Yeah for Learning and Confusion!

I saw the movie What the Bleep Do We Know last night, and though I didn't particularly like the film itself, I loved the ideas that were presented in it. The movie consists of about two dozen academic scholars using quantum physics theories to explain such unanswerable philosophical questions as "why are we here," and "what is reality?" It was quite possibly the most thought provoking movie I've ever seen. I just wish I could of truly understood what these people were talking about. I think they may have stirred more questions into my soul than answer them.

The movie starts with an indecipherable cluster of ideas, questioning our relationship with reality. They say that people feel powerless in our materialistic society because we believe that reality is external and separate from ourselves. These scholars believe that we create our own reality, seeing the things we choose. Quantum physics says that matter is not as solid as we thought it was. Matter is made out of atoms that have electrons that are popping in and out of existence. Because matter is always dynamic and is always moving, an object can exist in many different places at the same time. We choose with our minds where the matter appears.

Not only do we have the power to place an object where ever we like, we also have the ability to change the structure of matter with our thoughts . They talked about how a Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto did a study with water that proved that it's structure is affected my our thoughts, words, and feelings. He labeled each bottle with a different thought or feeling. One bottle was blessed by a monk, one was label with love, and one labeled thank you, and each different thought changed the molecular shape of the water on a microscopic level. Since our bodies are 75-90% water just think of how our thoughts must change our molecular structure.

I truly find this to be such a fascinating idea, and I agree completely that my thoughts can change my molecular make up. This movie however suggests that your thoughts could also bring you a better job or a better relationship, but I just can't seem to figure out how that can work. How can my thoughts change the people around me? What do I need to think to have another person say, 'Let me hire her. Let me love her.'" I still can't seem to wrap my head around all of these ideas. They are so different from everything I know, yet they could not have come into my life at a more appropriate time.

Just a few weeks ago, I was pondering the possibilities of our brain and our consciousness. Although we tend to think of our brain and our consciousness as one in the same, I was exploring the possibility that they can be different. I remember, for example, the first time that I realized I was alive and that I was an individual. I was probably between the ages of 4 and 7, and I was standing in my bedroom watching my mother walk down the hall. Suddenly, the realization came to me that my mother would die, that I would die, and that there was an individual voice inside my body named Kendra who was creating all of these thoughts. We are taught that this inner voice is coming from our brain, but I still find it hard to believe that the crude matter that exists inside of my skull can create complex theories, art, or poetry. Maybe, there is a more intangible inner self or spirit that is the source of every creative thought we have.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not downplaying the significance of the human brain, and I'm not saying that the brain is incapable of any thought what so ever. I just think that thought within the brain itself may be a little limited, whereas thought within your inner self or your spiritual consciousness is limitless. Our brain can only think creatively about its own survival. My brain, for example, could come up with a new idea of how to hunt for food or shelter, but it couldn't come up with a symphony because a symphony has no role in keeping the body alive. I know my theory is not very scientific, and there is no experiment I could to do to prove it. I just find it amazing that we know what part of the brain controls memory, emotions, motor functions, and language, but we still haven't found a part of the brain that creates the new ideas.

I'm really more confused now than ever because I like both of these theories. They just don't seem to work very well together. With quantum physics our brains control everything, but in my theory the brain is insignificant. The intangible self is what creates everything, and when you talk about mystical inner spirits, you kind of have to have an all powerful deity with a master plan as well. I never knew it, but I think it gives me more comfort to think that there is some all powerful deity with a master plan for me. With the quantum physics, I am the creator of my reality. I make the plan and I follow through with it and that much responsibility is frightening. I don't know where to put all of this new information, but I'm sure that with time I will find a way to incorporate it all into a new spiritual dogma.