Scientific experiments proving life after death.

[Cainkane1]

Have any experiments been made in an effort to prove life after death? I'm sure the results were disasterous but have they been made and what was the conclusion?

 

[fls]

Have any experiments been made in an effort to prove life after death? I'm sure the results were disasterous but have they been made and what was the conclusion?

Well, there are experiments taking place in people who might have near-death-experiences - that is, people who are undergoing a procedure where they are put into cardiac arrest and then resuscitated. I don't think the results have been published yet. I also don't think anyone has seen the hidden images referred to in the description.

http://www.horizonresearch.org/main_page.php?cat_id=38

Linda

 

[JimOfAllTrades]

Houdini famously left a prearranged message with his wife with the understanding that in the event that he found himself "on the other side" and had any means to communicate, he would send this message. His wife had sittings with "psychics" for years after his death waiting for even one to receive the prearranged message and pass it on. None ever did. This isn't a study exactly, just a single experiment, and a non-double-blinded one at that. But you had a highly motivated individual and a specific message.

There have been stories of people supposedly recalling past lives, such as Bridey Murphy, but investigation seems to show that no information has ever been given by anyone that could not have been gotten in perfectly mundane ways.

So far, there have no confirmations for any out of body or near death experience that was anything except the brain's normal reactions to the situations. Many stories, but no hard confirmations.

Ghost stories have been around since stories have been around, but again, no hard confirmations.

A difficult subject to study, to be sure, but after all this time I would have expected something to show up if there was anything there.

 

[madurobob]

Not strictly life after death related, but there have been attempts to prove the existence of a soul by comparing the weight of the body immediately after death the the weight before death. The idea being that if the soul exists it must have mass and if it exists outside the body after death then that change in mass would be measurable.

IIRC the initial study showed a clear weight difference. But, this was not repeated in follow-on tests. Plus, it was in the 1890s when measuring precision may not have been adequate to prove the delta wasn't simply error in the measuring device.

 

[Alt+F4]

Well, there are experiments taking place in people who might have near-death-experiences - that is, people who are undergoing a procedure where they are put into cardiac arrest and then resuscitated.

Indeed but as you pointed out it was a "near" death experience, not actual death. I guess there can't be a scientific experiment regarding life after death until science is able to bring an actual dead person back to life.

 

[John Albert]

Not strictly life after death related, but there have been attempts to prove the existence of a soul by comparing the weight of the body immediately after death the the weight before death. The idea being that if the soul exists it must have mass and if it exists outside the body after death then that change in mass would be measurable.

A dying person sometimes loses control of their bowels, expelling whatever fecal matter might be present in the rectum. Urination and vomiting have also been known to occur.

"Corpse poop" might be a feasible explanation for the observed weight difference. I'm fairly confident it's also the name of some death metal band, somewhere in the world.

 

[Cainkane1]

A dying person sometimes loses control of their bowels, expelling whatever fecal matter might be present in the rectum. Urination and vomiting have also been known to occur.

"Corpse poop" might be a feasible explanation for the observed weight difference. I'm fairly confident it's also the name of some death metal band, somewhere in the world.

This is why suicides go to the bathroom before doing themselves in.

 

[I Ratant]

A dying person sometimes loses control of their bowels, expelling whatever fecal matter might be present in the rectum. Urination and vomiting have also been known to occur.

"Corpse poop" might be a feasible explanation for the observed weight difference. I'm fairly confident it's also the name of some death metal band, somewhere in the world.

.
With the soon-to-be deceased in a closed container, any weight loss due to the "soul" leaving should be measurable with today's instrumentation when monitoring the weight of the container with contents.

 

[MG1962]

Indeed but as you pointed out it was a "near" death experience, not actual death. I guess there can't be a scientific experiment regarding life after death until science is able to bring an actual dead person back to life.

The way the experiment is designed you have to leave your body in some form. The elegent simplicity of the concept makes me wonder why its not been done before

 

[John Albert]

This is why suicides go to the bathroom before doing themselves in.

Gives a whole new meaning to the expression, "this mortal coil."

 

[yog_sothoth]

I imagine getting volunteers for this study must be challenging.

"This next test has a consequence for failure. Your inability to resurrect will result in an unsatisfactory test score. Followed by death."

 

[R.A.F.]

Sure there is life after death. The "twist" is, everyone, without exception, goes straight to hell....


Now aren't you sorry you asked this question???

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Indeed but as you pointed out it was a "near" death experience, not actual death. I guess there can't be a scientific experiment regarding life after death until science is able to bring an actual dead person back to life.

Maybe not, but the usual NDE claims are that people near death leave their bodies. Some experiments have been designed so that if a person really left their body instead of just dreaming they had, the person could see something which proved the 'soul' or consciousness left the body. So far none of these experiments has born any evidence of actually leaving one's body. I've heard of this experiment:

In one instance, a hospital placed an LED marquee above its patients’ beds which displayed a hidden message that could only be read if one were looking down from above. As of 2001, no one who claimed near-death experience or out-of-body experience within that hospital had reported having seen the hidden message.[53]