At what moment are you dead? - Randall Hayes

Prevoditelj: Ivan Stamenković Recezent: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG

For as far back as we can trace our existence,

Koliko god u povijest možemo pratiti naše postojanje,

humans have been fascinated with death and resurrection.

ljude je uvijek fascinirala smrt i uskrsnuće.

Nearly every religion in the world has some interpretation of them,

Gotovo svaka religija na svijetu ima neku interpretaciju toga,

and from our earliest myths

od naših najranijih mitova

to the latest cinematic blockbusters, the dead keep coming back.

do nedavnih kino hitova, mrtvi se vraćaju.

But is resurrection really possible?

Ali je li uskrsnuće zaista moguće?

And what is the actual difference between a living creature and a dead body, anyway?

I koja je stvarna razlika između živog bića i mrtvog tijela?

To understand what death is, we need to understand what life is.

Kako bi razumjeli što je smrt, moramo razumjeti što je život.

One ancient theory was an idea called vitalism,

Jedna drevna teorija, bila je ideja vitalizma,

which claimed that living things were unique

koja je tvrdila da su žive stvari jedinstvene

because they were filled with a special substance, or energy,

jer su ispunjene posebnom tvari, ili energijom,

that was the essence of life.

to je bila osnova života.

Whether it was called qi,

Bilo da se zvalo qi,

lifeblood,

životna krv,

or humors,

ili humori,

the belief in such an essence was common throughout the world,

vjerovanje u takvu osnovu bilo je uobičajeno u svijetu,

and still persists in the stories of creatures

i još uvijek ustraje u pričama o bićima

who can somehow drain life from others,

koja nekako mogu isisati život iz drugih,

or some form of magical sources that can replenish it.

ili nekih magičnih izvora koji ga mogu vratiti.

Vitalism began to fade in the Western world

Vitalizam je počeo blijedjeti u Zapadnom svijetu

following the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century.

nakon Znanstvene revolucije 17. stoljeća.

René Descartes advanced the notion

Rene Descartes izjavio je

that the human body was essentially no different from any other machine,

kako se ljudsko tijelo u osnovi ne razlikuje od bilo kojeg drugog stroja,

brought to life by a divinely created soul located in the brain's pineal gland.

oživljenog božanski stvorenom dušom lociranom u epifizi.

And in 1907, Dr. Duncan McDougall even claimed that the soul had mass,

I 1907., Dr. Duncan McDougall čak je tvrdio da duša ima masu,

weighing patients immediately before and after death in an attempt to prove it.

važući pacijente netom prije i nakon smrti u pokušaju da to dokaže.

Though his experiments were discredited, much like the rest of vitalism,

Iako su njegovi eksperimenti bili neuspješni, kao i većina vitalizma,

traces of his theory still come up in popular culture.

tragovi njegove teorije još se pojavljuju u popularnoj kulturi.

But where do all these discredited theories leave us?

Ali gdje nas ostavljaju sve te diskreditirane teorije?

What we now know is that life is not contained

Ono što sada znamo je da život nije sadržan

in some magical substance or spark,

u nekoj čarobnoj supstanci ili iskri,

but within the ongoing biological processes themselves.

već u trajnim biološkim procesima.

And to understand these processes,

I kako bismo razumjeli te procese,

we need to zoom down to the level of our individual cells.

moramo pogledati razinu pojedinih stanica.

Inside each of these cells,

U svakoj toj stanici,

chemical reactions are constantly occurring,

stalno se odvijaju kemijske reakcije,

powered by the glucose and oxygen that our bodies convert

pogonjene glukozom i kisikom koje naša tijela pretvaraju

into the energy-carrying molecule known as ATP.

u molekulu koja nosi energiju, znanu kao ATP (Adenozin trifosfat).

Cells use this energy for everything from repair

Stanice koriste tu energiju za sve od obnove

to growth

do rasta,

to reproduction.

i reprodukcije.

Not only does it take a lot of energy to make the necessary molecules,

Ne samo da treba puno energije kako bi se stvorile potrebne molekule,

but it takes even more to get them where they need to be.

nego je potrebno još više da ih se dovede tamo kamo trebaju bit.

The universal phenomenon of entropy

Univerzalni fenomen entropije

means that molecules will tend towards diffusing randomly,

znači kako su molekule sklone nasumičnoj difuziji,

moving from areas of high concentration to low concentration,

krečući se iz područja više koncentracije u područja s nižom,

or even breaking apart into smaller molecules and atoms.

ili čak raspadanju na manje molekule i atome.

