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What a brilliant science writer is Daniel Williams. He has written about the complex phenomenon of near-death experiences in layman's terms [Sept. 10]. I had a cardiac arrest in 2003 and was resuscitated by well-trained paramedics. I did not have a near-death experience, just the total blankness of a deep sleep. I believe NDEs are caused by malfunctions of consciousness arising from an oxygen-starved brain. The forms NDEs take are influenced by culture and by religious beliefs. I don't think any non-Christian, for example, would see a tunnel lit by brilliant white light and a Christ-like figure in a...

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