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What the Bleep Do We Know!?

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The correct title of this article is What the #$*! Do We Know?! It appears incorrectly here due to technical restrictions.
Movie promotional poster for What the Bleep showing the difficult-to-render title. Movie promotional poster for What the Bleep showing the difficult-to-render title
Movie promotional poster for What the Bleep showing the difficult-to-render title. Movie promotional poster for What the Bleep showing the difficult-to-render title

What the #$*! Do We Know?! (aka What the Bleep Do We Know?!) is a 2004 film that combines both fictional and documentary styles to present a view of reality that blends unorthodox perspectives from fields as diverse as quantum physics, religion, medicine, and metaphysics.

Synopsis

Marleee Matlin as Amanda in What the Bleep do We Know
Marleee Matlin as Amanda in What the Bleep do We Know

In the fictional story, a photographer (Marlee Matlin) acts as the viewer's avatar as she experiences her life from startlingly new and different perspectives, ones that if they happened to most of us, we might think we were hallucinating. "Talking heads," in the form of quantum physicists, scientists, theologians, and even a psychic channel discuss the possible roots and meaning she experiences. The comments of all converge on a single theme: "We all create our own reality." Critics have pointed out that there is not one scientist presented who does not try to tie quantum mechanics to spiritualism, despite the fact that only a small minority of physicists in the field ascribe to the view presented in the film. This is a common criticism of the film as it touches on other forms of science as well.

What the Bleep blends a fictional story line, discussion, and computer animation to present a different view of the physical universe and human life within it. Many unorthodox concepts are explored. Among these, that the universe is better thought of as being constructed from thought than from substance, that what has long been considered "empty space" is anything but empty, and that our beliefs in who we are and what is real are not simply observations, but rather form ourselves and our realities in the first place. Additionally, a brief discussion of the theory that peptides manufactured in your brain can cause a bodily reaction to an emotion reinvigorates debates around the effectiveness of the old adage, "think positively".

The filmmakers assembled an array of minds (and mouths)favorable to their views to make their point (see "Talking heads" below). Through creative editing, voice-overs, and special effects, points are raised, discussed, and illustrated in ways designed to inform as well as entertain. Critics have voiced concerns that film is disingenuous in that it selectively presents favorable information while ignoring contradictory information and misrepresents the current consensus understanding on the underlying science, all with the aim of furthering a spiritual viewpoint.

Filmed on location in Portland, Oregon, What the Bleep attempts to present a view that has become increasingly popular with a particular segment of the public over the last few decades. The views are consistent with those of Jane Roberts (the Seth books), Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions), Abraham-Hicks' body of work, and many others. It should also be noted that all three directors are students of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment [1] a school named for an alleged 35,000 year old spirit, J. Z. Knight (prominently featured in the film) claims to channel. The fact that the filmmakers and some of the cast's extensive connections to the Ramtha organization are never disclosed to the viewers has lead critics to assert that the directors and producers of the film are again being disingenuous with how they present relevant information.

Lacking the funding and resources of the typical Hollywood film, the filmmakers relied on "guerrilla marketing" to first get the film into theaters, then to attract audiences. This has lead to accusations against the film's proponents, both formal and informal, of intentionally spamming online message boards and forums with many thinly veiled promotional posts. Initially, the film was released in only two theaters: one in Yelm, Washington (the home of the producers), and the other in Portland, Oregon where it was filmed. Within several weeks, it was in a dozen more theaters, mostly in the West, and within six months it had made its way into 200 theaters from coast to coast.

Controversial Aspects of the Film

Controversial Experts

The film presents scientific experts to substantiate the film's underlying philosopy, but, by in large, the scientists have previously been involved in promoting similar ideas. Arguably, their presence in the film represents the filmmaker's efforts to find scientists sympathetic to the film's ideas. Given the selection process, the scientists may not represent the general scientific community's views. For example:

