Measuring The Weight Of The Human Soul

Recently I read an article on a theory that the human soul can actually be weighed. This conclusion was drawn because of a slight weight drop when someone dies.

Personally, I believe it MAY be possible.

Whlie some people believe it, and others don't, who's to say which way is correct? By validating this notion, you are essentially also validating several religious ideas.

I'm not going to try and convince anyone of anything, because to be honest, I don't know what's true or not. I will, however, attempt to provide as many link as possible on this interesting subject.

Written by the UUCW: The Weight Of The Soul

www.lougentile.com...

www.snopes.com...

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I would be curious if the body has some sort of gravatational pull or lift thus changing weight when the soul leaves the body. Also if electricty running through a given body if it can change measurements.

I remember hearing 26 grams? Is this correct? If so I think that is a healthy amount if the weight changes right at death and not say 10 minutes later when body fluids or other can take effect.

I think more we look for anything paranormal its difficult to find proof due to the full requirement of ritual of life. If you think about it everything needs a ritual or process to happen it is simple as that and beyond faith I think many people come to chaos theory which is a simple answer to a large picture. Which maybe true since I could not imagine a news report to come on and say all this crap is possible since we as humans question and may only come to the conclusion that it is madness/chaos etc and the whole world blows up the end. Well you get my point with it all but the soul weight thing has always interested me I am glad you brought it up. Now to the links...

I don't know if I would buy this. I mean the soul is supposed to be an "essence", so even if it were pure energy (as I have heard), it wouldn't really make a difference on your weight, given that it takes so much energy to make mass following E=Mc squared.

Could it be the last breath being let out of the body that you guys are talking about?

I heard about this.
Apparently they weighed a dieing man and his weight changed by -21g when he died. They did the same experiment with a dog and there was no change in weight implying that dogs dont have souls.
I think theres a film called 21grams that is about the subject, I'm downloading it now, I'll let you know what happens in it after I've watched it.

It's an excellent movie. Watch it.

Yes, I remember hearing this given as one of the 'proofs' of Out of Body Experience/an afterlife. It's an interesting theory, as long as they are compensating for the fact that a person automatically loses control of their bowels and bladder upon the moment of death.

Also, humans have what's called the "dying breath" where you release all extra air in your lungs. Could that account for the 21 grams?

Why would a soul have phsyical weight? That would require that its made out of a physical material. How's a materialistic soul 'thing' supposed to exist in a non-materialistic extra-dimensional heaven (as some people consider heaven to not be a 'place')?

Also, those experiements, no one has ever shown, especially with the very accurate tools now, that there is any loss in weight upon death.

Originally posted by thebookling
I would be curious if the body has some sort of gravatational pull or lift thus changing weight when the soul leaves the body. Also if electricty running through a given body if it can change measurements.

Hmmm, nice theory
Does the body have an electro-mechanical-gravitational attraction to Earth? Could it be an electro-magnetic or electro-static effect that is not necessarily mass, but virtual mass because of electro-attraction?

Never thought of that one, otherwise, it is the soul, and the soul is heavier than air, maybe that is what holds souls earthbound.
Perhaps a dogs soul knows no sin, therefore unburdened by eart-boundness?

Who the hell knows!

I remember hearing 26 grams? Is this correct? If so I think that is a healthy amount if the weight changes right at death and not say 10 minutes later when body fluids or other can take effect.

Well, if the fluids and turd matter stayed on the gurney the weight would remain the same, and evaporation is too slow to make a quick measurable difference.

In answer to Toadmund's question on electro...thingy. I don't know if that is for sure something that happens, but I do remember that there was a study that proved that every thing radiated an electromagnetic "aura", and that this was due to the way the molecules were lined up or something like that. I'll look for it, but what I am getting at here is that it would be possible for there to be a magnetic-like force on the same level as attraction between opposite poles.

I think the soul is in another dimension entirely and while, during life, it can be interfaced with a living mind... I still think it's seperate and not in the 3-D world that we live in. So in my opinion, it has no effect on a body's weight.

In addition... that is a pretty large task, measuring the weight of a soul... would we have scales that were sensitive enough to measure soul, that is if it had any actual mass?

There is no such thing as a "soul," so it doesn't weigh anything.
Show me a soul. Describe it to me. Define it for me.

Most people like to think of the soul as a little sparkle of energy that floats around like Tinkerbell and zooms out of your body when you die to fly up to some wispy clouds in Heaven.

Grow up.

Well, I'm glad you've shared your belief that there is no soul - but just because I can't show you a soul doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Ask me to show you X-rays. I can't. Here's what I can tell you though;

"We're going to shine this invisible light on you. A bunch of invisible lines will go through you, passing right through your skin without touching any of it. Some of your bones will be hit though, and will absorb the X-Rays. But other than that, it'll pass right through you as if you, or they, weren't even there."

Now, I can prove they exist by taking out the piece of film on the other side and showing how, where the X-rays didn't pass through, there's your bones and/or other things.

But take Neutrinos. They were only theoretical particles, until the theory allowed for an experiment that could detect them. Now we've been able to barely detect them and prove the theory right.


So, how can I show you a soul? I can't. I can say that it affects you, but I don't really know how. I may be right, I may be wrong - but the lack of proof of its existance is not proof of its non-existance.


Some people do seem to think it's a little wisp of energy that goes up to heaven. Maybe that's right, maybe that's wrong. Personally, I think the soul is a life-form existing in the 4th dimension, that can only interact with others through the manipulation of the 3rd dimension (stuck to it like an anchor). When the body dies, the soul is free to travel through all dimensions as it will, to explore the universe and possible universes. It may even find a new body and anchor itself to it. However, the mind and the soul are seperate - since the mind is made from neural connections. The soul, having some presence in the 3-d world, can only give little nudges to the mind.

That's my theory. Perhaps there is something like heaven, perhaps not, but the childish portions of our beliefs does not preclude the existance of the entire belief.

mod edit: removed quote of previous post

[edit on 5-5-2006 by sanctum]

Hmmm, a physical body glomming 4th dimensional soul thing.

That's a cool theory, almost like we are parasites, and our body is a host. But wait, it's a symbiotic thing. They need each other.

Ahhh, thought experiments are the greatest!

Really the only way we will know for certain is when our time is up.

Don't remember when, but a while ago I read that a university in Manchester, England was doing research about OBE's. They to used the theory that when you leave the body your soul leaves the body and thus a minor weight difference should be able to be measured. Lost track about this research so no idea how it ended up. Perhaps some google searches would do wonders.

so , is that movie

really trying to PROVE the

EXISTENCE of a SOUL,

or DISPROVE IT ?

There is evil that comes from other living people and pushes you to the ground trying to squash like a bug your whole life. What's the point of continued standing on a bug after it is dead? Of course dogs are not evil, being just dirty and loyal, who wants to squash a dirty loyal dog? Not me.