What the Bleep Do We Know?

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There is a broader, perhaps slightly less biased, article on Wikipedia about What the Bleep Do We Know?
“ Enough to see through this craptacular film! ”

—Oh, it was meant to be a rhetorical question?

"What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?" (printed title) — commonly refered to by its spoken title, What the Bleep Do We Know — is a 2004 pseudoscientific film that supports the idea that consciousness and quantum mechanics are related. One scientist, and now Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, David Albert, was interviewed for the film and later claimed that he was almost entirely misrepresented in the final product.[1]

Though not marketed as such, those who have seen it note that it degenerates into an extended infomercial for channeler J. Z. Knight and her pet dead guy, Ramtha. The New Age types didn't seem to care; on the other hand, many others found it more insulting than profound.

Incredibly — or maybe not — this was followed in 2006 by a direct-to-video sequel called What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole, which is really more of an "extended edition" of the original.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The best and most relevant plot summary from imdb is thus:

Amanda, a divorced photographer, finds herself in a fantastic Alice-in-Wonderland experience when her daily, uninspired life literally begins to unravel, revealing the cellular, molecular and even quantum worlds which lie beneath. Guided by a Greek Chorus of leading scientists and mystics, she finds that if reality itself is not questionable, her notion of it certainly is.

This is the essential premise of the film; using special effects and cutting in with interviews with leading scientists (importantly, their names and qualifications aren't revealed until the very end in the credits, although they are presented as if their ideas are 100% fact[2]) the film attempts to show us, the most woo-ful way possible, how the quantum world makes life much more interesting.

[edit] Representation of science

One of the key misrepresentations of quantum theory in the film is the line "quantum theory is the science of possibility", directly implying that the discovery and development of quantum mechanics somehow allows anything to happen, such as walking on water. More accurately, quantum theory is the science of probability, although the distinction is subtle to some, it is very important. Quantum phenomena, at least in the Copenhagen Interpretation, are all about the probability that a sub-atomic particle will be found at a particular position - importantly this is only applicable in reality to the sub-atomic world.

The basic facts of neurology and quantum mechanics presented in the film are correct. Facts such as the uncertainty principle, where an object cannot have it's exact position and momentum measured or the quantum effect that observing something fundamentally changes what is observed. However, the main mistake in the film is that it attempts to extrapolate these effects, which are only observed with atoms and electrons, to the macroscopic world. Thus, when the main character turns away from a basketball, the film depicts that it is now impossible to know it's position because you're not observing it, such as in the Schrodinger's cat thought-experiment.

Such extrapolations of very real quantum phenomena into unrealistic conclusions are often the cornerstone of the modern New Age movement which seeks to prove itself with science. These effects are certainly not observed in the macroscopic world. Other points raised in the film and presented as fact include that water molecules are influences by thought, or that the brain cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality. All these points are either based on very unsound or fraudulent evidence, or distortions or real research.[3]

[edit] The critics agree!

What the Bleep Do We Know is:

  • "a hodgepodge of all kinds of crackpot nonsense" - The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
  • "aimed at the totally gullible" - Jamee Russell, BBC
  • "partially a ponderous documentary featuring interviews with what's described as "14 top scientists and mystics," none of whom are identified until the end, so you don't know whether the talking head spouting off about the meaning of life has an advanced degree in physics or mysticism." - Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
  • "an attempt to use the physics of the subatomic to prove that big macroscopic objects such as you, me and that woman out of Children of a Lesser God interact with one another in ways outlined by Dr Bonkers of the Mumbo Jumbo University." - Donald Clarke, The Irish Times
  • "[the movie] tackles quantum physics in the style of a movie used to brainwash inductees to a new age cult." - Wendy Ide, The Times of London

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ↑ Wikipedia - David Albert
  2. ↑ IMDB - An interesting thread on the speakers and how they are presented in the film
  3. ↑ Einstein Year - What the Bleep do we Know?
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