Ecology of cognition: They tried to convince us from school that there is no God, there is no immortal soul. At the same time, we were told that this is what science says. And we believed ... Let us note that it was BELIEVED that there is no immortal soul, BELIEVED that science allegedly proved it, BELIEVED that there is no God. None of us have tried to figure out what impartial science says about the soul.

Any person who is faced with the death of a loved one asks whether there is life after death? In our time, this issue is acquiring special relevance. If several centuries ago the answer to this question was obvious to everyone, now, after the period of atheism, its solution is more difficult.

We cannot simply believe hundreds of generations of our ancestors who, through personal experience, century after century, were convinced that a person has an immortal soul. We want to have facts. Moreover, the facts are scientific. From school they tried to convince us that there is no God, there is no immortal soul. At the same time, we were told that this is what science says. And we believed ... Let us note that we BELIEVED that there is no immortal soul, BELIEVED that science allegedly proved it, BELIEVED that there is no God. None of us have tried to figure out what impartial science says about the soul. We simply trusted certain authorities, without going into the details of their worldview, objectivity, and their interpretations of scientific facts.

And now, when the tragedy has happened, there is a conflict inside us:

We feel that the soul of the deceased is eternal, that it is alive, but on the other hand, old and instilled in us stereotypes that there is no soul, pull us into the abyss of despair. This struggle within us is very hard and very exhausting. We want the truth!

So let's look at the question of the existence of the soul through a real, not ideologized, objective science. We will hear the opinion of real scientists on this issue, personally evaluate the logical calculations. Not our BELIEVE in the existence or non-existence of the soul, but only KNOWLEDGE can extinguish this inner conflict, preserve our strength, give confidence, look at the tragedy from a different, real point of view.

The article will focus on Consciousness. We will analyze the question of Consciousness from the point of view of science: where is Consciousness in our body and can it end its life?

What is Consciousness?

First, about what Consciousness is in general. People have been thinking about this question throughout the history of mankind, but they still cannot come to a final decision. We know only some properties, possibilities of consciousness. Consciousness is awareness of oneself, one's personality, it is a great analyzer of all our feelings, emotions, desires, plans. Consciousness is what sets us apart, what makes us feel ourselves not as objects, but as individuals. In other words, Consciousness miraculously reveals our fundamental existence. Consciousness is our awareness of our "I", but at the same time Consciousness is a great mystery. Consciousness has no dimensions, no shape, no color, no smell, no taste, it cannot be touched or turned in the hands. Despite the fact that we know very little about consciousness, we know with absolute certainty that we have it.

One of the main questions of humanity is the question of the nature of this very Consciousness (soul, "I", ego). Materialism and idealism have diametrically opposed views on this issue. From the point of view of materialism, human Consciousness is a substrate of the brain, a product of matter, a product of biochemical processes, a special fusion of nerve cells. From the point of view of idealism, Consciousness is - the ego, "I", spirit, soul - an immaterial, invisible spiritualizing body, eternally existing, non-dying energy. The subject always participates in the acts of consciousness, who, in fact, is aware of everything.

If you are interested in purely religious ideas about the soul, then religion will not give any evidence of the existence of the soul. The doctrine of the soul is a dogma and is not subject to scientific proof.

There are absolutely no explanations, let alone evidence from the materialists, who believe that they are impartial scientists (although this is far from the case).

But what about the majority of people who are equally far from religion, from philosophy, and from science too, imagine this Consciousness, soul, "I"? Let's ask ourselves the question, what is “I”?

Gender, name, profession and other role functions

The first thing that most comes to mind: "I am a man", "I am a woman (man)", "I am a businessman (turner, baker)", "I am Tanya (Katya, Alexey)", "I am a wife ( husband, daughter) ”, etc. These are, of course, amusing answers. Your individual, unique "I" cannot be defined general concepts... There are a huge number of people in the world with the same characteristics, but they are not your "I". Half of them are women (men), but they are also not "I", people with the same professions seem to have their own, and not your "I", the same can be said about wives (husbands), people of different professions, social status, nationalities, religions, etc. No belonging to any group will explain to you what your individual “I” represents, because Consciousness is always personal. I am not qualities (qualities only belong to our “I”), because the qualities of one and the same person can change, but his “I” will remain unchanged.

Mental and physiological characteristics

Some say that their "I" is their reflexes, their behavior, their individual ideas and preferences, their psychological characteristics, etc.

In fact, it cannot be the core of the personality, which is called "I" Why? Because throughout life, behavior and perceptions and addictions, and even more so psychological characteristics, change. It cannot be said that if earlier these features were different, then it was not my "I".

Realizing this, some make the following argument: "I am my individual body." This is more interesting. Let us examine this assumption as well.

Everyone else from the school course of anatomy knows that the cells of our body are gradually renewed during life. The old ones die (apoptosis) and the new ones are born. Some cells (epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract) are completely renewed almost every day, but there are cells that pass their life cycle much longer. On average, all cells of the body are renewed every 5 years. If we consider "I" as a simple collection of human cells, then the result is absurd. It turns out that if a person lives, for example, 70 years. During this time, at least 10 times a person will change all the cells in his body (i.e. 10 generations). Could this mean that not one person, but 10 people lived their 70-year-old life? different people? Isn't that pretty silly? We conclude that “I” cannot be a body, because the body is not permanent, but “I” is permanent.

This means that "I" can be neither the qualities of cells, nor their totality.

But here especially erudite ones give a counterargument: “Well, with bones and muscles it is clear, it really cannot be“ I ”, but there are nerve cells! And they are alone for life. Maybe "I" is the sum of nerve cells? "

Let's reflect on this issue together ...

Does consciousness consist of nerve cells?

Materialism is used to decomposing the entire multidimensional world into mechanical components, “testing harmony with algebra” (AS Pushkin). The most naive fallacy of militant materialism in relation to personality is the idea that personality is an aggregate of biological qualities. However, the combination of impersonal objects, be they even atoms or neurons, cannot give rise to a personality and its core - "I".

How can this most complex “I”, feeling, capable of experiencing, love, be just the sum of specific cells of the body together with the ongoing biochemical and bioelectric processes? How can these processes form "I" ???

Provided that nerve cells made up our "I", then we would lose part of our "I" every day. With each dead cell, with each neuron, the "I" would become smaller and smaller. With the restoration of cells, it would increase in size.