So cells must constantly keep entropy in check

Stanice stalno moraju paziti na entropiju

by using energy to maintain their molecules

koristeći energiju kako bi održale molekule

in the very complicated formations

u složenim formacijama

necessary for biological functions to occur.

potrebnima za odvijanje bioloških funkcija.

The breaking down of these arrangements when the entire cell succumbs to entropy

Razdvajanje ovih radnji kada stanica uđe u entropiju

is what eventually results in death.

je ono što vodi do smrti.

This is the reason organisms can't be simply sparked back to life

Ovo je razlog zašto organizmi jednostavno ne mogu oživjeti

once they've already died.

jednom kada su već umrli.

We can pump air into someone's lungs,

Možemo upuhivati zrak u nečija pluća,

but it won't do much good

ali to neće učiniti puno dobra

if the many other processes involved in the respiratory cycle

ako mnogi drugi procesi uključeni u ciklus respiracije

are no longer functioning.

više ne funkcioniraju.

Similarly, the electric shock from a defibrillator

Slično tome, šok iz defibrilatora

doesn't jump-start an inanimate heart,

ne pokreće nepokretno srce,

but resynchronizes the muscle cells in an abnormally beating heart

nego resinkronizira stanice mišića u srcu koje kuca nepravilno

so they regain their normal rhythm.

tako da dobiju normalan ritam.

This can prevent a person from dying, but it won't raise a dead body,

Ovo može spriječiti smrt, ali neće osobu podići iz mrtvih,

or a monster sewn together from dead bodies.

ili čudovište sašiveno od mrtvih tijela.

So it would seem that all our various medical miracles

Tako da se čini da naša različita medicinska čuda

can delay or prevent death but not reverse it.

mogu odgoditi ili spriječiti smrt ali ju ne mogu poništiti.

But that's not as simple as it sounds

Ali to nije tako jednostavno kako zvuči

because constant advancements in technology and medicine

jer stalni napretci na području tehnologije i medicine

have resulted in diagnoses such as coma,

rezultirali su dijagnozama kao što je koma,

describing potentially reversible conditions,

opisujući potencijalno reverzibilna stanja,

under which people would have previously been considered dead.

u kojima bi se ljudi ranije smatrali mrtvima.

In the future, the point of no return may be pushed even further.

U budućnosti, točka s koje nema povratka možda će biti pogurana još dalje.

Some animals are known to extend their lifespans

Neke životinje produžuju svoj život

or survive extreme conditions

ili preživljavaju ekstremne uvjete

by slowing down their biological processes

usporavajući svoje biološke procese

to the point where they are virtually paused.

do točke kada su gotovo na pauzi.

And research into cryonics hopes to achieve the same

I istraživanje o zamrzavanju nadaju se postići isto,

by freezing dying people and reviving them later

smrzavanjem ljudi koji umiru i oživljavajući ih kasnije

when newer technology is able to help them.

kada im novija tehnologija bude mogla pomoći.

See, if the cells are frozen, there's very little molecular movement,

Vidite, ako su stanice smrznute, postoji jako malo molekularnog kretanja,

and diffusion practically stops.

i difuzija staje.

Even if all of a person's cellular processes had already broken down,

Čak i ako su se svi stanični procesi kod osobe raspali,

this could still conceivably be reversed by a swarm of nanobots,

ovo bi se možda moglo obrnuti rojem nanobota,

moving all the molecules back to their proper positions,

koji će pomaknuti molekule na njihove prave položaje,

and injecting all of the cells with ATP at the same time,

i dajući svim stanicama injekciju ATP-a u isto vrijeme,

presumably causing the body to simply pick up where it left off.

pretpostavljajući da će tijelo samo nastaviti gdje je stalo.

So if we think of life not as some magical spark,

Ako ne razmišljamo o životu kao o magičnoj iskri,

but a state of incredibly complex, self-perpetuating organization,

već stanju iznimno složene, samo-pokretajuće organizacije,

death is just the process of increasing entropy

smrt je samo proces povećanja entropije

that destroys this fragile balance.

koji uništava njegovu delikatnu ravnotežu.

And the point at which someone is completely dead

I točka u kojoj je netko u potpunosti mrtav

turns out not to be a fixed constant,

nije fiksna konstanta,

but simply a matter of how much of this entropy

već samo stvar koliko te entropije

we're currently capable of reversing.

možemo obrnuti.