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    rustyg2's Avatar
    rustyg2 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jul 22, 2007, 09:39 PM
    Weight loss at time of death
    What if any is average weight loss at the time of death?
    Clough's Avatar
    Clough Posts: 26,677, Reputation: 1649
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    #2

    Jul 23, 2007, 01:39 AM
    Mine is not a definitive answer. But, until someone comes along who does have a definitive answer, you might consider checking out the following site:

    Google Answers: UNEXPLAINED WEIGHT LOSS AT MOMENT OF DEATH
    sovaira's Avatar
    sovaira Posts: 271, Reputation: 10
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    #3

    Oct 5, 2007, 07:06 AM
    I think there is a weight in the first beginning as more metabolic and remaining fluids are released but otherwise after more longer time passed there should be a decrease in the wieght.
    Thornbrier's Avatar
    Thornbrier Posts: 2, Reputation: 2
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    #4

    Jul 22, 2010, 02:26 AM

    The commonly held notion is that the human body looses 21.3 grams 'at the moment of death'. This is based on the unfounded research of one Dr. Duncan MacDougall of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Of course, 'moment of death' was chosen as 'when the patient stops breathing,' and this 21.3 gram loss was only found in one of his six patients (an all too small sample size). On the contrary, another patient gained weight 'at the moment of death'. His study on dogs found no corresponding weight loss, and from this (and his religious dogma which claims animals have no souls) he claimed the soul weighed 21.3 grams.

    There is no official 'moment of death.' Initial claim was based on 1 example using inadequate equipment, even when the study itself contradicted the claim. The claimant had an obvious bias (demonstrated in this and other studies). The experiment has never been verified, not even by other supporters of his viewpoint.

    As such, we cannot claim to know if the human body does loose weight at death, let alone have an average.
    wisher71's Avatar
    wisher71 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #5

    Dec 26, 2010, 05:37 PM
    The internet search engines aren't giving it up, just relating some info from the past archaic times.
    There was a more recent discovery on this phenom about 12 years ago, suggesting the loss of weight at the time of death was around ten pounds, that I remember was like in the later 90's.
    It was talked about quite a bit and now I can't find it, closing on 20 years later, on the internet, prob out there somewhere though.
    Some people have souls, some don't? Would that make a difference? Or is it even true? Is anything?
    Thornbrier's Avatar
    Thornbrier Posts: 2, Reputation: 2
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    #6

    Dec 30, 2010, 06:19 PM
    One of the problems with this question is that so many people try to use the claim of weight loss at the moment of death as being proof that there is a soul. And while I would like to believe in a soul there has been no supporting evidence for it. As I said earlier, claims that the soul weighs 21.3 grams (about 1/16th of a pound) are based on unsupported claims that were contradicted in the guy's own study.

    A good article regarding the facts (one of which I got wrong earlier) can be found at http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp
    Stratmando's Avatar
    Stratmando Posts: 11,188, Reputation: 508
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    #7

    Jan 3, 2011, 06:06 PM

    If you do lose that weight at time of death, do you gain it back, if they bring you back.
    And if the loss of weight is the point of no return, then EMT's could monitor the weight, when they see that loss of weight, they know no need to keep trying, the 21.3 grams are gone, no use in waisting time?
    inkmaster's Avatar
    inkmaster Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #8

    Apr 27, 2013, 03:08 PM
    I heard that the mayo clinic has been dealing with this 21.3 gram study for many years! I am interested in knowing the answer to the question about if the weight leaves does it again return if brought back? I was dead for three magic minutes, flat lined and I will tell you that leaving the body was painless, upon return It felt like the falling dream reentering the body, then I sat up and looked at the ambulance parametic and he said welcome back! But that is another story in it self! I can remember the exp. Clearly and I am interested in hearing from anyone whom has info about the weight of the soul!
    Tuttyd's Avatar
    Tuttyd Posts: 53, Reputation: 4
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    #9

    Apr 27, 2013, 05:59 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by inkmaster View Post
    I heard that the mayo clinic has been dealing with this 21.3 gram study for many years! I am interested in knowing the answer to the question about if the weight leaves does it again return if brought back? I was dead for three magic minutes, flat lined and I will tell you that leaving the body was painless, upon return It felt like the falling dream reentering the body, then I sat up and looked at the ambulance parametic and he said welcome back! But that is another story in it self! I can remember the exp. clearly and I am interested in hearing from anyone whom has info about the weight of the soul!
    There is a man called Steward Hameroff who is an anesthetist. He also heads the University of Arizona's consciousness centre. These two fields of study are not necessarily related, but he is interested in the same types of questions you are asking. He has attempted to bridge the gap between physics and metaphysics in the form of a quantum theory of consciousness.

    The problem for a long time has been the metaphysical divide that separates physics from metaphysics in this area. The amounts to saying that there is no weight to the soul. This is because the soul is not physical stuff in the same way that a body is physical stuff.

    This is where the debate would be stuck except that Hameroff has come up with a type of scientific explanation as to what happens to the soul when we die. Hameroff would actually call the soul "quantum information".

    Basically he he saying that the brain functions like a quantum computer and when we die this quantum information 'leaks' back into the 'external' quantum environment.

    There are a number of problems to overcome with his theory and it is naturally considered to be 'fringe' science. Not least of all the problem that the 'quantum environment' needing to exhibit a form of consciousness as well.

    I would see this as interesting if it can be demonstrated that quantum information actually has some weight. This would serve to overcome the idea that mental stuff and physical stuff are different types of substances. That, is the generally accepted idea that physical stuff (brain) has weight while mental stuff has no weight.

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