Scientific research carried out in different countries the world prove that nerve cells, like all other cells of the human body, are capable of regeneration (restoration). This is what the most serious international biological journal Nature writes: “Employees of the Californian Institute for Biological Research. Salk found that fully functional young cells are born in the brains of adult mammals, which function on par with pre-existing neurons. Professor Frederick Gage and his colleagues also concluded that brain tissue is most rapidly renewed in physically active animals "1

This is confirmed by the publication in another authoritative, refereed biological journal - Science: “For two recent years researchers have found that nerve and brain cells are renewed, like the rest in the human body. The body is able to repair itself the disorders related to the nervous tract, "says scientist Helen M. Blon."

Thus, even with a complete change of all (including nerve) cells of the body, the "I" of a person remains the same, therefore, it does not belong to a constantly changing material body.

For some reason, in our time, it is so difficult to prove what was obvious and understandable to the ancients. The Roman Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus, who still lived in the 3rd century, wrote: “It is absurd to assume that since none of the parts has life, then life can be created by their aggregate, .. besides, it is absolutely impossible that life produces a heap of parts, and that the mind gave rise to that which is devoid of mind. If someone objects that this is not so, but in fact the soul is formed by atoms that come together, that is, indivisible bodies into parts, then he will be refuted by the fact that the atoms themselves only lie next to one another, not forming a living whole, for unity and joint feeling cannot be obtained from bodies that are insensitive and incapable of uniting; but the soul feels itself ”2.

“I” is the unchanging core of the personality, which includes many variables, but is not itself variable.

The skeptic may come up with one last desperate argument: "Could I be the brain?"

Is Consciousness a Product of Brain Activity? What does science say?

Many have heard the tale that our Consciousness is the activity of the brain at school. An unusually widespread idea is that the brain is, in fact, a person with his “I”. Most people think that it is the brain that perceives information from the outside world, processes it and decides how to act in each specific case, they think that it is the brain that makes us alive, gives us personality. And the body is nothing more than a spacesuit that ensures the activity of the central nervous system.

But this tale has nothing to do with science. The brain is now deeply studied. Long and well studied chemical composition, parts of the brain, the connection of these departments with human functions. The cerebral organization of perception, attention, memory, speech has been studied. The functional blocks of the brain have been studied. A huge number of clinics and research centers have been studying the human brain for more than a hundred years, for which expensive and effective equipment has been developed. But, having opened any textbooks, monographs, scientific journals on neurophysiology or neuropsychology, you will not come across scientific data on the connection between the brain and Consciousness.

For people far from this area of ​​knowledge, this seems surprising. In fact, there is nothing surprising in this. It's just that no one has ever discovered the connection between the brain and the very center of our personality, our "I". Of course, materialistic scientists have always wanted this. Thousands of studies and millions of experiments have been carried out, many billions of dollars have been spent on this. The efforts of scientists were not in vain. Thanks to these studies, the parts of the brain themselves were discovered and studied, their connection with physiological processes was established, a lot was done to understand neurophysiological processes and phenomena, but the most important thing was not done. It was not possible to find in the brain the place that is our "I". It was not even possible, despite the extremely active work in this direction, to make a serious assumption about how the brain can be connected with our Consciousness.

Where did the assumption that Consciousness is in the brain come from? This assumption was put forward in the middle of the 18th century by the famous electrophysiologist Dubois-Reymond (1818-1896). In his outlook, Dubois-Reymond was one of the brightest representatives of the mechanistic trend. In one of his letters to his friend, he wrote that “exclusively physical and chemical laws operate in the organism; if not everything can be explained with their help, then it is necessary, using physical and mathematical methods, either to find a way of their action, or to accept that there are new forces of matter, equal in value to physicochemical forces ”3.

But another outstanding physiologist, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (Ludwig, 1816-1895), who headed the new Physiological Institute in Leipzig in 1869-1895, who had become the world's largest center in the field of experimental physiology, did not agree with him. Founder scientific school, Ludwig wrote that none of the existing theories of nervous activity, including Dubois-Reymond's electrical theory of nerve currents, can say anything about how acts of sensation become possible due to the activity of nerves. Note that here it comes not even about the most complex acts of consciousness, but about much simpler sensations. If there is no consciousness, then we cannot feel and sense anything.

Another major physiologist of the 19th century is the outstanding English neurophysiologist Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, laureate Nobel Prize, said that if it is not clear how the psyche arises from the activity of the brain, then, naturally, it is just as little understood how it can exert any influence on the behavior of a living being, which is controlled by the nervous system.

As a result, Dubois-Reymond himself came to the following conclusion: “How we realize - we do not know and will never know. And no matter how we delve into the jungle of intracerebral neurodynamics, we will not throw a bridge to the kingdom of consciousness. " Raymond came to a conclusion, disappointing for determinism, that it is impossible to explain Consciousness by material reasons. He admitted that "here the human mind is confronted with a 'world riddle' that it will never be able to solve" 4.

Professor of Moscow University, philosopher A.I. Vvedensky in 1914 formulated the law of "the absence of objective signs of animation." The meaning of this law is that the role of the psyche in the system of material processes of regulation of behavior is absolutely elusive and there is no conceivable bridge between the activity of the brain and the field of mental or mental phenomena, including Consciousness.

The largest experts in neurophysiology, Nobel Prize winners David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel recognized that in order to be able to assert the connection between the brain and Consciousness, it is necessary to understand that it reads and decodes information that comes from the senses. Scientists have acknowledged that this cannot be done.

There is an interesting and convincing proof of the absence of a connection between Consciousness and the work of the brain, which is understandable even to people who are far from science. Here it is:

Suppose that "I" (Consciousness) is the result of the work of the brain. As neurophysiologists know exactly, a person can even live with one hemisphere of the brain. At the same time, he will have Consciousness. A person who lives only with the right hemisphere of the brain certainly has an “I” (Consciousness). Accordingly, we can conclude that "I" is not in the left, absent, hemisphere. A person with a single functioning left hemisphere also has an "I", therefore "I" is not in the right hemisphere, which is absent in this person... Consciousness remains regardless of which hemisphere is removed. This means that a person does not have a region of the brain responsible for Consciousness, either in the left or in the right hemisphere of the brain. We have to conclude that the presence of consciousness in a person is not associated with certain areas of the brain.

Professor, MD Voino-Yasenetsky describes: “In a young wounded man, I opened a huge abscess (about 50 cubic cm, pus), which undoubtedly destroyed the entire left frontal lobe, and I did not observe any mental defects after this operation. I can say the same about another patient who was operated on for a huge cyst of the meninges. With a wide opening of the skull, I was surprised to see that almost all of the right half of it was empty, and the entire left hemisphere of the brain was compressed, almost impossible to distinguish it ”6.

