Sam Parnia

About twice as long as necessary. Great deal of repetition.
Seems to make one logical error in chapter 9 when he argues "by definition" from cases of anoxic people who recover consciousness that therefore consciousness existed even while the brain was inoperative. He can't know that. Equally possible from these cases is that consciousness is a product of the brain, and that when the brain revives so does its artifact, consciousness.
He's on much more interesting ground on two points: cases show more where apparantly vegetative state people fire brains to wriggle toes etc under instruction, and the many thousands of NDE reports. Both of these do merit further study, and are not to be dismissed automatically as some religious yearning. NDE may be that, but shouldn't be assumed to be so. show less

I felt like this book was about two completely different subjects, ones that certainly overlap, but could still have their own books respectively.

The book starts by diving into the topic of resuscitation science and current state of our knowledge about what happens when someone goes into cardiac arrest. This portion of the book was the best part in my opinion. It explores the need for a new set of standards in cardiac arrest care and offers suggestions on how we can implement such standards. show more In the process it also goes into the details the expose how what we thought was the life/death boundary has had the goal markers moved, and how they may move further in the future.

The second portion of the book starts to dip into the area of NDEs, or near death experiences, and the definition of a soul. At this point I began to fear that this book was going to stop being about science and start going into paranormal subject matter. Thankfully, the author did not go down that rabbit hole and kept the discussion within the realm of scientific investigation and his involvement in the AWARE study. The downside of this was that there was nothing truly new to report on the subject, just a rehash of long debated ideas. As such, I felt it's inclusion in the book didn't really add anything.

So, in the end I am unable to give this book more than 3 stars. It's worth a read to learn about the latest science in resuscitation, it left me discovering nothing new in the arena of NDEs, consciousness, and the soul. show less

On "Forum," Aug. 17, 2015.
Amazon: Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death reveals that death is not a moment in time. Death, rather, is a process—a process that can be interrupted well after it has begun. Innovative techniques have proven to be effective in revitalizing both the body and mind, but they are only employed in approximately half of the hospitals throughout the United States and Europe.

Dr. Sam Parnia, Director of the AWARE Study show more (AWAreness during REsuscitation) and one of the world’s leading experts on the scientific study of death and near-death experiences (NDE), presents cutting-edge research from the front lines of critical care and resuscitation medicine while also shedding light on the ultimate mystery: What happens to human consciousness during and after death? Dr. Parnia reveals how some form of “afterlife” may be uniquely ours, as evidenced by the continuation of the human mind and psyche after the brain stops functioning.

With physicians such as Dr. Parnia at the forefront, we are on the verge of discovering a new universal science of consciousness that reveals the nature of mind and a future where death is not the final defeat, but is, in fact, reversible. show less