If you read this entire article of mine, by the time you finish reading it, hundreds of people will have died in the world. Yes, studies have shown that about 100 people die every minute in the world.
Well, what happens to the human body, mind, thoughts, etc., after death? Where does all the matter and energy of the body go? There are many conventional answers to this question. In a religious context, these answers, in an unscientific explanation, instill in people the basic lesson of miracles. Through false myths, a completely unscientific and bizarre concept called the soul is born. However, very little science can give a scientifically reasonable explanation to this question. Let's see.
The human body is approximately 15% protein, 20% fat, 2% carbohydrates, 2% salt, 1% various gases, and the remaining 60% is water. All these elements are made up of different basic particles. That means, my body's bones, flesh, skin, fat, teeth, hair, nails, etc., are nothing but a collection of electrons, protons, and neutrons. Although protons and neutrons are not fundamental particles according to the standard model of particle physics, for the convenience of discussion, we are assuming them as fundamental particles, and we are not bringing the matter of quarks here.
When a person dies, their body is basically burned or buried underground. We know that matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed. That means that not a single particle of your body will be destroyed after death. Believe it or not, even after you die, every particle of your body will remain in this universe in some form or another forever. How? Let's explain the matter a little.
If you burn your body after death, all the water particles in your body will quickly evaporate and remain in the environment of this earth, and will mix with the water of rivers, lakes, or seas according to the rules of the water cycle. Even if you bury it in the ground, the same thing will happen, but it will not be as fast, but it will happen. That means every particle of water in your body will remain in the Earth's atmosphere. Maybe, some of the water you drank this morning came from the water that was in the body of Mahatma Gandhi or Shah Jahan and found its place in your bottle! Some of the water in your body would be drunk by your grandson's grandson's grandson 1000 years later! Yes, this can be true.
As a result of mixing with the water cycle of the environment, some of the water in your body will be absorbed by plants from below the ground. That water will produce oxygen and carbohydrates through the chemical reaction of photosynthesis. Think about it, some of the air that your grandson's grandson will breathe may be part of your body! Some of the gourds or apples you are eating today may have been in the body of Napoleon or Shakespeare!
Every particle of the substance in your body, other than water, will also remain on this earth in some form or another. Of course, there are some exceptions to this. There are very small amounts of radioactive particles in your body that decay and change into other particles. For example, some of the potassium in your body fissions into calcium, some of the thorium and uranium into lead. During this decay, some helium gas is produced. Earth's gravity is not strong enough to hold this helium gas. So these helium gas particles leave the Earth's atmosphere and disappear into space. If they pass near the Sun or Jupiter on their way to disappear, they will not be trapped by their strong gravity, or they will wander further away into infinite space. Just think, even after you die, some particles of your body will wander in deep space forever!
This is the fate of the matter or particles of your body. But energy?
This is where all the confusing explanations come in. Myths like ghosts, ghosts, souls, etc., come in. Many people have tried to prove the existence of souls. He has gained popularity by using some scientific terms mixed with completely unscientific talk, and has also earned money by writing books and articles. The biggest example of this in our country is Swami Abhedananda.
In the pages of the book "On the Edge of Death", he cleverly disguises his marijuana fantasies as scientific discussions, trying to provide various bizarre proofs of the soul. The book became popular, but there was no proof of the soul.
However, the biggest stir in this regard was caused by the American physician Duncan Macdougall in 1907. He conducted experiments on 6 dying patients and published a research paper claiming that the soul weighs 21.3 grams. The New York Times published the news of his experiment with great importance. Later, the news created quite an impact in other countries of the world as well. But needless to say, Macdougall's experiment was not recognized by science because his experiment was full of mistakes, and the experimental method was not scientific at all. The observational outcome of the experiment was also not consistent at all.
So, what happens to the energy in your body after you die? Like matter, after your death, all of your body's energy will remain; not a bit will be lost because energy is neither created nor destroyed, its form only changes. The conversion of energy can be understood very easily with the equation of the first law of thermodynamics.
Change in energy = Heat - Work
There are basically three types of energy in the human body.
Electrical energy with which the nervous system and brain.
Heat energy - generated through the movement of muscles.
These two types of energy are very small as a percentage of the total energy of the body. Most of the body's energy is chemical energy that is stored in the body in the form of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, which we simply call fat.
When you are walking, working, your stored chemical energy is being converted into kinetic energy and heat energy by your muscle movement. A very small part of the chemical energy is converted into electrical energy with which your nervous system runs, your brain works, your thoughts, ideas, emotions, etc. are created. As long as you are alive, your stored chemical energy is continuously converted into other energy, most of which is converted into heat energy.
After death, your body cannot consume any more chemical energy. So your muscle movement stops, the supply of electrical energy to run the nervous system also stops, and therefore, your brain also stops. Thoughts, ideas, emotions all end here.
Now the question is, does the amount of electrical energy in your body, which creates thought, consciousness, or consciousness, remain unchanged after you die? Only if it does, can the possibility of something called a soul be discussed, right?
No, it does not. Ultimately, all energy is converted into heat energy; it is bound to go. And that is why the entropy of the universe is constantly increasing, and will continue to increase. I will not go into a detailed discussion of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics here.
Now, think about it, is there any reason to pay respects to someone who has died and pray for their soul's peace? Can you give anything to a soul by offering a tarpan at Mahalaya or going to Gaya and donating pindi? Think about it in a very simple way, with a little scientific mind, and you will understand that the soul is actually a false belief.
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