In 1940, Dr. Augustin Iturrica made a sensational statement at the Anthropological Society in Sucre, Bolivia. He and Dr. Ortiz took a long time to study the medical history of a 14-year-old boy, a patient at Dr. Ortiz's clinic. The teenager was there with a diagnosis of a brain tumor. The young man kept Consciousness until his death, complaining only of a headache. When, after his death, an autopsy was performed, the doctors were amazed: the entire cerebral mass was completely separated from the inner cavity of the cranium. A large abscess has invaded the cerebellum and part of the brain. It remained completely incomprehensible how the sick boy's thinking was preserved.

The fact that consciousness exists independently of the brain is also supported by research recently carried out by Dutch physiologists under the direction of Pim van Lommel. The results of a large-scale experiment were published in the authoritative biological English journal "The Lancet". “Consciousness exists even after the brain has ceased to function. In other words, Consciousness "lives" by itself, absolutely independently. As for the brain, it is not thinking matter at all, but an organ, like any other, performing strictly defined functions. It is very possible that thinking matter, even in principle, does not exist, said the head of the study, the famous scientist Pim van Lommel ”7.

Another argument that is understandable for non-specialists is given by Professor V.F. Voino-Yasenetsky: “In the wars of ants that do not have a brain, deliberation is clearly revealed, and therefore rationality, which is no different from human” 8. This is really an amazing fact. Ants solve rather difficult problems of survival, building housing, providing themselves with food, i.e. have some intelligence, but have no brain at all. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Neurophysiology does not stand still, but is one of the most dynamically developing sciences. Methods and scale of research speaks about the success of studying the brain. The functions, parts of the brain are studied, its composition is being clarified in more and more detail. Despite the titanic work on the study of the brain, world science today is just as far from understanding what creativity, thinking, memory are and what is their connection with the brain itself.

What is the nature of Consciousness?

Having come to the understanding that there is no Consciousness inside the body, science draws natural conclusions about the immaterial nature of consciousness.

Academician P.K. Anokhin: “None of the“ mental ”operations that we attribute to the“ mind ”have so far been directly connected with any part of the brain. If in principle we cannot understand how the mental arises as a result of the activity of the brain, then is it not more logical to think that the psyche is not at all a function of the brain in its essence, but represents the manifestation of some other - immaterial spiritual forces? " nine

At the end of the 20th century, the creator of quantum mechanics, Nobel Prize laureate E. Schrödinger wrote that the nature of the connection of some physical processes with subjective events (to which Consciousness belongs) lies "outside of science and beyond human understanding."

The largest modern neurophysiologist, Nobel Prize winner in medicine J. Eccles developed the idea that it is impossible to find out the origin of mental phenomena, and this fact can easily be interpreted in the sense that the psyche is not a function of the brain at all. According to Eccles, neither physiology nor the theory of evolution can shed light on the origin and nature of consciousness, which is absolutely alien to all material processes in the universe. The spiritual world of man and the world of physical realities, including the activity of the brain, are completely independent independent worlds that only interact and, to some extent, affect each other. He is echoed by such prominent specialists as Carl Lashley (American scientist, director of the Primate Biology Laboratory in Orange Park (Florida), who studied the mechanisms of the brain) and Harvard University doctor Edward Tolman.

With his colleague, the founder of modern neurosurgery, Wilder Penfield, who performed more than 10,000 brain operations, Eccles wrote the book The Mystery of Man.10 body ". “I can experimentally confirm,” writes Eccles, “that the workings of consciousness cannot be explained by the functioning of the brain. Consciousness exists independently of it from the outside. "

Eccles is deeply convinced that consciousness cannot be the subject of scientific research. In his opinion, the emergence of consciousness, as well as the emergence of life, is the highest religious mystery. In his report, the Nobel laureate relied on the conclusions of the book "Personality and the Brain", written jointly with the American philosopher and sociologist Karl Popper.

Wilder Penfield, as a result of many years of studying the activity of the brain, also came to the conclusion that "the energy of the mind is different from the energy of the brain's neural impulses" 11.

Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Russian Federation, Director of the Scientific Research Institute of the Brain (RAMS of the Russian Federation), a world-renowned neurophysiologist, professor, doctor of medical sciences. Natalya Petrovna Bekhtereva: “For the first time I heard the hypothesis that the human brain only perceives thoughts from somewhere outside nobel laureate, Professor John Eccles. Of course, then it seemed absurd to me. But then research carried out in our St. Petersburg Research Institute of the Brain confirmed that we cannot explain the mechanics of the creative process. The brain can only generate the simplest thoughts like how to turn pages readable book or stir the sugar in a glass. And the creative process is a manifestation of a completely new quality. As a believer, I admit the participation of the Almighty in the management of the thought process ”12.

Science is gradually coming to the conclusion that the brain is not the source of thought and consciousness, but at most - their relay.

Professor S. Grof says about it this way: “Imagine that your TV set is broken and you have called a TV technician who, having twisted different knobs, tuned it up. It doesn't occur to you that all these stations are sitting in this box ”13.

Back in 1956, the outstanding outstanding scientist-surgeon, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor V.F. Voino-Yasenetsky believed that our brain is not only not connected with Consciousness, but that it is not even capable of thinking independently, since the mental process is outside of it. In his book, Valentin Feliksovich argues that "the brain is not an organ of thought, feeling", and that "Spirit goes beyond the brain, determining its activity, and our whole being, when the brain works as a transmitter, receiving signals and transmitting them to the organs of the body." fourteen.

The same conclusions were reached by British researchers Peter Fenwick from the London Institute of Psychiatry and Sam Parnia from Southampton Central Hospital. They examined patients who came back to life after cardiac arrest, and found that some of them accurately recounted the content of the conversations that the medical staff had while they were in a state of clinical death. Others gave an accurate description of the events that occurred during this time period. Sam Parnia argues that the brain, like any other organ of the human body, consists of cells and is not capable of thinking. However, it can function as a thought-detecting device, i.e. as an antenna, with the help of which it becomes possible to receive a signal from the outside. Scientists have suggested that during clinical death, Consciousness acting independently of the brain uses it as a screen. Like a television receiver, which first receives the waves entering it, and then converts them into sound and image.

If we turn off the radio, this does not mean that the radio station stops broadcasting. That is, after the death of the physical body, Consciousness continues to live.

