Learning Mind: new post

Posted: 07 May 2012 03:13 PM PDT

Does soul exist? Does it have weight? Does the soul really weigh 21 grams? What happens when a person dies and his soul gets separated from his body?

First time the controversial issue was touched in 1907 by American doctor Duncan McDougall from Haverhill, Massachusetts, who made the following “macabre” experiment: he measured the weight of his patients just before they die and immediately after death in order to find differences.

What were the ultimate results of the experiment? Every dead man lost exactly 21 grams shortly after his death! The doctor did not manage to give a scientific explanation for this curious phenomenon and arguably assumed that 21 grams is the weight of the soul.

A large number of people consider this hypothesis excessive despite it has not been refuted by modern science. Perhaps it could be argued that the weight reduction can also happen due to exhalation and evaporation, and today most scientists believe that the results of those experiments mainly reflect the spirit of the age about the existence of the soul rather than a real phenomenon.

But doctor McDougall answered like this: The weight loss could not have to do with the moisture coming from exhalation and evaporation of sweat as he calculated these two factors and they found to occur with a speed half a gram per minute, while in the experiment there was a sudden weight loss within a few seconds which can not be explained by the current data.

Moreover, it could be the total air from the lungs, so the doctor and his assistants themselves went to try to exhale at once as much as possible and then breathe with all the power, but there was no change in weighing scales.

In addition, the physician made experiments on 15 dogs but there was no change in weight during the death of animals.

Can we reach a clear conclusion? Until now there is no convincing explanation and this huge question still remains a mystery…