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What the bleep do we know?

ZenLunaticZenLunatic Veteran
edited September 2006 in Buddhism Today
Wasn't really sure where to put this. This seemed like the best place!


Has anyone seen this movie? We just watched it over the weekend (thanks, netflix!)

Astonishing the corrolation between quantum physics and buddhism is (yoda-speak!). In the 'age old qauestion' thread on Buddhism 101, Wolf mentioned his nephew asking 'where the taste is', on the food or tongue. both buddhism and quantum physics would answer the same thing: in the mind!

There was also mention of a study where a large group of people meditated in washington DC one summer, and the murder rate dropped by 25%.

The movie has a website at http://www.whatthebleep.com

The movie itself seems to a bit cryptic instead of straight forward, i think, but still a good watch.

Comments

  • Maria22Maria22
    edited May 2005
    I saw the movie when it first came out in theaters and loved it. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in quantum physics and enjoys documentary style films. I will have to rent it and watch it again now that it's out on video. It's definitely a movie you can benefit from seeing a second time.

    I was amazed at the correlation between quantum physics and Buddhism. The two scenes that stand out particularly for me are the one dealing with the water molecules. I don't want to give too much away, but they conducted a small experiment to demonstrate the effects our perceptions have on reality, the results were bizarre. And I also found the scene regarding Christianity and God, to be rather humbling. In short they stated that human beings are extremely egocentric to assume that the vast complexity of the universe was created by a single being. I wish I could quote the movie because they said it perfectly. It's really an interesting film, definitely worth seeing.
  • YintrueYintrue
    edited June 2005
    I also have seen the movie. It the reason I have started my interest in Buddhism. I was very moved by the philosophy of creating your own reality by your thoughts. After looking deeper I realized the likeness to Buddhism itself and began to find out more. On the other side of the disc there is a question and answer with the creators of the film. In one interview they said people had called from temples and wanted to show the film to students so they could better understand buddhism because what is taught in the movie it is exactly what they are trying to teach.
  • ajani_mgoajani_mgo Veteran
    edited August 2006
    Ah! I proudly dig up an old old ancient thread!

    Well I just watched the show, gosh... Beautiful. Nothing but beautiful.
  • zenmonk_genryuzenmonk_genryu
    edited August 2006
    The movie's a complete crock by the way.
  • colleencolleen
    edited August 2006
    no its not!
  • ajani_mgoajani_mgo Veteran
    edited August 2006
    Hmmm... What do you mean zenmonk? The science? The psychology? They seem quite sound to me... It all matches with what I've been reading around mainstream scientific circles... And yes, the philosophy is erms... Disputable.. But I suppose that after all, philosophy is something very subjective... Now where's the black cat? :p
  • zenmonk_genryuzenmonk_genryu
    edited August 2006
    It contains a little truth and a lot of fiction. What's not made clear in the film is that it's an infomercial for a cult, that some of the scientists pontificating about physics aren't even physicists and that the one who was, was edited so that he ended up saying something completely different to what he actually said, and is now thinking of suing. These might help:


    Bleep of Faith, at Salon.Com

    What the #$*! is Ramtha

    Stop the bleeping pseudoscience

    Ramtha (a.k.a. J.Z. Knight)

    What the Bleep - Part One - Brad Warner
  • IawaIawa
    edited August 2006
    zenmonk_genryu wrote:
    It contains a little truth and a lot of fiction.


    Yeah, I thought the ice crystals were hoakey. You can not, however, deny that the animations that diagramed relevent neuroscience is spot on. I have read several articles about modern neuroscience and have found nothing to dispute "nueronal correlates of consciousness theory."


    IMO, I didn't see the movie as an infomercial at all.
    Yeah, I went and looked up Ramtha only after I heard about the contraversy.

    I think people, reviewers included saw what they wanted to see.
    To me it said, " Wake up! Stop acting based on your conditioning!"


    Damn, that reminds me I owe Palzang an article. OOOPS!
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited August 2006
    I had never heard of this film but I followed the links Zm-G provided. Atlantis? Lemuria? When I come across these as 'explanations', I am immediately on my guard. They are the intellectual equivalents of the Templars in mediaeval cod-historical nonsense, and undermine any possible intellectual credibility. I fear that I shall not be spending the rare pennies on this film. I'd rather go and see Pirates of the Caribean for its sound historical content.
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited August 2006
    For those who have taken some of the film seriously because of the credentials of the participants, this may help:
    Film's "experts" boast intriguing résumés.
    Several authorities appear in What the Bleep Do We Know? offering mind-bending insights about reality and perception. But who are they, really? Here's a look at some of the more controversial speakers.
    David Albert (above) is a professor and the director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia University. He says the film completely misrepresented his views.
    Dr. Joseph Dispenza is a chiropractor and a master teacher at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.
    Dr. Masaru Emoto is a doctor of alternative medicine who has written three books about messages from water.
    Amit Goswami (above) is professor emeritus (in theoretical physics) at the University of Oregon and member of its Institute of Theoretical Science, as well as author of a slew of New Age books. He also lectures at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.
    John Hagelin is a physicist and fan of Transcendental Meditation. He is the director of the Maharishi University of Management's Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, and has twice run for president as the candidate of the Natural Law Party (whose platform included natural health care, deep tax cuts and "conflict-free politics").
    Mgr. Miceal Ledwith is a Catholic priest and former president of Maynooth College in Ireland who resigned after a seminarian accused Ledwith of abusing him as a boy. He is also a master teacher at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.
    Dr. Jeffrey Satinover is a psychiatrist, physicist and author of several books (The Quantum Brain and Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth) who supports reparative therapy for homosexuality and lists Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as one of his heroes.