The fact of the continuation of the life of Consciousness after the death of the body is also confirmed by Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Director of the Research Institute of the Human Brain, Professor N.P. Bekhterev in his book "The Magic of the Brain and the Labyrinths of Life." In addition to discussing purely scientific issues, in this book the author also gives his personal experience of encountering posthumous phenomena.

Natalia Bekhtereva, talking about her meeting with the Bulgarian clairvoyant Vanga Dimitrova, quite definitely speaks about this in one of her interviews: “Vanga's example absolutely convinced me that there is a phenomenon of contact with the dead”, and another quote from her book: “ I cannot help but believe what I have heard and seen myself. A scientist has no right to reject facts (if he is a scientist!) Just because they do not fit into the dogma, worldview ”12.

The first consistent description of posthumous life based on scientific observation was given by the Swedish scientist and naturalist Emmanuel Swedenborg. Then this problem was seriously studied by the famous psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler Ross, the equally famous psychiatrist Raymond Moody, conscientious scientists academicians Oliver Lodge15,16, William Crookes17, Alfred Wallace, Alexander Butlerov, Professor Friedrich Myers18, American pediatrician Melvin Morse. Among the serious and systematic researchers of the issue of dying, it is worth mentioning the professor of medicine at Emory University and the staff doctor at the Veterans' Hospital in Atlanta, Dr. Michael Sabom, the systematic study of the psychiatrist Kenneth Ring is also very valuable, the doctor of medicine, intensive care physician Moritz Roolings, was studying this problem , our contemporary, thanatopsychologist A.A. Nalchajyan. The famous Soviet scientist, a prominent specialist in the field of thermodynamic processes, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus, Albert Veinik, worked a lot on understanding this problem from the point of view of physics. A significant contribution to the study of the near-death experience was made by the world famous American psychologist of Czech origin, the founder of the transpersonal school psychology dr Stanislav Grof.

The variety of facts accumulated by science indisputably proves that after physical death, each of those living today inherits a different reality, preserving his Consciousness.

Despite the limitations of our ability to cognize this reality with the help of material means, today there are a number of its characteristics obtained through experiments and observations of scientists studying this problem.

These characteristics were listed by A.V. Mikheev, a researcher of the St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University in his report at the international symposium "Life after death: from faith to knowledge" which took place on April 8-9, 2005 in St. Petersburg:

"one. There is a so-called "subtle body", which is the bearer of self-awareness, memory, emotions and "inner life" of a person. This body exists ... after physical death, being its "parallel component" for the duration of the existence of the physical body, providing the above processes. The physical body is only a mediator for their manifestation on the physical (earthly) level.

2. The life of an individual does not end with current earthly death. Survival after death is a natural law for humans.

3. The next reality is divided into a large number of levels, differing in the frequency characteristics of their components.

4. The place of destination of a person during the posthumous transition is determined by his setting on a certain level, which is the sum total of his thoughts, feelings and actions during his life on Earth. Just as the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a chemical depends on its composition, in the same way the posthumous destination of a person is determined by the "composite characteristic" of his inner life.

5. The concepts of "Heaven and Hell" reflect two polarities, possible posthumous states.

6. In addition to such polar states, there are a number of intermediate ones. The choice of an adequate state is automatically determined by the mental and emotional "pattern" formed by a person during his earthly life. That is why negative emotions, violence, the desire for destruction and fanaticism, whatever they may be externally justified, in this respect are extremely destructive for the future fate of a person. This is a solid justification for personal responsibility and adherence to ethical principles ”19.

All of the above arguments just surprisingly coincide with the religious knowledge of all traditional religions. This is a reason to cast aside doubts and make up your mind. Is not it?

1. Cell polarity: From embryo to axon // Nature Magazine. 27.08. 2003. Vol. 421, N 6926. P 905-906 Melissa M. Rolls and Chris Q. Doe

2. Plotinus. Enneads. Treatises 1-11., "Greco-Latin Cabinet" by Yu. A. Shichalin, Moscow, 2007.

3. Du Bois-Reymond E. Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur allgemeinen Muskel- und Nervenphysik. Bd. one.

Leipzig: Veit & Co., 1875. P. 102

4. Du Bois-Reymond, E. Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur allgemeinen Muskel- und Nervenphysik. Bd. 1.P. 87

5. Kobozev NI Research in the field of thermodynamics of information and thinking processes. Moscow: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1971, p. 85.

6, Voino-Yasenetsky V.F. Spirit, soul and body. CJSC "Brovarskaya Printing House", 2002. S. 43.

7. Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands; Dr Pirn van Lommel MD, Ruud van Wees PhD, Vincent Meyers PhD, Ingrid Elfferich PhD // The Lancet. Dec 2001 2001. Vol 358. No 9298 P. 2039-2045.

8. Voino-Yasenetsky VF Spirit, soul and body. CJSC Brovarskaya Printing House, 2002 p. 36.

9 / Anokhin P.K. Systemic mechanisms of higher nervous activity. Selected Works. Moscow, 1979, p. 455.

10. Eccles J. The human mystery.

Berlin: Springer 1979. P. 176.

11. Penfield W. The mystery of the mind.

Princeton, 1975. P. 25-27

12 .. I was blessed to study "Through the Looking Glass". Interview with N.P. Bekhtereva newspaper "Volzhskaya Pravda", March 19, 2005.

13. Grof S. Holotropic Consciousness. Three levels of human consciousness and their impact on our life. M .: AST; Ganga, 2002.S. 267.

14. Voino-Yasenetsky VF Spirit, soul and body. CJSC "Brovarskaya Printing House", 2002 P.45.

15. Lodge O. Raymond or life and death.

London 1916

16. Lodge O. The survival of man.

London 1911

17. Crookes W. Researches in the phenomena of spiritualism.

London, year 1926 P. 24

18. Myers. Human personality and its survival of bodily death.

London, year 1sted. 1903 P. 68

19. Mikheev A. V. Life after death: from faith to knowledge

Journal "Consciousness and Physical Reality", No. 6, 2005 and in the abstracts of the international symposium "Noospheric innovations in culture, education, science, technology, health care", April 8-9, 2005, St. Petersburg.

Death will love each of us, no matter how we fight with it. Eat only healthy food, run in the morning, give up alcohol, avoid stress, modernize your body using cybernetics, inject with antibiotics, swallow vitamins, do it all at once, and then welcome to the coffin, do not forget to close the lid more tightly.

