Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (58 page)

QUANTUM MECHANICS/QUANTUM PHYSICS
:
Theory describing the world of atoms and subatomic particles.

QUANTUM SPIN CORRELATION
:
Also known as nuclear spin resonance or quantum spin coherence; coherence or rhythmic oscillation of the spin of all the smallest particles, such as protons, neutrons, and electrons, in the cell nucleus. See also Spin.

QUANTUM SUPERPOSITION
:
Occurs during the coherent organization of photons and the self-organization of biological processes.

QUANTUM ZENO EFFECT
:
Following a series of rapidly successive perceptions in a quantum system, the effect of the perception appears to freeze and the ever-changing system appears to come to a standstill.

QUARKS
:
Elementary or subatomic particles and fundamental constituents of matter. Quarks have a spin, and each quark has an antiparticle.

REDUCTIONISM
:
The act of reducing or tracing back to more fundamental properties.

REGRESSION THERAPY
:
Regression involves going back in time, to a time even before birth. Also known as reincarnation therapy.

REINCARNATION
:
The belief that (aspects of) the consciousness of a living being does not disappear after death but is reborn in another living being.

REMOTE VIEWING
:
Also known as nonlocal perception. People are capable of intuitive, remote (nonlocal) perception of objects that are randomly selected or merely indicated by coordinates on a map. A form of clairvoyance (see separate entry).

REM SLEEP
:
Rapid-eye-movement sleep; the period during sleep when people dream; it is coupled with increased brain activity.

RESISTANCE
:
The capacity of a living organism to withstand a certain influence.

RESONANCE
:
Vibration with the same frequency and phase.

RESUSCITATION
:
Attempts at reviving someone with a cardiac or respiratory arrest through external heart massage, respiration, and the administration of an electric shock (defibrillation).

RETROSPECTIVE STUDY
:
The study of past events, often involving a randomly and unknown selection of patients, which renders the results of this type of study less reliable.

SELF-ORGANIZING SYSTEM
:
This kind of system gives rise to patterns or structures that interact with their surroundings without being directly caused by external factors.

SHOCK
:
Low blood pressure.

SPECT-SCAN
:
Single photon emission computed tomography, an imaging technique based on the injection of radioactive isotopes, using single photon emission.

SPIN
:
Quantum-mechanical property of elementary particles undergoing a rotation (intrinsic momentum). A spin is a fundamental property of nature, like electrical charge or mass. All the smallest particles, such as protons, neutrons, and electrons, possess a spin, which is either positive or negative and which is always a multiple of
¹
/2.

SPIRITUALITY
:
The search for meaning through inner experience.

STATISTICAL PROCESSES
:
(Predictable, ordered, regular) quantum-mechanical processes that originate in the nonlocal space of dead matter.

STRING THEORY
:
Theory based on one-dimensional oscillating energy lines (open or closed strings).

SUBJECTIVITY
:
The personal opinion or personal viewpoint of an individual.

SUPERHOLOGRAM
:
A multidimensional hologram.

SUPERPOSITION
:
A calculation cannot determine the location of a particle (such as a photon). If the location of a particle is not known, it is “in superposition.” This means that the particle is surrounded by a kind of cloud of possible locations. See also probability wave or wave function.

SYMPATHETIC
:
The sympathetic nervous system is part of the autonomous nervous system and is most active during exertion and stress; it regulates the release of energy, influences organs so that the body can function, slows digestion.

SYNAPSE
:
The junction between neurons.

SYNCHRONICITY
:
The not strictly causal or supposedly accidental concurrence of events.

SYNESTHESIA
:
The cross-influencing of sensory impressions.

TDCS
:
Transcranial direct current stimulation, the administration, under anesthesia, of an electrical shock to seriously depressed patients. See also CES.

TELEKINESIS
:
The power to influence or move matter nonlocally with the mind. Also known as psychokinesis or nonlocal perturbation.

TELEPATHY
:
Nonlocal connection between people’s consciousness; contact with people at a great distance.

TELEPORTATION
:
The moving of material objects through the mind (mind power).

TERMINAL PATIENTS
:
Patients in the terminal phase of an intractable illness.

TES
:
Transcranial electrical stimulation; the stimulation of brain functions via an electrical field aimed at the skull.

THALAMUS
:
An important part of the brain; just like the hypothalamus, it is located in the midbrain. It functions like a kind of relay station between various parts of the brain.

TMS
:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation; the stimulation of brain functions via a magnetic field aimed at the skull.

TRANCE
:
A dissociative phenomenon whereby someone experiences another level of consciousness, is less sensitive to external stimuli, but is neither unconscious nor asleep. The sense of self can be diminished.

TRANSCENDENCE
:
Rising above.

TRANSFORMATION
:
Change, metamorphosis.

TRANSMISSION
:
Passing on.

TRANSPERSONAL
:
Aspects in somebody’s consciousness that go beyond the personal or the ego.

TRAUMA
:
Physical or psychological damage.

UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
:
According to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics, there is a fundamental limit to the accuracy with which certain complementary physical properties (wave-particle) can be measured.

UNIVERSE
:
The entire space-time continuum in which we live, together with all matter and energy, is known as the universe or cosmos.

VACUUM
:
A volume of space that is essentially empty of matter but still can possess a huge amount of energy and information.

VEGETATIVE STATE
:
A form of coma with spontaneous respiration and brain-stem reflexes.

VENTRICULAR FIBRILLATION
:
The chaotic flailing of the heart, resulting in a cardiac arrest that can be treated only by defibrillation (electric shock).

VERIFIABLE
:
Refers to the fact that it should be possible to check the accuracy of a claim or result.

VIBRATION
:
Pulsation with a certain frequency; also known as oscillation or the periodic, repeated inversion of the direction of movement.

VIRTUAL
:
That which is seemingly real or a possibility.

WAVE FUNCTION
:
See probability wave.

WAVELENGTH
:
Inversely proportional to frequency. The symbol for frequency is Hertz (Hz), and 1 Hz corresponds with a period of 1 second.

ZERO POINT ENERGY
:
A vacuum is not empty; at absolute zero,–273.15 degrees Celsius, it is full of energy (a “plenum”), and at microlevel it undergoes constant quantum fluctuations, which create new quanta “from nothing,” which promptly disappear again. These quantum fluctuations are also known as the vacuum’s zero point energy. It can give rise to virtual particles (with antiparticles) that instantly destroy each other again.

Web Sites

www.pimvanlommel.nl

www.iands.org: IANDS United States, International Association of Near-Death Studies.

www.nderf.org: Near-Death Experience Research Foundation.

www.merkawah.nl: Dutch branch of IANDS.

www.transpantatiestichting.nl: Model protocol postmortem organ and tissue donation.

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