Here's a very busy inspirational film for personal growth seekers. It's based on the premise that everything in the universe is mutable and uncertain, and, this being the case, there is always hope that change is possible. People around the northwest are piling in to see this film; it's a huge word-of-mouth success in these parts. And why not. We all need to have hope, a vision of positive possibilities, especially in troubled times. The film is an example of an increasingly popular film genre that has been called `narrative documentary' or `essay documentary.' It's a filmmaking strategy in which a particular theme is approached from different angles, using different methods - here mixing an array of talking heads, animation sequences, and segments of a dramatized story.
Nearly a score of physicists, molecular biologists, health professionals, and spiritual commentators press in upon us, earnestly explaining the connections between deep science and everyday human experience. These talking heads chatter at breakneck newsbite speed to tell us how quantum physics proves that the world we call real is in fact just a series of possibilities of what's real. This being the case, our convictions about our psychological reality, our presumed limitations, and our assumptions about other people and relationships are also just a few among many possibilities. Acceptance of a helpless victim role and addictive devotion to our pet beliefs thus make no sense. In fact our repetitive negative thoughts and feelings actually affect the microanatomy of our brains, creating a self-perpetuated, ever more ingrained set of expectations and behaviors. But we can choose and pursue other possibilities.
The drama concerns a woman (played by Marlee Matlin) who in the years since a failed marriage has been burdened by persistent negative habits of thought, resulting in poor self regard and caustic appraisals of men, resulting in unhappiness and isolation. But through acts of magical realism, she begins to behave in uncharacteristic ways, and gradually her most cherished if cynical assumptions are challenged. The animated parts are the best thing in the film. There are wonderful views of the labyrinthine jungle of neurons making up the brain, increasing and altering the connections among themselves in ever changing dynamisms as a result of experience. And there are lovable Disneyesque portrayals of chemical neurotransmitters, little anthropomorphic globules of red dopamine hotheads and other blue cool types prancing from site to site inside our heads. These parts are a lot of fun.
Physicist Fritjof Capra wrote of the connections between quantum physics and consciousness 30 years ago in his book, "The Tao of Physics." There's nothing in this film that he didn't cover as well or better way back then. In fact, there has been little progress on this theme in the intervening decades, and for good reason. The comparison of issues of matter and energy in quantum physics with human experience is an example of the all-too-common falsity of reasoning based on analogy. Furthermore, there is no need to complicate matters of human behavior by conflating them with the `noise' of abstract thinking from the physical sciences. Experience does alter both brain chemistry and anatomy. No doubt of that. This is the biological basis of the widely acknowledged fact that ingrained patterns of behavior, thought, emotional response, and addiction are so hard to alter. It is also true that when we do risk new behaviors, when we combat the helpless tendency to repeat response patterns that are familiar, even if destructive, this can lead to positive change and personal growth. It may even, as the film suggests, change our brain anatomy.
But quantum physics need not be invoked to explain or fortify these notions, whether it is related or not. To do so may bring the respectability of `hard science' to psychological processes, but the price may be simply to confuse many people, especially in the dizzying sort of presentation given in this film. (My partner, who is neither a scientist nor a psychologist, found the film edifying but tuned out all the talk by the physicists.) I especially enjoyed the comments of Candace Pert, a molecular biologist who discovered the opioid brain receptor for endorphins, and several of the health professionals. On the other hand, I was repelled by J. Z. Knight, who `channels' the spiritual entity `Ramtha.' Knight is a woman who endlessly blathers stagy banalities but can probably sell oil to a Saudi. One reason for the film's popularity here in Portland is that the location shots in the dramatic sequence were all filmed locally.
Nearly a score of physicists, molecular biologists, health professionals, and spiritual commentators press in upon us, earnestly explaining the connections between deep science and everyday human experience. These talking heads chatter at breakneck newsbite speed to tell us how quantum physics proves that the world we call real is in fact just a series of possibilities of what's real. This being the case, our convictions about our psychological reality, our presumed limitations, and our assumptions about other people and relationships are also just a few among many possibilities. Acceptance of a helpless victim role and addictive devotion to our pet beliefs thus make no sense. In fact our repetitive negative thoughts and feelings actually affect the microanatomy of our brains, creating a self-perpetuated, ever more ingrained set of expectations and behaviors. But we can choose and pursue other possibilities.
The drama concerns a woman (played by Marlee Matlin) who in the years since a failed marriage has been burdened by persistent negative habits of thought, resulting in poor self regard and caustic appraisals of men, resulting in unhappiness and isolation. But through acts of magical realism, she begins to behave in uncharacteristic ways, and gradually her most cherished if cynical assumptions are challenged. The animated parts are the best thing in the film. There are wonderful views of the labyrinthine jungle of neurons making up the brain, increasing and altering the connections among themselves in ever changing dynamisms as a result of experience. And there are lovable Disneyesque portrayals of chemical neurotransmitters, little anthropomorphic globules of red dopamine hotheads and other blue cool types prancing from site to site inside our heads. These parts are a lot of fun.
Physicist Fritjof Capra wrote of the connections between quantum physics and consciousness 30 years ago in his book, "The Tao of Physics." There's nothing in this film that he didn't cover as well or better way back then. In fact, there has been little progress on this theme in the intervening decades, and for good reason. The comparison of issues of matter and energy in quantum physics with human experience is an example of the all-too-common falsity of reasoning based on analogy. Furthermore, there is no need to complicate matters of human behavior by conflating them with the `noise' of abstract thinking from the physical sciences. Experience does alter both brain chemistry and anatomy. No doubt of that. This is the biological basis of the widely acknowledged fact that ingrained patterns of behavior, thought, emotional response, and addiction are so hard to alter. It is also true that when we do risk new behaviors, when we combat the helpless tendency to repeat response patterns that are familiar, even if destructive, this can lead to positive change and personal growth. It may even, as the film suggests, change our brain anatomy.
But quantum physics need not be invoked to explain or fortify these notions, whether it is related or not. To do so may bring the respectability of `hard science' to psychological processes, but the price may be simply to confuse many people, especially in the dizzying sort of presentation given in this film. (My partner, who is neither a scientist nor a psychologist, found the film edifying but tuned out all the talk by the physicists.) I especially enjoyed the comments of Candace Pert, a molecular biologist who discovered the opioid brain receptor for endorphins, and several of the health professionals. On the other hand, I was repelled by J. Z. Knight, who `channels' the spiritual entity `Ramtha.' Knight is a woman who endlessly blathers stagy banalities but can probably sell oil to a Saudi. One reason for the film's popularity here in Portland is that the location shots in the dramatic sequence were all filmed locally.