What The Bleep Do We Know?

Turns out, not a whole lot apparently.

As a supplement to our study on how the human brain works and functions, Mr. Sturgeon showed our AP Psych class the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? The film is part story, part documentary, and part animation used to "[reveal] the uncertain world of the quantum field hidden behind what we consider to be our normal, waking reality."
I didn't get to watch the first half as intricately because I was re-taking a test at the same time, however there are various scenes that caught my attention and really forced me to think and question along with the film.

One of the first interesting points addressed was our perception of having something appear to be in two places at once and what the true definition of an atom is. Did you know you never actually touch anything? You have the sensation of touching an object due to the reaction of the atoms against each other. It's your perceived reality, but it is very different from what someone else's reality is and even what "actual" reality is. Trippy, huh?
My personal favorite was the idea that you can control how neurons fire and wire inside your brain based on the thoughts you think most often. For example, whenever you think "Oh, I'm just not good enough" certain neurons are fired and wire together creating a connection in your brain. The more you think this thought, the stronger the connection in your brain becomes, cementing this thought. So what does this mean, per se? It means that soon this thought of "Oh, I'm just not good enough" becomes so cemented in your brain that it will be difficult to convince yourself otherwise. Now, that doesn't mean that the thought it permanent but rather that it will just become easier and easier for you to believe that this is true.

So, thus comes into the play the power of positive thinking.

A lot of people think that that positive thinking is merely some form of garbage that has no merit whatsoever, but to some extent I disagree. I often get criticized by my parents for being too trusting of people and that I shouldn't always see everyone as being mostly good because not everyone is. And that's fair. Yet, I am still a very trusting person (I'm pretty sure that's my royal flaw) and like to believe that there is some spot of good in most people. So positive thinking seems right up my alley.

That isn't to say that I'm always the bright ray of sunshine who thinks everything will be right in the world. I have my fair share of moments where the world sucks and I feel like nothing will ever be ok because I'm human and I'm an over dramatic teenage girl. But think about what I mentioned before about firing neurons. If I simply tried to apply more situations with positive thoughts (something I would normally freak out about but maybe unnecessarily) then my brain would wire itself to be more inclined to react positively or at least rebound to a more positive attitude faster following an upsetting event.

There's a lot more to this movie than I haven't even touched upon. I am leaving you with an interesting clip from the film that I think you should watch and I also highly recommend renting this movie so you can watch the rest of it. It will really get you thinking (which proves Mr. Sturgeon's point: Thinking is addicting).