There is no such crazy professor in the world who can resurrect you or - such personalities live only in books, but in films of the "Reanimator" level. However, who if not scientists know more about death? The scientific mind is closely tied to the problem of death. Science and death entered into a kind of marriage after the most destructive epidemic in the history of mankind - the medieval plague, popularly called the "black death". It was after 2/3 of the population of Europe ended up in the ground (in Italy people were buried in rows - a layer of sand, a layer of corpses, a layer of sand, a layer of corpses, "lasagna"), the learned people decided to take their heads and, finally, think about death, its nature, purpose and methods of dealing with it. Since then, many "theories of death" have appeared, which are supported by research, logical constructions and experiments, but none of them are leading and fully studied. Scientists are still working in this direction, revealing the secret bit by bit. Their ideas are so unique and interesting that today we decided to take a course on them. We will discuss death, and not from the point of view of philosophy or society, but from the point of view of science. In this context, it is rarely discussed.

1. Quantum suicide

Let's start with large-scale ideas based on quanta - the toy of modern physics, which means an indivisible portion of any quantity (yes, you have to get into Wikipedia).

Quantum suicide is like this thought experiment in quantum mechanics. It was proposed by two guys and, as usually happens, they did it independently of each other with a difference of one year: Hans Moravec spoke about quantum suicide in 1987, and Bruno Marshall spoke about it in 1988. The experiment itself can be understood even by the uninitiated.

His conclusion is that every event in spacetime causes the universe to divide itself into different versions containing all possible outcomes. Let's say we are supporters of a multiple interpretation of the Universe, and we are also sick in the head by scientists who are conducting an experiment on the unfortunate one, the essence of which is a gun that will fire with a 50% probability. So, in one world, the gun fires - the participant in the experiment dies. In another world, the gun misfires and the participant lives, which means that the experiment continues.

Regardless of the outcome of events in our world, the participant will still survive (not here, so in a parallel universe). This means that he will live forever and he, this guinea pig, is immortal, like all of us.

2. We do not know what death is

We cannot be 100% sure of death, because we do not know what life is and what can be called life.

Scientists are trying to come up with a decent and accurate definition of life, but so far they have not been very successful. You can, of course, take the definition of NASA, which is focused on the search for aliens. They say, "Life is a self-sustaining chemical system capable of evolution." But even this is not appropriate, since there are such sets of non-living chemical systems that can mimic life without being alive. Crystals, for example.

There is also the problem of consciousness. People do not know what consciousness is, what caused it and how it experiences death. Scientists do not know for certain whether consciousness is destroyed with the death of the brain, although they say: "Apparently, it dies with the brain." That is, until we can come up with an all-encompassing, solid definition of life, then we can never truly understand death.

3. Three types of death

Technically, there is and, moreover, one of the stages is reversible.

It all starts with clinical death - this is the cessation of vital activity, pulse and respiration. At the same time, brain activity can be maintained. People who have suffered clinical death can be called “technically dead”.

Then comes biological death, which is sometimes called brain death. Sometimes biological death acts as the opposite of clinical death, since brain activity stops, and the vital functions of the body can still work. From a medical point of view, such a death cannot be reversed.

And finally, there is also molecular death, which refers to the stage at which the body finally stops its struggle against decay. Frankly, few people want to see death reversible at this stage, except for director George Romero.

4. Fear of death depends on age

There is a common thought that the closer you get to death, the more you fear it. The claim, it must be said, is very controversial and is refuted by a number of studies that have found that older people tend to be less worried about death than younger people.

The fear of death, according to these studies, is most intense at the age of 20, then it goes into a mode of steady decline until a midlife crisis occurs (at this time you can expect a small psychic blow), and after that - acceptance, Zen and harmony.

In doing so, the study took into account different people at different stages of life, so we cannot be 100% sure that the effect is not caused by generational differences. Only time will tell that the current generation of 20-year-olds is growing at an alarming rate into a generation of anxious retirees.

5. Spiral of death

Great name for a satanic black metal band, don't you think? In general, this term is purely scientific, it denotes the stage preceding death, which is part of the process of genetically programmed death. Its essence is a decline in physical activity.

The death spiral was first described in the study of Drosophila (a type of fly), which stops laying eggs at the moment of death. Moreover, the "spiral" was not a consequence of death, but its predictor.

The human body also has life indicators, which represent daily activities. We eat food, use the toilet every day, brush our teeth and so on. But at the moment of the death spiral, the frequency of these actions is significantly reduced.

6. Age restrictions

Over the past century, the average life expectancy has increased by tens of years. However, this has more to do with the fact that most people live to old age, and not with the fact that there has been an actual increase in life expectancy. In ancient times, we, as well as today, can see hundred-year-olds - then few people could be surprised by them. Despite all our efforts, one of the oldest people of our time is just over 120 years old. A lot, we agree, but our head does not spin from this age.

It is believed that there is a certain age barrier, through which a person is not able to step over. This barrier is called the Hayflick limit. Its essence boils down to limiting cell division. A cell cannot endlessly divide - it has a limit. This limit varies between organisms, resulting in a hamster living a heck of a lot compared to the Galapagos tortoise. The reason lies in the shortened telomeres - the sections of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect them from degradation.

It seems that 120 years is currently the limit of "natural" human life. That is, even if we abandon other causes of death, such as illness, we will still come to the line behind which people die of "old age." However, if we could find some way to solve the problem of cell division, then perhaps we could be able to prolong human life- up to infinity.

Based on materials from Stevie Shepard

Necromancy is ancient art dark magic. Since ancient times, its adherents have instilled fear and awe in the crowd. The reason for this is their ability to appeal to the souls of the departed and use their power. And even after many centuries, the art of necromancy not only did not die out, but even strengthened, becoming the basis for many cults and sects.

But let's find out how true the legends of the necromancers are. Are black magicians really capable of manipulating the energy of other beings? And what fate awaits the one who dares to disturb the sleep of the dead?

A call to dead flesh

The first necromancers appeared at the dawn of civilization. They were priests and shamans who used the bones and organs of animals to look into the future or learn the will of the ancient gods. Naturally, these were primitive rituals, very far from real magic... However, even then, they were in great demand and respect. Take for example Ancient Rome... The writings of historians describe in detail the ritual of fortune-telling on bird bones, which was conducted by their chief priest. Without such a ceremony, not a single important campaign began, and even the king could not challenge his decision.

And there are a great many similar examples in history. But what is most striking is that such rituals were practiced by many ancient civilizations. And this despite the fact that most of them were completely isolated and could not adopt magic spells each other.

