Skeptic:  Another problem is that no one who has returned has ever brought back anything useful, such as, for instance, the formula for the compound curing AIDS. All we have is "the purpose of life is to love, and to acquire as much knowledge as possible" stories. That's nice, but I personally think that a cure for AIDS would be infinitely more expressive of God's love for humankind than catchy near-death experience books such as Betty Eadie's.

Susan Blackmore's reply:  No comment!

P.M.H. Atwater’s reply:  Not true!   A fellow in, I believe it was Sweden, went on to copyright over a hundred inventions that have made a significant difference in society. Mellen-Thomas Benedict invented a glasscutter that alleviates much hand fatigue in accordance to directions he received in his experience. In fact, Mellen-Thomas participated in a number of medical research projects, and because of the information he gave the researchers, they were able to advance their work significantly. He is now doing DNA research and working on instruments that can help physicians use certain frequencies of light in healing. These are just a few of many. In my own case, I was told in my third near-death experience to do the research I do - my directions were specific and detailed. Look at what has resulted! Hardly trivial, I'd say. The reason you seldom hear of people like me and Mellen-Thomas and the fellow from Sweden is that we don't make spectacles of ourselves. We just do our work. Also, please refer to my last three books. All of them have a section devoted to historical figures who evidence having had a near-death experience, who went on to make a significant impact on the world - people like Abraham Lincoln, Mozart, Einstein, Winston Churchill, Queen Elisabeth the First, and Edward de Vere the 17th Earl of Oxford - who may well be the real Shakespeare. I would invite you to look beyond the so-called popular books on near-death experiences, and do some real digging. You may be surprised at what you find! Please just read my books. I am specific and give references. The answers to most of your questions are addressed.
Since you mentioned it, I have thought of a number of near-death experiencers who went on to do great things afterward: Donna DeSoto and her Sav-Baby Organization, Dannion Brinkley and his Compassion-In-Action volunteer service for the dying, Carol Parrish-Harra and the Sparrow Hawk Village she built and the Sancta Sophia Seminary she founded, Nadia McCaffrey and the Natural Death Centers she is starting to construct and staff, George Ritchie and his Youth Corps, and so forth. The line is a long one, no one knows how long for most experiencers seldom seek the limelight.

Dr. Ken Ring's reply:  This question made me laugh because the questioner clearly thinks that the Light, or whatever the intelligence is that is behind the near-death experience, would truly be helpful to humanity if it gave us practical answers to the burning questions of our day. This is like saying, if you are psychic, then how about telling me the winning lottery number? In fact, the Light gives us very practical answers - Love, especially of the unconditional kind, is probably the thing that could make the world a far, far better place. It wouldn't end suffering - there will be always be suffering - but it would help us enormously to deal with the problems of living. We have brains to help us solve our practical problems - what we need and what we get from the Light is something altogether different. It is dangerous, not to say presumptuous, to try to tell God (or the Light or Whatever) what we humans could most use. I could probably write on this question for several pages, if I had time, but a close reading of the near-death experience literature will show what the real value of these experiences is, and it is not finding a cure to AIDS, etc. Nevertheless, it is clearly not even true that no near-death experiencer ever brings back such answers. I give a few examples in my book, "Lessons From The Light". For example, the case of Ralph Duncan, who brought back a cure for a certain kind of cancer, and then there is the case of Mellen-Thomas Benedict who brought back a great deal of very practical information about bio-photonics and other methods of light-based healing, and is currently marketing some of his devices, after millions of dollars have been invested in his company. So, practical answers that can definitely benefit humanity can sometimes be obtained during near-death experiences, but, to me, that misses the point.

Dr. Jeff Long’s reply:  Another concern of near-death experience skeptics is that near-death experiencers do not return with information or ideas with immediate widespread use, such as a cure for cancer or verifiable new scientific understandings. There have been anecdotal reports suggesting the contrary, but in my experience, near-death experiencers generally do not return with such information. Failure to receive a specific hoped for gift is not a valid criticism of near-death experiences. The gift near-death experiencers do return with is generally varied and spiritual in nature, often including the concept of love and a lack of fear of death. The gift to near-death experiencers of better understanding love and their purpose on earth is a very important gift, suggesting these understandings are among the most important things we can accomplish.
Near-death experience study provides a tantalizing glimpse of what this other reality is, and provides some clues to humankind's deepest questions of who we really are and our relationship with a greater reality. It is entirely reasonable to accept the near-death experience in the way the near-death experiencers themselves almost uniformly perceive the experience: an encounter with another dimension of reality.

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