22 Jan 05
Auxiliary question: how many ounces does your soul weigh?
A former co-worker of mine got his degree from a Southern Baptist college. One of his instructors there passed out a copy of an article in which it was claimed that the weight of humans notched down at the moment of death.
I asked him how this was measured, and who did the measuring. He claimed he couldn't remember. I told him that there would be a Nobel Prize in physics awaiting anybody who could convincingly show that mass/energy conservation is being violated by the death process. He remained convinced of the truth of what he read, though.
23 Jan 05
Originally posted by Paul Dirac21 grams, supposedly. Movie title!
Auxiliary question: how many ounces does your soul weigh?
A former co-worker of mine got his degree from a Southern Baptist college. One of his instructors there passed out a copy of an article in which it was claimed that the weight of humans notched down at the moment of death.
I asked him how this was measured, and who did the measuring. He claim ...[text shortened]... being violated by the death process. He remained convinced of the truth of what he read, though.
It's not a question of violating mass/energy conservation necessarily. I'm quite sure it's possible to come up with explanations rooted in physics about why the loss of weight occurs. Our weight goes up and down constantly, so it wouldn't be that surprising if the end of various metabolic processes caused some changes.
My understanding was that this figure was the result of pretty rigorous scientific testing and had nothing to do with anyone with a 'spiritual' agenda. However, I can't instantly point you to that research, and I could be wrong. I just remember reading about it in a newspaper, rather than a Christian source.