• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

21 gms = human soul?

topaz9000

New Blood
T
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Messages
10
I have been given the task of finding out if this is true or not.

I have only been able to find that this is a "fact" on various "fun facts" websites.

I would like to put this in context for a partial mystic friend of mine who is a great critical thinker, but without all of the facts he finds himself in the abyss of the paranormal...I like him, help!
 
topaz9000 said:
I have been given the task of finding out if this is true or not.

[...]

I would like to put this in context for a partial mystic friend of mine who is a great critical thinker, but without all of the facts he finds himself in the abyss of the paranormal...I like him, help!
Click to expand...

Mystic, and a critical thinker, yet still on the abyss of the paranormal? Would you care to elaborate a bit - I find the idea of such a person somewhat fascinating.

Well, is it true? Should be simple enough to find out: Define what precisely a soul is. Acquire a soul. Weigh it.

I expect you to fall on all three counts. I have yet to hear a comprehensive explanation of what a soul is. Should you be able to come up with something, I wouldn't expect it to be describing something material - hence you wouldn't be able to get hold of a soul. Finally, even if you can present a soul to the world, you will most likely find that it doesn't have a mass, much like a clever idea or mortal fear of little black spiders.

If your friend really is a critical thinker he should be able to tell you what exactly a soul is that it could possibly have a mass of 21gms.

Rasmus.

Edited for one sneaky typo
 
It's undeniably true, and if you listen to a lot of blues, it'll weigh a little more. If you can dance, it'll be a burden on the pallbearers. If you ever did the moonwalk, you'll need a very sensitive scale to detect it.
 
I don't personally care if the soul has weight; I don't believe in souls. I wanted to find out about this particular study because my friend asked me about it.

He's at work and doesn't have a computer, so I thought I'd ask the clear thinkers here who might be in the "know."

Plus he looks up to me as a skeptic (not epistemological), and I wanted to help him out. Call him a project.
 
And, Rasmus, critical thinker doesn't = all knowing.

In reference to your 'If he is a critical thinker then he should be able to tell you exactly what a soul is and that it weighs 21 gms.'
 
topaz9000 said:
And, Rasmus, critical thinker doesn't = all knowing.

In reference to your 'If he is a critical thinker then he should be able to tell you exactly what a soul is and that it weighs 21 gms.'
Click to expand...

critical thinker, however, doesn't usually mean "partial mystic". that is a bit of a puzzler.
 
JR "BOB" Dobbs said:
It's undeniably true, and if you listen to a lot of blues, it'll weigh a little more. If you can dance, it'll be a burden on the pallbearers. If you ever did the moonwalk, you'll need a very sensitive scale to detect it.
Click to expand...

Praise "Bob"!

And hail "Orson"!
 
The idea of the soul, like all ideas, is a memory - an arrangement of neurons in the brain. I doubt very very much that its weight is anywhere near 21 grams. Souls themselves do not exist, and so cannot weight anything.

The study was someone who weighted people before and after they died. He found an average of 21 grams of difference. This has to do with bodily functions and nothing at all to do with a spark of consciousness, or whatever a soul is supposed to be.
 
Francois Tremblay said:
The idea of the soul, like all ideas, is a memory - an arrangement of neurons in the brain. I doubt very very much that its weight is anywhere near 21 grams. Souls themselves do not exist, and so cannot weight anything.

The study was someone who weighted people before and after they died. He found an average of 21 grams of difference. This has to do with bodily functions and nothing at all to do with a spark of consciousness, or whatever a soul is supposed to be.
Click to expand...
clarsct in the second post of this topic has given a link to a description of this study. In fact he found a drop in weight loss in only one out of six experiments and nobody has found anything to corroborate these results since.

So the 21 grams is one of those myths that starts with a poorly performed experiment and then just grows with the retelling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom