Sometimes referred to as "astral projection" in esoteric
literature, out-of-body experience ("OBE" or "OOBE") is a more
neutral term to describe the sensation of feeling as if consciousness, or the self, is
located somewhere other than where the body is physically located.
Some psychologists tend to view OBEs as simply a form of hallucination. For example,
British psychologist Susan Blackmore refers to it as a particular "cognitive
map," an alternative mental model, in which the mind acts as if it were experiencing
the world not from the usual perspective -- that of the body -- but from some other
location. In line with this interpretation, considerable work has been undertaken to
explore whether people having OBEs have any particular psychological characteristics that
would account for such hallucinatory experiences.
On the other hand, there are some scientific experiments in which the person having the
out-of-body experience seems to actually perceive distant events or targets, as if their
consciousness is truly located in that distant location. |
