what the bleep do we know?

....turns out to be a very fine movie. Not at all as flaky and
pseudo-scientific as I thought it might be. I was wary, because
there's a whole 'Quantum mechanical mysticism' bandwagon out there
that many many people have jumped on. (I think a little 'Matrix'
goes a long way). So I came to it expecting it to be a pretty cheesy
account of watered-down pop-culture interpretations of QM. But I was
pleasantly surprised at how thoughtfully it was done.

More to the point, after seeing this movie, I question the very idea
of a bandwagon as being all that bad. After all, powerful ideas or
truths make people want to think about them, are compelling in some
fundamental way. I just read William James yesterday saying
something to the effect of "Isn't it interesting how the big
questions make people's ears prick up, and how often and at length
we all want to discuss them?"

A compelling point very well driven home by this film is that the
choices we make and attitudes we hold effect our minds and bodies in
a real and tangible way, and thus effect our lives profoundly. This
point was hit home in a way almost no other book, film, or play ever
has been able. Through the story, documentary, and graphics, it was
made more vivid and real than just about any other account of QM I
ever came across. Our relationships and lives would be thus
positively effected if everyone seriously pondered this theme from
the film.

Caveat:

One place in the movie that I question is when one of the scientists
claims that really believeing that you could walk on water ought to
make it possible, since the 'observer' 'creates reality' around
them. I still think that there is something to the idea that there
is a reality 'out there' that works in a way independant of any
observer, even if the substrate of that reality is pure
thought-being, or 'god' or whatever. As a thought experiment,
imagine a baby who has no idea about how gravity works trying to
crawl between two skyscrapers because it naively thinks it *can*. A
true believer in this movie's concepts would be compelled to think
that gravity would somehow fail to do it's normal work because the
baby didn't acknowledge it.

But I do believe that independant forces of nature, discovered or
undiscovered, are 'out there', working independant of any conscious
observers; I can't swallow the total solipsism that this movie
*seems* to point to, that our reality is *totally* determined by our
actions and attitudes. It is also effected by others, and by
non-conscious forces (the Tsunami in Asia comes to mind). So I
wouldn't say that 'out there' goes away for me. I think that's an
error in thinking about how these microscopic quantum paradoxes
scale up to the macroscopic world. A concept I always like to use is
the 'Vegas' bet: I would bet on gravity doing it's thing, or on the
inability of people to walk on water, every time. And I would also
bet that no future society of people who whole-heartedly believed
they could walk on water could actually do it, either.

Anyway, I highly recommend it, it really is capable of making you
really want to ponder some of the deeper eternal questions anew, and
it does so in a highly entertaining and memorable way.

Best,
Aaron.

Boy my take on it , was entirely different.
I found the movie really avoided really telling you anything but a few quantum platitudes.
if that,. it didn't explain anything at all. it said quantum physics tell us this and that , but never explained how.
Name a single experiment that they even quoted. animations was cheesy and gratuitous.
In the end , it appealed far more to our emotions than anything tangible and went for the LCD.
Believe in Quantum physic because it tells you this or that ( but you are too stupid for us to explain it)

on the other hand
There are some real assumptions about Quantum Physics i really have trouble with.
Such as if you break up the atom into Quarks we have no real way of knowing that this process does not create quarks as a by product.
What lies underneath might be totally different. How would we know.
i have a friend who worked at CERN for 8 years, now he works in stocks, I asked him how this was possible. he said the math was the same.
This being the case, sounds like a big con job

akjmicro wrote:

>....turns out to be a very fine movie. Not at all as flaky and >pseudo-scientific as I thought it might be. I was wary, because >there's a whole 'Quantum mechanical mysticism' bandwagon out there >that many many people have jumped on. (I think a little 'Matrix' >goes a long way). So I came to it expecting it to be a pretty cheesy >account of watered-down pop-culture interpretations of QM. But I was >pleasantly surprised at how thoughtfully it was done. > >More to the point, after seeing this movie, I question the very idea >of a bandwagon as being all that bad. After all, powerful ideas or >truths make people want to think about them, are compelling in some >fundamental way. I just read William James yesterday saying >something to the effect of "Isn't it interesting how the big >questions make people's ears prick up, and how often and at length >we all want to discuss them?" > >A compelling point very well driven home by this film is that the >choices we make and attitudes we hold effect our minds and bodies in >a real and tangible way, and thus effect our lives profoundly. This >point was hit home in a way almost no other book, film, or play ever >has been able. Through the story, documentary, and graphics, it was >made more vivid and real than just about any other account of QM I >ever came across. Our relationships and lives would be thus >positively effected if everyone seriously pondered this theme from >the film. > >Caveat: > >One place in the movie that I question is when one of the scientists >claims that really believeing that you could walk on water ought to >make it possible, since the 'observer' 'creates reality' around >them. I still think that there is something to the idea that there >is a reality 'out there' that works in a way independant of any >observer, even if the substrate of that reality is pure >thought-being, or 'god' or whatever. As a thought experiment, >imagine a baby who has no idea about how gravity works trying to >crawl between two skyscrapers because it naively thinks it *can*. A >true believer in this movie's concepts would be compelled to think >that gravity would somehow fail to do it's normal work because the >baby didn't acknowledge it. > >But I do believe that independant forces of nature, discovered or >undiscovered, are 'out there', working independant of any conscious >observers; I can't swallow the total solipsism that this movie >*seems* to point to, that our reality is *totally* determined by our >actions and attitudes. It is also effected by others, and by >non-conscious forces (the Tsunami in Asia comes to mind). So I >wouldn't say that 'out there' goes away for me. I think that's an >error in thinking about how these microscopic quantum paradoxes >scale up to the macroscopic world. A concept I always like to use is >the 'Vegas' bet: I would bet on gravity doing it's thing, or on the >inability of people to walk on water, every time. And I would also >bet that no future society of people who whole-heartedly believed >they could walk on water could actually do it, either. > >Anyway, I highly recommend it, it really is capable of making you >really want to ponder some of the deeper eternal questions anew, and >it does so in a highly entertaining and memorable way. > >Best, >Aaron. >
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--
Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>
The Wandering Medicine Show
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