The rise of the cult of the dead in ancient Egypt

Yet Ancient Egypt is rightfully considered the birthplace of necromancy. Here the priests realized for the first time how powerful the influence of the dead on the living can be. That is why death was treated here with such respect and scrupulousness. What are the tombs of the pharaohs themselves in the pyramids, prepared for them?

Also, the Egyptians were the first to experiment with mystical rituals and spells. And if you believe the legends, then their labors were crowned with great success. They were not only able to summon the souls of the dead, but also learned to control their power. Therefore, for this civilization, necromancy became part of the culture and was taken for granted.

Ultimately, the Egyptians created a special treatise, which they called the "Book of the Dead." It was a four-meter scroll made of papyrus. In it, the ancient priests recorded part of their knowledge about the dead and the afterlife. Therefore, the "Book of the Dead" is the first known to man a guide to necromancy that has survived to this day.

The origins of the word "necromancy"

But, despite all the works of the Egyptians, the very word "necromancy" came to us from Ancient Greece, and it means Consequently, it is this country that must be considered the starting point from where this dark science spread throughout the world.

As for the religion of the Hellenes themselves, they also believed in life after death. There is a lot of evidence that in Ancient Greece there were cults of worship of the god of the underworld and death, Hades. Its priests not only gave praise and made sacrifices to their deity, but also performed many sacraments and rituals. For example, they often used the bones of the dead in order to find out both their own future and the fate of the entire state.

Necromancy and Christianity

With the advent of Christianity, the life of dark magicians became more complicated. After all, the priests assured everyone that necromancy is a devilish teaching, and all its followers sold their souls to Satan. Because of this, the students of the cult of death began to actively persecute and give out to the Inquisition, and she, as you know, had a very short conversation with such people.

That is why necromancers began to hide, practicing their art away from human eyes. Fortunately, this only strengthened their skill, because real mysticism does not need general approval. Indeed, for the adepts of death, their own goals and aspirations are much more important.

Necromancy today

The times of church taboos are long gone, and those who want to learn the secrets of dark art are no longer burned at the stake. However, this does not mean that now real mysticism awaits people at every step. No, in reality everything is just the opposite.

Even today, true necromancers try to avoid the attention of mere mortals. Who knows, perhaps the reason for this was a long-standing habit, or over the long years of detachment, they fell in love with loneliness. But the fact remains: necromancy is magic that lives away from the real world.

Yet this does not mean that all dark magicians live somewhere in or in secret caves and do not appear in society. No, many of them - simple people that do not stand out from the crowd. Looking at such a person, one cannot say that he is an adherent of the cult of death. But with the coming of night, their lifestyle changes radically.

What is necromancy and what is its essence?

But let's leave the story behind and go directly to necromancy itself. In particular, let's talk about what the dark priests are capable of and what kind of business do they do? After all, this is the only way to know the essence of this mystical art.

So, first of all, necromancy is the science of the energy of death. It should be noted that given view mystical power hovers not only around the dead, but also around the living. After all, any body is perishable, which means it is subject to the influence of death.

And yet the necromancer is much closer to the dead, because it is with them that he spends most of his time. Studying ancient art, he learns to control the energy of death and subjugate the souls of the departed. This is necessary in order to use them for their own purposes, led only to him.

For example, a necromancer can appeal to the spirit of the deceased and find out the circumstances of his death. Or, calling on a strong ghost, ask him about future events. Perhaps some readers will now think: "How is this possible, are the dead capable of predicting fate?" Well, as the necromancers themselves assure, the afterlife lives by different rules, and time flows there in a completely different way. Therefore, some spirits know about the events of the future, albeit not too distant.

Simply put, necromancy is the mystical science of the dead. Having studied it, a person becomes more susceptible to influence underworld, allowing him to call for help from the dead. This is precisely the essence of necromancy.

or innocent magic?

In modern society, there is another well-established stereotype: all necromancers are servants of the devil. In general, this is not surprising, because the specificity of such magic itself prompts this idea, not to mention the fact that for many centuries in a row the church has been reaffirming this. But do all adherents of death really do the will of the evil one?

It turns out that necromancy itself is not a weapon of evil. Yes, it works with dead energy, but this does not mean that it can only be used to harm people. There are many examples of how necromancers helped others: they removed the signs of "death", warned against troubles, protected from the influence of evil forces, and so on.

And yet there are bad magicians. In addition, adherents of this science are more likely than others to be tempted to use their skills for selfish purposes. After all, looking into the abyss, you need to remember that over time, she will begin to stare at you.

Is the soul of the necromancer cursed?

Both Christians and Muslims believe that all dark magicians go straight to hell after death. Indeed, according to holy scripture, this is the punishment that is due for sorcery and witchcraft.

But, as the necromancers themselves assure, this rule does not apply to them. They believe that their spirit will remain in this world, serving other followers of the cult of death. And some believe that they will be able to achieve immortality at all by perpetuating their body or by transferring their energy to another person.

But, whatever one may say, it is believed that the soul of the necromancer is still cursed. Consequently, the road to heaven is closed to him forever.

How to become a necromancer?

Now there are a huge number of books and manuals on how to get on the path of the death magician. Alas, most of them were written only in order to collect as much money as possible from naive readers. Real applied necromancy is a hidden science, and therefore those who wish to comprehend it will have to sweat a lot.

In this case, a person will need to find a mentor who will agree to teach him the basics of the dark art. After all, if you poke into the world of the dead without an experienced guide, then there is a possibility that there will be no way back. Unfortunately, it is not written on the gate of the house that a necromancer witch or a master of souls lives here, which means that such a search can take quite a long time.

But, as one ancient wisdom says: "The teacher appears only when the student is ready for it." Therefore, a person who really wants to learn necromancy will definitely find his mentor.

Rite of passage

Having enrolled in a master's training, the student will have to pass a series of tests that will temper his soul and body. This is necessary in order to test the decisiveness and attitude of a person, as well as to make sure of his moral fortitude. Indeed, in the course of training, it will be very difficult for him, and the voices of the dead will tempt him with sweet speeches more than once.

That is why, at the beginning of their journey, necromancers learn concentration and obedience. And only after they have passed all the tests, they will be ordained as adherents of the cult of the dead.

Exploring the Art of Raising the Dead

Real mysticism begins from the first days of training a young necromancer. After all, from now on, he has the right to be present at all the rituals and ceremonies that his master conducts. And believe me, many of them have normal person hair will stand on end.

After all, almost all magical spells of the necromancer require the presence of the remains of the dead. At the same time, there are certain laws that say: the stronger the magic, the higher the level of materials used in it. For example, if the bones of any animal are suitable for small enchantments, then for rituals of a higher order, the presence of human remains is mandatory.