  • John Hagelin was the head of the 1993 Transcendental Meditation project in Washington, DC. (The Washington-TM study was mentioned in the film, but it never identified John Hagelin as one of its authors.) He is chairman of the Physics Department at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. The University was founded by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Indian guru who vaulted to fame after becoming the spiritual advisor to the Beatles.
  • Amit Goswami, Ph.D. "One of the rare scientists that do not leave out consciousness in explaining quantum physics." [2] He appears in Enlightenment magazine [3]. Has coauthored a book [4] with Fred Alan Wolf (who also appears in the film), and has worked with Deepak Chopra [5]
  • Candice Pert wrote the book "Molecules of Emotion" in 1997 (forward written by Deepak Chopra) where she espoused views very similar to the film. Some aspects of the film appeared to be based on her book. For example, the first ten minutes of the movie can be summarized by a quote from pages 146-8 of Molecules of Emotion where she writes, "There is no objective reality! ... Emotions are constantly regulating what we experience as "reality." The decision about what sensory information travels to your brain and what gets filtered depends on what signals the receptors are receiving from the peptides ... For example, what the tall European ships first approached the early Native Americans, it was such an "impossible" vision in their reality that their highly filtered perceptions couldn't register what was happening, and they literally failed to "see" the ships." Another point in the movie can be well summarized by page 285, where she writes, "The tendency to ignore emotions is oldthink, a remnant of the still-reigning paradigm that keeps up focused on the material level of health, the physicality of it. But the emotions are a key element in the self-care because they allow us to enter into the bodymind's conversation. By getting in touch with our emotions, both by listening to them and by directing them through the psychosomatic network, we gain access to the healing wisdom that is everyone's natural biological right."
Dr Fred Alan Wolf, a.k.a. "Dr. Quantum"
Dr Fred Alan Wolf, a.k.a. "Dr. Quantum"
  • Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D recently wrote "The Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time" [6]. (Interesting note: he says he is also known by the name "Captain Quantum" - a name which is mentioned briefly in the film, though without reference to Dr. Wolf.) He also appears in videos, including Shamanic Physics: "Fred Alan Wolf discusses his efforts to explain shamanic realities in terms of modern physics. He suggests that shamans interact with parallel universes and are able to enter into the world of the dead." [7]
  • Masaru Emoto's [8] work (The Hidden Messages in Water) is artistic, not scientific. His work has never been submitted to a scientific journal. In the movie, the photographs of water are portrayed as evidence that words like 'love' have the power to form water into beautiful crystaline shapes, but skeptics may point out that they are photographs of frozen water (aka snowflakes).
  • JZ Knight/Ramtha appears frequently in the film. In the film, she appears to be a spiritual teacher of some kind, and is identified at the end of the film as the spirit "Ramtha" who is being channeled by "JZ Knight". The three people who wrote, directed, and produced the movie are students of the "Ramtha school of enlightenment" [9]. Judy Z. Knight was born as Judith Darlene Hampton in Roswell, N.M. The spirit, Ramtha, who she claims to channel is "a 35,000 year-old warrior spirit from the lost continent of Atlantis and one of the Ascended Masters". (JZ Knight speaks with an accent because english is not Ramtha's first language.)

Most of the other scientists appearing in the movie have similar New Age beliefs and affiliations.

  • Dr. David Albert[10], a philosopher of physics and professor at Columbia University, speaks frequently throughout the movie. While it appears as though he supports the ideas that are presented in the movie, according to a Popular Science article, he "is outraged at the final product." [11] The article says that "(Dr. Albert)...spent nearly four hours patiently explaining to the filmmakers why quantum mechanics has nothing to do with consciousness or spirituality, only to see his statements edited and cut to the point where it appears as though he and the spirit warrior are speaking with one voice."

Controversial Studies

  • Transcendental Meditation study. The study involved using 5,000 people in June and July of 1993 to do Transcendental Meditation to reduce violent crime in Washington, DC (which has one of the highest per-capita homicide rates in the US). By counting the number of Homicides, Rapes, and Assaults (HRA), the study came to the conclusion TM reduced crime rates by 18%. Based on the numbers reported in their own study, the HRA crime rate was about 30% higher in 1993 than the average crime rate between 1988-1992. The HRA crime rate showed a decline around the middle of the two month period where TM was practiced and remained relatively low (by 1993 standards) for several months afterward, though the decline was small enough that the reduced HRA crime rate was still about 10-15% higher than average at that time of year. There was no reduction in the homicide rate during the period of the study. Whether this means that TM caused a drop in that year's unusually high HRA rate, or whether the HRA rate naturally dropped closer to its more typical frequency is the issue.


  • Water Crystals. This study plays a prominent role in a subway scene in the movie. There are displays that show pictures of what (allegedly) happens when a container of water is wrapped in a piece of paper with specific text on it. Examples include "You make me sick," and, "Love and Gratitude." The specific procedures can be found at [12]. There are several problems with the water crystal studies. First, the study was not a double blind experiment. To do this, the individual setting up the experiment (i.e., selecting the water sample, pouring it into the container, wrapping the container in a message, and freezing it) would have to be separate from the individual who then gets the ice for analysis and photography. If there is one person performing both jobs, that individual could easily select sections of the frozen water that match what they want to see (confirmation bias). In other words, if they want happy words to make aesthetically pleasing shapes, all they need to do is search around the block of ice for something aesthetically pleasing. On the other hand, if they want angry words to create aesthetically displeasing crystals, they just need to search around until they find a section that doesn't look as good. This appears to be exactly how this experiment was performed. Which brings up the second problem--Dr. Emoto appears to have arbitrarily decided what a brilliant crystal is and what an incomplete crystal is. In a movie so heavily based on quantum mechanics, a quantization of what defines a brilliant crystal and an incomplete crystal is necessary. Dr. Emoto also claims that polluted water doesn't crystallize. In other words, he is saying that heavily polluted water won't freeze (as crystallization is what happens when water freezes). Depending on the properties of the pollutant, heavily polluted water will still form crystals, though the crystals may contain crystallographic defects. Depending on the type of pollutant, the change in the way the crystals form can be readily explained using basic chemistry and physics, and there is no evidence suggesting that emotion is tied in with the crystallization process.

Controversial Statements About Quantum Physics

As the "experts" speak throughout the movie, they make several references to concepts, ideas, alleged facts about quantum physics, and about specific items. However, they make little to no effort to explain what these things are. Some examples follow.

  • "Infecting the Quantum Field"
  • Anti-gravity Magnets

Crew

Filmmakers

Cast

Talking heads

Physicists

Neurologists, Anesthesiologists & Physicians

Molecular Biology

Spiritual Teachers, Mystics and Scholars

Awards

2004

No rating available (but would presumably be G or possibly PG13).

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