21 Grams: Science of The Soul

Hi there,
Im sure there are many people out there who have heard of the so called 'weight of the soul'.

A Doctor Duncan MacDougall carried out several test to determine if the soul had any weight and came to the conclusion that atthe exact moment of death, we lose 21 grams from our body mass.

For some information on his study see:
www.snopes.com...

Immediatly after readin that info though, I found several websites ridiculing his experiments, here is one inparticular:

rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com...

I wanted to find out what people thought the truth was?

Personally I feel like the science community will discredite all studies of this nature due to their way of thinking of if you cant see it, it isn't there.

I don't agree with that, I think it's an easy soulution they apply to things they are scared to discuss and/or don't understand.

Also I have been reading a few books discussing the soul etc. (and about to read Michael Newtons a 'Journey of Souls') and in my opinion we do have a soul, and it does leave us when we die to go to somwhere else. Where? Im mot exactly sure, and does it come back to start a new life in a different physical body? I think more than likely.

But I am also of the belief that the soul is pure energy (not exactly sure what I mean by this) and is weightless.

If anyone would like to discuss their belief, please share. Thanks for Reading!

I’m not sure about this either, although, light is both an energy (wave) and physical particle so I guess should have weight.

So is the energy form that is the soul both a wave and or a particle?

Your spot on about the science community, people often see science as a pure and noble path, something which is far from the truth, its competitive as any other industry. I’m not sure how much truth there is to the rumour but it goes along the lines of;

The further the physicist’s field is from astro physics, the more dark matter looks like a variable used to balance a pi## poor equation of the universe works.

Would the electrical system in the human make a difference to weight in the earth’s magnetic field?

Personally I feel like the science community will discredite all studies of this nature due to their way of thinking of if you cant see it, it isn't there.

I don't agree with that, I think it's an easy soulution they apply to things they are scared to discuss and/or don't understand.

They're not scared of this stuff. It's because anything supernatural can't be studied by science because the scientific method doesn't accommodate it, that is to say, you couldn't validate or quantify anything supernatural because science is the study of the natural.

If it's true that the body becomes lighter by 21 grams or whatever when we die then it would be foolish to immediately ascribe that to a soul or god or anything. People used to believe that rain was the work of god- then we learnt what actually causes rain. If the phenomena exists then it will have a naturalist explanation.

i read up a bit about this and it turns out the results of the experiment were faaar from conclusive. any evidence, if you could even call it that was anecdotal. there were some people that lost 21 grams and some that lost less and more so its not as if you could say " yes all souls weigh 21 grams!"

now i dont know if this is because not all souls weigh the same or if the whole concept is bunk.

ill let you guys decide that. My 2 cents? i thinks its pseudo science. would be cool if it was true but then so would ufo's aliens big foot the lock ness monster and i could go on.

According to some other tests scientists said that the 21 grams difference was due to inaccuracies in the methods and / or equipment used to measure the weight.

Following tests with new equipment and so called ''better'' methods have resulted in zero weight loss.

Sounds to me that what you lose may be the air in your lungs and other body gasses. Just a guess. Does anyone know how much the air and gas in our body weighs aproximately?

I understand what you're saying Welfhard , that it easy to contribute it to god or the soul without much proof, but if you consider what northerngate said, then we are in a position to do so without evidence.

Scientists have been trying for years to create a theory of everything, an equation to link einsteins theory of relativity with all the forces. As time has passed several theories have been presented, such as string theory and dark matter, in the hope of finding a solution.

These are just theories, made up to make the answer 'work'. They are meaningless yet the science community accepts them because its the only solution they've got.

But then they shoot down paranormal phenomena and the like and say it is not 'possible'. Its double standards. Anyway back to the topic...

Ask yourself, do youe believe in life after death? If so, the soul needs to leave the body upon death, the sudden loss of weight could be the soul leaving to another higher dimension (which has been described of the spirit world) hence the weight, or energy just being lost.

As to bodily gasses, On the first link i posted he stated that he took account of all gas leaving from the lungs and bowels, as well as moisture through the skin and through excretion. The 21 grams was above these an unacountable for.

If anyone has any theories on what happens to the soul upon death please post!

There's a film called 21 grams and its based on the 'you lose 21grams in bodyweight when you die'.

I bought it years ago and still never got round to watching it, so dont know if its any good. Just thought i'd mention it anyhow.

Lee_K, I've seen the film and I would recommend it, some realy good acting from Sean Penn and Antonio Banderas.

It dosn't realy deal with the issue, just mentions it as it is about somone waiting for a transplant who then tries to find the donors family etc.

Thanks for Posting.

reply to post by carlitomoore

These are just theories, made up to make the answer 'work'.

No, a theory in scientific terms means an explanation which accounts for all the evidence and makes accurate predictions based thereon.

They are meaningless yet the science community accepts them because its the only solution they've got.

The scientific community accepts them because they are supported by the evidence.

But then they shoot down paranormal phenomena and the like and say it is not 'possible'. Its double standards.

No, science can't accept paranormal explanations of phenomena because they aren't testable. You can't validate the non-testable. Rejecting paranormal explanations drives us to find material explanations that can be validated.

If not for the rejection of paranormal explanations, we'd still believe the earth is flat, that Zeus throws lightening bolts, and dancing can bring rain.

We need the scientific method to understand the natural world.

Originally posted by Welfhard
reply to post by carlitomoore

 

These are just theories, made up to make the answer 'work'.

No, a theory in scientific terms means an explanation which accounts for all the evidence and makes accurate predictions based thereon.

Dark matter is hypothetical matter that is undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.

The observed phenomena which imply the presence of dark matter include...

a quick rewrite

The soul is hypothetical matter that is undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from unexplainable effects on matter.

The observed phenomena which imply the presence of a soul include...