What the bleep is it all about?
If you’ve seen the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know?!” you know what I’m referring to. If you haven’t, rent it. At the very least it will get you thinking about fundamental questions we sometimes take for granted, such as: Why are we here on Earth?
The indie sleeper film, released in the spring of 2004, spawned a movement, and with it, commercial enterprise. This past weekend, the What the Bleep Do We Know Prophets Conference came to Boulder, attracting thousands of people seeking to understand how quantum physics intersects with human consciousness and how this knowledge can help us become wiser, more creative, healthier and happier.
I went to the conference looking for answers too – part of me hopeful and curious, another part skeptical and observing.
Even after listening to two speeches, interviewing one of the quantum physicists and reading several articles on the subject, I’m dubious about this idea that at the quantum (or subatomic) level, consciousness can affect the world around us.
The Bleepers believe that at the quantum level everything is made up of protons and neutrons – including human thought waves. Because of that, they say, those waves can have an impact on the world around them, perhaps even changing the course of events through the power of thought.
They also believe human consciousness determines the content of reality – in other words you only see what you want to see.
It sounds wacky yet intriguing.
Those who have a science background might call it voodoo science. Those who don’t – like the people I talked to at the conference – might want to hear more.
Without a background in science, specifically quantum mechanics, it’s hard for us to decipher real science from the pseudo. As Christopher Kranz, a 46-year-old educator from Broomfield who is in between jobs, told me, it requires a leap of faith.
We were among the 300 people who packed a conference room listening to John Hagelin, a Harvard-trained quantum physicist who ran for the U.S. presidency in 1996 and 2000.
He believes that through studying and practicing transcendental meditation – a type of meditation that supposedly clears the mind to make way for deep thought – people can develop their whole brain, not just the small part that we use now
Through this type of meditation Hagelin says we can reach a “pure consciousness experience” that allows us to think in a much more coherent manner.
Once the whole brain is engaged and working holistically, he says, we become smarter, healthier, happier, more alert, have better memory, and become more creative – in essence a new and improved formula of you.
And who doesn’t want that?
My feelings might change, but I don’t think people can channel thoughts to change the world around them. Nor do I think we create reality.
I do believe in the power of positive thinking, that it can
alter our lives and even cure ailments, but that’s a separate issue.
I also think that because there are so many people desperate to be happy, or to be happier, ideas like this will always sell.
It makes me wonder: Is this cult-like film, and its associated conferences, books, and school of meditation, fleecing would-be believers?
At $345 for the full conference and another $2,500 for an introductory course in transcendental meditation, it’s not cheap.
At the conference, exhibitors paid for space to sell books, meditation tapes, Indian dresses, crystals and medallions that neutralize electromagnetic fields.
Many attendees took information about the Transcendental Meditation Program which teaches that all people are cosmic, whatever that means.
Following the thinking of the Bleepers, I’d have to say if you believe in what they are selling, then that becomes your reality.
But what the bleep do I know?
Cindy Rodriguez’ column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays in Scene. Contact her at 303-820-1211 or crodriguez@denverpost.com.