Another obstacle to achieving magical heights can be the complexity of spells and rituals. So, a necromancer needs to learn not only the words of power, but also how to draw various icons and runes correctly. After all, the slightest inaccuracy will lead to frightening consequences that cannot be corrected later.

Magic artifact

Interacting with the dead takes a lot of spiritual power from the necromancer. Therefore, they use special items - artifacts that can facilitate this task. Where do they get them?

Often, artifacts are passed from one magician to another, and the older they get, the greater their power. Also, some magic items are created by the sorcerers themselves with the help of special rituals and spells. For example, if you hold an ordinary mirror over the deceased for a day, it will absorb part of his soul. After that, the necromancer will be able to call upon her at any time, and she will be obliged to respond to him.

However, those artifacts that are saturated with the energy of death have the greatest power. Such items can be found at the sites of large graves, fires, disasters, and so on. All necromancers strive to get at least a few of these things in their arsenal in order to use their power at any time.

Time to go out

As stated earlier, the church today is no longer as strict on sorcerers and witches as it used to be. In this regard, people increasingly began to resort to the services of "wizards" of all stripes and trends. Among them are necromancers who have been out of work for a long time. What can they offer their clients?

So, in most cases, adherents of the dark school invite people to talk to the soul of their dead relatives or friends. Just do not confuse their rituals with those sessions that mediums conduct. Necromancers do not allow the spirit of the dead into themselves and do not speak through his mouth, they serve as intermediaries in communication, transmitting to people what the souls of the dead have told them.

Also, necromancers remove various kinds of curses and evil eyes, especially those made “to death”. But at the same time, they themselves can send them to people, however, not every magician will go to this. It all depends on the moral foundations of the dark sorcerer. After all, necromancy is just a tool that can be used for various purposes, including insidious ones.

Moreover, spirit casters can see both past and future events. Sometimes this helps to avoid future troubles or to understand why they happened before.

The Danger of Dark Art

In conclusion, I would like to talk about the dangers of necromancy. After all, only the most naive person will believe that communication with the dead goes without a trace, not to mention managing them.

As mentioned earlier, the necromancer forever loses the right to go to heaven, even if he uses his magic for the benefit of people. Also, after death, his spirit will most likely be "caught" by another sorcerer who wished to increase his strength.

In addition, sometimes rituals go wrong, and then the necromancer has to pay for his mistake. For example, the dead can take away some of his life force or even take over his body, turning an unlucky adept into a submissive puppet. Therefore, the path of the dark magician is the lot of those few whose desire to know death is much higher than the desire to survive.

"Life is an adventure that surpasses our usual linear thinking! It has a non-linear dimension, like a perennial flower that returns to bloom in the multiverse. In other words, death is just a psychological delusion, instilled in a person by false" knowledge "about the world, reports Real Psychology.

Modern science comes to the conclusion that the life and death of a person is not at all what a person is sure of. This does not fit into the framework of a banal human idea of ​​things and does not refer to "objective phenomena", but to the subjective ideas of a person - his psychological cliches.

"Life is an adventure that surpasses our usual linear thinking! It has a non-linear dimension, like a perennial flower that returns to bloom in the multiverse. In other words, death is just a psychological delusion, instilled in a person by false" knowledge "about the world, reports Real Psychology.

Modern man was brought up in the traditions of "vulgar materialism". The one-sidedness of the scientific and philosophical thought of the "traditional European school" and the success of the introduction of technologies "conserved" the beliefs of a person that "the world has an objective existence, independent of the observer." However, the most modern studies of "dissenting from science" and their experiments prove that in fact, "everything is exactly the opposite." The classical view that "Our life is just an active existence of carbon-containing molecules, which ends the moment the biological body becomes unusable," is no longer valid.

Looking at things primitively, we believe in death, because:
we were taught to associate ourselves only with a biological body, the death of this very biological body we can see and take it literally. And yet, modern scientific thought, and in particular - biocentrism (ideology, as well as ethical and scientific concepts that put wildlife to the center of the universe), suggests that the so-called. death cannot be the final event as we think. And one of the arguments here is that if you add life and consciousness to the equation, you can explain many of the greatest mysteries of science. For example, it becomes clear that space, time and properties of matter directly depend on the observer! Moreover, the fact of "ideal correspondence (reasonable adaptation)" of the laws and constants of the Universe to the existence of life becomes obvious.

It is necessary to understand that the entire universe, as it is, is such only in our consciousness. As trivial examples, we can say that we see a blue sky only because certain cells in our brain are tuned to "blue sky perception". And nothing prevents you from changing them so that the sky looks green or orange. No less conventional are the concepts "light-dark" or "warm-cold". If it seems to you that it is hot and humid right now, but for a tropical frog, this weather seems to be cold and dry. All of this logic applies to just about everything. Here is the main thing that should be understood: Everything that you see cannot be present without your consciousness. And these are primitive examples that say much more!

By and large, it is naive even to believe that a person sees with his eyes, that his senses are something like portals to the objective world. Everything that a person feels and senses at one time or another (including the sensations of his own body) is a whirlwind of information rushing through his mind. According to both quantum physics and biocentrism, space and time are not rigidly defined, inert objects, as we think. Space and time are just tools for placing everything.

Consider the famous experiment of Thomas Young, which became the experimental proof of the wave theory of light. When observing the passage of particles through two slits in the barrier, each particle behaves like a corpuscle and passes through either one slit or the other. But in the absence of an observer, the particle already acts as a wave and can pass through both slits at the same time. That is, the particle changes its behavior depending on whether you look at it or not! How so? It's simple: the so-called. “Objective reality” is not static, but a dynamic process that includes your consciousness!

The same conclusion can be reached through the famous Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. If the so-called. "Objective world" really exists, then we should be able to at least measure the properties of any chaotically moving particles in it. However, we cannot even do that. If only because all the experience of physics shows that the exact position and momentum of a particle cannot be known at the same time. In other words, what matters for a particle is the fact that at one point or another you suddenly decided to take measurements!

Another example is pairs of "quantum entangled" (having common origin) particles can instantly bind to each other from opposite ends of the galaxy, as if space and time did not exist for them. Why and how? And so and so, that they are not at all in the so-called. "objective reality" - that is, as if outside of the observer. Conclusion - space and time are only instruments of our mind.

That is why today both physics and biocentrism say that "Death does not exist in a timeless, extra-dimensional world. Immortality does not mean an endless existence in time, but is out of time in general!"