    (from http://www.rickross.com/reference/ramtha/ramtha15.html)
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited August 2006
    Thank you, Simon. Now I know not to bother with the movie.
  • ajani_mgoajani_mgo Veteran
    edited August 2006
    Ah, of course, I did do my homework after the movie, I'd agree that it's a movie for the "New Agie", but I found myself understanding more of the science metaphorically rather than literally. As long as you interpret the concepts present in a more logical manner, I don't see how this movie could be a problem... It's when they try to fit Ramtha in indirectly that makes us ignore the good part. :)
  • ajani_mgoajani_mgo Veteran
    edited August 2006
    Dang, I think I didn't make sense. I'll post again soon. Sure, the interviewed have.. Funny credentials, but I don't think we should take their thoughts as trash. But in short, it's a NO-WATCH for the newbie to all the sciences, and a PERHAPS for all who have some understanding already - thus this show with its ambiguous language'll do either good/bad.. Relative to the observer ironically! :p
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited August 2006
    Just Google "Ramtha's School of Enlightenment" and then Google "Ramtha controversy" and see what comes up. I think I may have come across him before. Is he the American Dude with the mullet? Oh, why am I asking? I'll do the Googling and be right back.
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited August 2006
    I just typed "Ramtha" into Google and the suggested subjects that came up automatically before the search even started included "Ramtha fraud" and "Ramtha cult", the latter having some 1,700 entries. If it's okay I'm just going to leave it at that. I have already come across this man and his school when I was researching cults a few months ago and I'd rather get back to the "What Buddhists Believe" book online that Fede gave a link to in the "Favourite Quotations" thread.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited August 2006
    ...Ramtha is Hindi for "Bull***". It's true, I made I up myself......

    And "Bleep" says it all, really....!! :tongue2:
  • ajani_mgoajani_mgo Veteran
    edited August 2006
    The Indians not seeing the ship thing was a little exaggerated, but I think anyone with a cool head can see why in a sense it's correct. The shaman could see the ship, but he wouldn't really realise that it was a ship, and that it was causing the ripples, as it looked like a block of wood...

    Try doing this, you and your buddy sit face to face, then chat on something mundane, while you discreetly push a coin onto the tabletop. If all goes well, he/she wouldn't notice it at all until finally you point it out to him. It's because he/she really wasn't expecting it.

    As for the "choosing", again I guess it's exaggerated. It seems to say that in a world of chas, it is our head that chooses to order the chaos, which is of course, a little impossible - it would require some kind of higher evolution than life - it's practically sentinent cells and sapient logic into each cell-unit, which is impossible. Yet I see the "choosing" as being possibly more of a motivational science thing - you choose your life!

    Alright, not the best science about, neither is it really the award-winner it should be. But I guess always a nice watch for those smart enough to differentiate fact and fiction, and properly know when to interpret which symbols literally, which metaphorically, which scientifically, which psychologically, etc. etc. But well, guesss you'd have to already KNOW what they are talking about roughly beforehand (as in the topic), otherwise, blame no one if you find yourself choosing to believe in the cult.

    The philosophy of the show is disputable... But well, I did say that this was supposed to be a thinking show. But I fear that it might just be something in me to try putting on some kind of "coloured glasses" (as we say in Chinese) and make a black sheep look white when it's wool is already black in nature. So well, don't argue the show on its purpose with me, I'm off that.

    Lemuria? Sounds like something I had caught once as a child. :p :rockon:
  • IawaIawa
    edited August 2006
    about the movie was the animations that demonstrated discoveries and the peptide cycle of neuro-transmitters. They could cut almost half of the movie as far as I'm concerned.


    neuronal correlates-
    By Koch
    http://www.questforconsciousness.com/cont.html
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited August 2006
    That's what I thought about star wars.....:D
  • ajani_mgoajani_mgo Veteran
    edited August 2006
    Oh yea.. I heard that they are going to do a shrunk-down version of Star Wars in a stageshow... Everything from the six episodes into a half-hour run.. That'll be cool..

    "Luke, I am-"
    "NOT MY FATHER!!!"

    I kinda liked the basketball scene in bleep though.. That kid is cool!!
  • YintrueYintrue
    edited September 2006
    The Yomoto stuff has not been proven. But the quantum physics is spot on. Read the quantum and the Lotus. It is a dialogue bettween a monk and an astro physicist.
  • colleencolleen
    edited September 2006
    hey the quantum and the lotus was an awesome book..
    twas eeeeggggcellent!
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