smelled like feces, blood, and vomit and he was continuously rubbing against worm like creatures. Just as all seemed lost, he encountered a pure white light along with beautiful music and colors.
Although he had lost all perception of time, at some point he encountered a beautiful girl with “deep blue eyes” and “Golden-brown tresses” who would serve as his guide. For the “trip” they rode on the wing of a butterfly surrounded by millions of other amazing colorful butterflies. She spoke to him without using any words and gave him a message in three parts. First, “You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever.” Second, “You have nothing to fear.” And last, “There is nothing you can do wrong.” She also “told” him (again without any words) that eventually he would go back.
The format of the book was to alternate between the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the hospital where his body was residing and “heaven” where his spirit was visiting. This technique worked well and painted a vivid contrast between the world of science and medical technology that was keeping his body alive with the spirit world. This made the book very readable.
In the ICU doctors, nurses, and staff were struggling against an extremely dangerous threat to Eben’s life. It was determined that he was suffering from bacterial meningitis normally a death sentence with a 97% fatality rate. Doctors were totally baffled as to how he acquired the disease. Normally it is always the result of an injury to the spinal cord or some surgery that allowed the bacterial (E. coli) to enter the spinal fluid and attack the brain. The doctors called his situation “N of 1,” indicating his was the only case like this in history.
He was placed on a breathing ventilator, an IV of four of the most effective anti-bacterial drugs available, and numerous electronic monitoring devices. The only other thing that could be done was to wait and pray that the drugs would kill the E. coli bacteria before they destroyed his brain. Family members and friends maintained an around-the-clock bedside vigil holding his hand, imploring him to wake up, and reassuring him that he would he would recover. For every hour he remained in a coma his chance of survival was reduced dramatically.
After seven days the doctors gave up all hope and held a conference with his family and recommended suspension of all medical interventions. They warned that even if he came out of the coma, he would most likely be in a permanent vegetative state. Everyone was reluctantly in agreement except for Sylvia White. She was a longtime friend of his wife Holly and insisted on trying to revive him one more time. She went into his room and put her hand on his arm and was gently stroking it when his eyes opened. His first words were, “Thank you.” Dr. Alexander went on to make a complete mental and physical recovery.
Eben described his coma experiences as “The Core,” an encounter with the Divine. He makes more than thirty references to God or the Creator. At one point he calls him “Om” describing him as “a divine breeze,” a “higher vibration,” and a “dazzling darkness brimming with light.” He admits that he never actually saw God, and that God did not speak to him in words. Dr. Alexander realized that skeptics would use science and reason to explain his experiences as natural and not divine. He developed arguments to counter these anticipated attempts to explain what happened to him in a scientific way.
Eben uses two core arguments. First, consciousness is separate and independent from the brain (an old idea of duality). Second, once the neocortex of his brain was damaged, it would be impossible for him to experience what he recalled while in a coma. Since bacterial meningitis had destroyed his neocortex, his coma experiences had to take place in his conscious mind outside of his body and brain. In short he had a divine experience in Heaven with God.
I must remind the reader that Dr. Alexander is a neurosurgeon and not a neuroscientist. A neurosurgeon is to a neuroscientist what an automobile mechanic is to an automotive engineer. One does not need to understand all the technical details of how a combustion engine functions to repair it. The same is true about neurosurgeons. They do not need to understand all the technical details of neuroscience in order to operate and make “repairs.” This is not to suggest that neurosurgeons are not highly educated and skilled physicians who save the lives of thousands of patients every day. But it is to say that they spend most of their effort perfecting their surgical skills for operating on the brain. Neuroscientists in contrast spend all their time studying and researching how the brain functions. Most neuroscientists dispute Alexander’s claim that his experience was supernatural and proved the existence of God and heaven.
Even if you accept his premise that once the neocortex of his brain was damaged it would have been impossible for him to have had the experiences he had while in a coma, his conclusion that it was the result of a divine event does not follow. Since he did not have any concept of time while in a coma, his “divine” experience could have occurred before his neocortex was destroyed and obviously would be available for recall along with all his other memories. After all, he did make a full recovery without any lost of memory including his medical knowledge.
The reading list at the back of the book is very predictive of the book’s direction. For an example, consider the following titles: The Physics of Angels, The Mind of God, The Fingerprints of God, Evidence of Afterlife, and We Do Not Die Alone: Jesus Is Coming to Get Me in a White Pickup Truck. It is easy to see what audience Dr. Alexander had in mind for his book.
He employed all the usual tricks used by people attempting to protect faith from the constant and deadly attack from science. One example is to use as many Einstein quotes as possible in an attempt to give credibility by association rather than by solid scientific facts and logical arguments. Remember Einstein was a self-proclaimed deist and not a person of faith. And, of course he played the “Quantum Mechanics” card. I must remind the reader that quantum mechanics only applies to the micro (very small) world and no one has ever been able to demonstrate a quantum effect with any object larger than a “Buckyball,” a man-made item consisting of only forty atoms of carbon. Anytime Quantum Theory is used to explain some supernatural event, you can be certain that the advocate is going way out on the proverbially limb of improbability.
Stephen Hawking, a theoretical physicists held the chair of the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge from 1979 to 2009, a position once held by Isaac Newton. He is the author of many best-selling books and observed that references to God increases the sales of a book whereas the inclusion of mathematical equations decreases sales. Dr. Alexander applied the Hawking rule quite well. He invoked God and the Creator more than thirty times, and did not employ a single equation in his book. He even modified a well-known notation from “N = 1” to “N of 1.” Proof of Heaven was ranked #1 on a recent New York Times best-selling list. His publisher even managed to get the book on the front page of Newsweek Magazine in October 2012. The book will undoubtedly be a big money maker.
Dr. Sam Harris, a well-respected neuroscientist had the following to say about the book, “The evidence he provides for his claim (Proof of Heaven) is not only inadequate—it suggests that he doesn’t know anything about the relevant brain science.” Harris points out that “Alexander makes no reference to functional data that might have been acquired by fMRI, PET, or EEG,” and could have been used to support his case. Dr. Mark Cohen, a pioneer in the field of neuroimaging said the following about Alexander’s experience, “This poetic interpretation of his experience is not supported by evidence of any kind.” My conclusion is that Dr. Alexander would have been better served by appealing to the power of faith leaving science to the scientists. I found his arguments for a divine experience weaker than the chicken soup made from the shadow of a starving chicken. In the words of Dorothy Parker, “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It is to be thrown with great force.”
Sources:
1. Proof of Heaven, A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife (2012) by Dr. Eben Alexander
2. Blog, This Must be Heaven by Sam Harris
3. Bog: Epistemology, What is truth? by Needlefish Chronicles
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