The Soul After Death

            No one actually knows what happens to the soul after the body dies. Some believe in reincarnation and some believe death is the end of one’s existence. I have always thought that reincarnation was a nice thought. When I was younger people often referred to me as an “old soul”. Of course, I never found out about that until I was much older. I was told I knew how to perform complicated tasks (for a toddler) without anyone showing me how to. It would be relatively easy to chock this up to curiosity and good luck for any skeptic. Upon further consideration I arrived at the conclusion that I have never been satisfied with the time limit of a single life. It is never enough. Perhaps life itself is an addiction all in itself, just as some find it inspiring, others take life to be a poison that eats away at their very being. But what is a soul? It would be safe to assume that a soul is an energy source that plays a role in the giving of life to a human being. Therefore the soul must have mass and must occupy space in the physical world. A soul appears to be an invisible force that has as much impact as the wind in the trees brushing aside the leaves and leaving no trace; the world is changed and changed again. In many cultures the soul is painted as something the body cannot live without. Sometimes the body is considered to be merely a vessel that allows the soul to navigate the physical world. But what constitutes the presence of a soul? Is it consciousness or an awareness of time? What can we claim of what happens to the soul if we do not even know what it is? I am unable to offer a concrete answer to what I believe as far as an absolute occurrence, however, I occasionally muse about the ideas of what happens after death presented by cultures all over the world.  I never thought that it was so simple as a heaven and a hell. And though I am unsure of which one is true, I will eventually find out sooner or later, so the afterlife has never had me too concerned. Perhaps the most amusing answer concerning the placement of souls after death was delivered on a final exam for a Heat and Mass Transfer class where the posed question was: Is Hell exothermic or endothermic?

            Dr. Schambaugh, of the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical Engineering, Final Exam question for May of 1997. Dr. Schambaugh is known for asking questions such as, "why do airplanes fly?" on his final exams. His one and only final exam question in May 1997 for his Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer II class was: "Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof." Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

            "First, we postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, then you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

            Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant. Two options exist:

1.      If hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.

2.      If hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over.

            So which is it? If we accept the quote given to me by Theresa Manyan during Freshman year, "that it will be a cold night in hell before I sleep with you" and take into account the fact that I still have NOT succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then Option 2 cannot be true...Thus, hell is exothermic."

            The student, Tim Graham, got the only A.

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