Another interesting fact refutes the correctness of what we have been inoculated since childhood " linear way thinking about time. "In an experiment conducted in 2002, scientists showed that some photons seem to" know in advance "what other photons on the other side of the Galaxy will do in the future. Scientists have tested the connection between pairs of photons. was described in the report: “The experimenters interrupted the movement of one photon, and he had to decide whether it would become a wave or a particle.

The researchers increased the distance it took another photon to reach its detector. In doing so, they could place a polarizer in its path to prevent it from turning into a particle. Somehow, the first particle knew what the researcher was going to do, before it happened, at a distance, instantly, as if there was no space or time between them. She decided not to become a particle even before her twin met the polarizer. "All this once again confirms that our mind and its knowledge is the only condition that determines how particles behave. That is, the World obeys the" Effect of dependence on the observer ! "

Opponents of biocentrism argue that such a phenomenon is limited to the microcosm. But, according to the modern scientific paradigm, the statement about the existence of one set of physical laws for small objects, and another for the rest of the universe (including us) has no basis! So in 2005, the journal Nature published a paper describing how KHC03 crystals demonstrated the "entanglement" effect, being half an inch high - that is, quantum behavior manifests itself in the ordinary human-scale world.

One of the main aspects of quantum physics today is that observations cannot be predicted at all. Instead, it speaks of a "set of possible observations" with different probabilities. And this is one of the main explanations for the objectivity of the "many worlds" theory, which states that each of the possible observations corresponds to a separate universe in the multiverse conglomerate.

In other words, everything that could theoretically happen is realized in some universe. And all possible universes exist simultaneously, regardless of what happens in any of them. Therefore, the death of a person does not exist in any real sense in these scenarios, but refers only to his mental perception (belief).

In this regard, Ralph Waldo Emerson states: "The influence of feelings in most people overcame the mind to such an extent that the walls of space and time began to seem solid, real and insurmountable, and talking about them frivolously is a sign of insanity in the world."

Forensic thanatology aims to study the dynamics and stages of dying. One of the most important parts of this science is thanatogenesis, which determines the true causes and mechanisms of death, and also allows you to create a more perfect classification of the circumstances of a person's dying.

Death concept

Death is a cessation of life activity. It occurs as a result of the termination of the functioning of all organs and is due to the lack of oxygen, the cells of the body die off, and the blood ceases to be ventilated. If cardiac arrest occurs, the blood flow ceases to function, which leads to tissue damage.

General concepts of thanatology

Thanatology is a science that reveals the patterns of dying. She also studies changes in the functioning of organs and tissue damage as a result of this process.

Forensic thanatology acts as a part of the main science, examines the process of death and its consequences for the whole organism in the interests and purposes of the investigation or for the examination.

During the transition of a living organism to death, it experiences different pre-agonal (with a lack of oxygen), terminal pause (abrupt stop of functions respiratory system), agonal and the last occurs as a result of cardiac arrest and cessation of breathing. The body finds itself between life and death, and with this all its metabolic processes fade away.

Since dying is natural at the end of a person's life in old age, forensic medicine considers cases of premature death caused by the influence of various factors environment.

After a clinical one occurs as a result of which irreversible changes occur in the cerebral cortex. It is easier to make a conclusion about death in a hospital than outside it, in the absence of special instruments and devices. Authorities often use the term “moment of death”, which forensic medicine regards as the exact time of death.

Signs of death

In order to establish the exact time of the end of life, it is necessary to know the signs of the onset of death, which is studied by thanatology. These are primarily orienting ones: immobility, lack of pulse and breathing, pallor, complete absence of reactions to different kinds impacts.

There are also reliable signs: the temperature drops to 20 °, early and late cadaveric changes appear (the appearance of spots, stiffness, decay, and others).

Resuscitation and transplantation

Resuscitation measures are taken in order to save a person's life when the body's functions lose their ability to work. In this case, in the process, irreparable injuries and damage can be caused due to the carelessness or incompetence of doctors. Forensic thanatology is aimed at identifying the circumstances of death as a result of the conduct, which makes it possible to assess the injuries inflicted and help further investigation. The task of the expert is to determine the severity of the injuries inflicted and their role in the dying process.

The essence of transplantation is and tissue from one patient to another. The law provides that this event can be carried out only when there is no chance of preserving the life and normalizing the health of the donor. With traumatic brain injuries, if there is no hope of saving a life, resuscitation can be carried out in order to preserve the remaining organs that can be used for transplantation. Thus, the bone marrow can return to normal functioning within 4 hours, and the skin, bone and tendons up to a day (in most cases 19-20 hours).

The basics of thanatology determine the conditions and procedure for ongoing activities for transplantation and organ removal, which should be carried out in public health institutions. The transplant is carried out only with the consent of the two parties involved in the operation. It is forbidden to use the donor's biomaterial if during his lifetime he was against it or his relatives revealed their disagreement.

Removal of organs is possible only with the permission of the head of the forensic medical examination department, and in the presence of the expert himself. In this case, the procedure should not in any way lead to the disfigurement of the corpse.

Since thanatology is a doctrine of death, organs and tissues seized during the examination process can be used as educational and pedagogical material. This requires the permission of the forensic expert who examined the corpse.

Death categories

The science of death considers only two categories of death:

1. Violent. It occurs as a result of injury and water injury by the influence of any kind of environmental factors. It can be mechanical, chemical, physical and others.
2. Nonviolent. It happens under the influence of physiological processes, such as the onset of old age, fatal diseases or premature birth, as a result of which the fetus has no chance of survival.

Causes of violent and non-violent death

Violent death can occur for three reasons, as stated by the science of thanatology. This is murder, suicide, or accident. Forensic experts are involved in determining which genus each particular case belongs to. At the same time, they examine the scene and collect evidence about the causes of death. These actions help to confirm that the end of life was violent.

The second category includes sudden and sudden death. In the first case, the end of life occurs as a result of an illness. In particular, in which a diagnosis was made, but there was no justified reason for the occurrence of death. In the second case, death can occur from a disease that occurs without any symptoms.

Types of death

Thanatology determines depending on the factors leading to its onset. Thus, the violent end of life can be attributed to the impact of electric current and temperatures incompatible with survival, mechanical damage and asphyxiation. Diseases of various organs with all sorts of complications leading to death can lead to sudden death.

Due to the fact that in the current conditions a large number of medicines are used and various types of operations are carried out, the elucidation of thanatogenesis is possible with a deep analysis and examination of the corpse during autopsy by a group of specialists.