21 grams

For every scientific accomplishment we have made, there is an equal and opposite scientific burden we have uncovered. Everything has a counter part, an opposite of equal value, doing the opposite action. We can prove, show, and fully understand how life starts. Simple enough, even our young know the solution to that problem. But no scientist, or human can tell what happens after death. We clarify death as our bodies no longer operating. Brain shuts down, no signals sent or received, hearts no longer palpitate, no blood circulating there fore rendering our organs powerless. Life can only be created one way(sperm and an egg.) Death can happen any number of ways. That unknown and unexplainable part that makes us, "Us" is our soul.

There are so many puzzling questions i have:

What happens to our minds, things we know or learned when we die? Are they only attached to the brain, or does the soul retain some of that? What do coma patients experience while in a vegetative state? Is it possible that is where we go when we die? That even though we are dead that place still exists? Maybe that dream state, isn't really within us, its part of something else entirely. Who can even tell if the white light is real or just hear say. Or maybe the white light is like a birth. we're inside the womb, awaiting delivery, and the white light is the new life we are about to embark on. Those are topics known as Metaphysics - Where notions and philosophy meet science.

                  Dr.MacDougall

Those are questions science cannot answer me, but i think its something we all think about. What i can offer you is some data from Dr.MacDougall, which i believe should in some way answer a tiny portion of your questions. His studies into whether or not he could prove there is a soul within us, and if he could calculate a weight to prove it. He had 6 patients of terminal illnesses, and 15 dogs. He created a very touchy scale bed for his patients, and he kept them as comfortable as possible in their final hour. I will not be retelling their stories and it seemed a bit dark for this topic. Patient one- the moment they expired there was a sudden loss of three fourths of an ounce. Patient 2- lost half an ounce. patient 3- lost half an ounce, and later 1 more extra ounce. patient 4- was unable to be measured. patient 5- three eighths of an ounce simultaneously. Patient 6- results were unable to be measured. Of the 15 dogs he attempted to measure, there was no change in weight. His belief was, animals have no souls. Of all his studies, he determined that the soul's weight was 21 grams, approximately 4 nickels. That has no explanation surrounding where the weight went in any of the cases despite many's efforts. They all did lose weight due to sweat and evaporation. roughly an ounce per hour, it was very slow. Any bowel movements would not matter as they would still have remained on the bed. he reported that the loss was very sudden and very extreme compared to previous weight loss. which again was one ounce over 60 minutes. 21grams in a second, simultaneous to the patients expiration.

What you take from his workings, is up to you. As i have stated at the very beginning of this project, life is perception. Just remember yours is yours, and no one Else's. I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding this topic and study, and the point of view i am taking is Facts don't lie. The controversy surrounding this topic is nothing new. Religion vs. science - and there are some who see both sides, but a good majority pick one side or the other and refuse to see the grey between the white and black lines.

It does amaze me how something so major can be so weightless. But in the same sense, A thought is weightless, but it still exists. The weight isn't the point of the experiment, its the proof that there is something more to us. And i know religious people will think us Atheist's for the study. The way i see it, science is reassuring us that there is more than meets the eye. But no matter what i say, its your perception you'll walk away with. I will end this with a quote most befitting, "life is eternal and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon, And a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." by Rossiter W. Raymond. Some mysteries just aren't meant to be solved. The answers will be there when the time is right, and is that not the point?

-Jessi J

Philosophy Of A Borderline by Jessi James is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at jamesborderline.blogspot.com.