Was sent a documentary by an old pal from LA that, ambitiously, wrestles with the mighty concept of “genius” – defined, by one of its academic talking heads, “as the ability to simulate the future.”
From Da Vinci to Hawking, Aristotle to Marie Curie, the big brains are all glass-jarred, dissected by an array of thinkers including such luminaries as Theoretical Physicist Dr Michio Kaku, Astrophysicist Dr Feryal Özel, author Philippa Gregory and New Age guru, ahem, “Ramtha the Enlightened One”. Special attention is paid to those female prodigies airbrushed out of history, like Mileva Maric, the physicist/mathematician eclipsed in the public imagination by her husband, Albert Einstein. Though these figures act as a mere gateway to a far more expansive meditation on consciousness, the process of thought, the impact of technology and, ultimately, the mind's capacity.
Made by Mexican director Paulina Amador, employing some stunning imagery, Evolution: The Genius Equation is always good to look at and its interviewees engaging. Though with such a sprawling canvas – taking in, along the way, astrophysics, neuroscience, quantum physics, artificial intelligence, the Renaissance, God, the Creation, the universe, black holes, time travel, numerology, alchemy, the human genome, the Mona Lisa, even the feminism of Joan of Arc – it’s little surprise that her film becomes a tad unfocused. In a section on Mary Magdalene and the Sacred Feminine it veers into Dan Brown territory.
It's strongest when it foregoes the spiritual and sticks to the scientific, especially on matters that are every-day relatable. And here there are some real nuggets. The human brain isn’t a machine, reminds Psychiatrist Dr Norman Doidge, but “neuroplastic”, constantly adapting and remoulding. Given our utter addiction to screens, Big Tech is now employing not just psychologists but neuroscientists to influence – re-programme – the way we behave, bringing with it all sorts of implications for humankind’s future… and, indeed (stepping through a wormhole here) humankind’s past.
We’ve already put so much of ourselves “out there”, we learn – our digital footprints eternal (photos, videos, purchases, habits, communications, preferences) – that AI reconstructions of ourselves won’t prove much of a stretch for the scientists of tomorrow. Indeed, there’s already a company in Silicon Valley assembling “family albums” for future generations, enabling great-great-grandkids to interact with AI versions of their as-yet-undead forebears.
It certainly makes you think.
Evolution: The Genius Equation is released on Amazon Video, Nov 27th.
Excellent review, Jeff! Thank you! I, too, got to preview the documentary and was BLOWN AWAY by all the information and research therein! One of my favorite parts - Michio Kaku's comment about our "sophistication" of our ability to simulate the future! I love this message because it shows that this ability is inherent in Every human being. We just need to develop it. Beautiful Science! I hope this movie goes viral worldwide!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Sonya
An insightful review! I'm a writer and editor from the UK and was also fortunate to have watched a preview. The documentary is a fantastic odyssey to discover the true nature of genius, which ultimately speaks not to something abstract and out-of-reach, but the potentials of each one of us.
ReplyDelete