It's a query as old as mankind itself. Do we have a soul? If so, can they be measured, quantified, and ultimately manipulated as is possible through sound science. This leads to the rather solemn case study of one Dr. Duncan MacDougall, and his research into the workings of the soul.
It was regarded as unethical now and then, but Dr. MacDougall, in his quest to prove the existence of a soul took six individuals dying of tuberculosis, placed them on special, industrial sized fairbank scales, and weighed them at the exact moment of death.
The findings of this were even more interesting. Two of the six patients died before they could go through the experiment, but in the other four cases they all inexplicably lost mass. This experiment was then repeated with fifteen dogs, none of which had any loss of mass upon death. This lead to the consensus that only we have a soul, particularly as the experiment was repeated years later in 1917, by Dr. H.Twining on mice.
The project was so controversial that it is considered fake by some researchers, but is there actually merit in the study? The first thing to think about is the fact that the original team did calculate for the release of air and fluids from the body, and there was still mass loss. The second thing is the fact that the experiment was never really repeated again. This is likely because the ethics behind putting dying people into an experiment, through some volunteers would surely come forth. This experiment gained an almost cult following, showing up in media like Empire of Corpses and 21 Grams. So the real question to this experimental mystery really is simply, why haven't we tried again?
Even as a discredited study, the twenty one gram soul study has some merit, even if just for human curiosity, and should be repeated with proper equipment and research.
We can still find out if you can measure the soul.
Sheetal Tadiparty
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