Lucy (and by association, Limitless)

Has anyone seen a trailer for this or considered seeing it?

Does anyone else almost feel annoyed by the fact that this is the 2nd movie now where they assume that we can *unlock* more than the 10% of our brain that we use.

In both Limitless and Lucy now they use the premise of unlocking the other 90% of our brain. And accessing the entire 100% of our brain.

We actively use 10% of our brain because the other 90% manages life processes and human functions. If we were to access the other 90% of our brain it would force us to control our own breathing, our heart beating, our digestion, our memories, our thought processes, our ability to think, our ability to do everything that our bodies do naturally. We wouldn't be able to survive as our inability to actively control all of the things that our brain does without thinking, on its own, because that 90% of our brain controls everything.

Why do they assume that we all will think that accessing all 100% of our brain would ultimately make us better at our lives and able to do potentially supernatural, or greater things...All we would do is be overwhelmed greatly by the overwhelming amount of life processes we would need to control and quite quickly die.

Your thoughts? Why is this an okay premise? Why would movie studios and/or novel writers think this makes any sense?

Thank God someone else feels this way. I got ridiculed by a few friends at lunch one day when I brought this up and now I can tell them that I'm not crazy, someone else thinks this too

So...then its not a gross assumption by them? Because others feel that this possibility would enable us to be greater?

That...no! Every time I've said that...people that hear me go..."hmmmm...I never thought of it that way...that doesn't make sense!" and follow it up with "you've really thought a lot about this...why does it matter? its just a movie."

I don't know that I have ever bought into the "we only use 10% of our brains" bit.

We have had some brilliant men throughout time ..... but generally that genius is limited to one area. It seems to me that raw brainpower would increase all areas of intelligence, but that's not usually the case. I do think that the geniuses are able to focus more intently than most of us .... and they listen to their inspirations more than the rest of us do. I think that is the biggest differences ...... not raw brainpower. I do think that an active brain functions, and organizes information far better than a lazy mind .... but I don't think that it's like the super-athlete, who is so superior in an innate fashion that he could exceed most of the world even without constant training.

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So...then its not a gross assumption by them? Because others feel that this possibility would enable us to be greater?

That...no! Every time I've said that...people that hear me go..."hmmmm...I never thought of it that way...that doesn't make sense!" and follow it up with "you've really thought a lot about this...why does it matter? its just a movie."

"Suspension of disbelief, bro."

But no, it's really not that disgusting of a thought. I think it's just junk science that entertains bar talk.

I'm mostly annoyed that this trailer is playing constantly on comedy central. I've probably seen it 50 times.

First off they seem to have abducted a random woman to inject with this serum..which is very stupid...they would use a volunteer more carefully selected than an astronaut..

The 10% of your brain has no scientific basis and is basically promoted by people wishing to spread beliefs in superpowers. It just so happens superpowers are entertaining to people. If this were a scientific documentary it would be getting worse reviews I'm sure.

I'm pretty terrible at suspending my disbelief. It pretty much limits me to comedies, anything dramatic annoys me.

Actually if you compare our brain to a computer, we could have processes running in the background on "auto"... That would be our primitive programs.

Meanwhile we run our cognitive processes in real time upon demand allocating the proper resources to get the job done in a timely but not detrimental manner.

SOMEHOW, I can not believe that our human brains (being the best computers on earth) require 90% of their hard drive and ram processing power to run what amounts to the human version of BIOS. So I do think it is entirely possible to use more than 10% of our brains capacity cognitively. However it is probably a problem/solution best left to EVOLUTION.

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We actively use 10% of our brain because the other 90% manages life processes and human functions.

Link?

"Life process and human functions" you refer to are largely controlled by the medulla oblongata (breathing, for example) and cerebellum.

Still, the idea that we can improve the control we have over the proximal objects around us just through thinking is pretty stupid to me. No interest in this movie.

First I believe you are way over thinking this... if you are looking for things that are actually possible in movies, then you must not see many movies.

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If we were to access the other 90% of our brain it would force us to control our own breathing, our heart beating, our digestion, our memories, our thought processes, our ability to think,

What is wrong with forcing people to control their ability to think? I know a lot of people that would benefit greatly from that.

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Why do they assume that we all will think that accessing all 100% of our brain would ultimately make us better at our lives and able to do potentially supernatural, or greater things...

I don't know.... why do we think that one guy with a pistol and a knife can bring down the Russian government? Why do we think that a guy can turn into spiderman? Why do we think that God looks and sounds like Morgan Freeman? Simple answer, we don't believe those things... we just go to be entertained.

Now, to answer your question more specifically.. I believe that this notion that we could become superhuman if we could somehow access all of our brain comes from Hollywoods continuing effort to use religion and to play with religion and to base a lot of its movies on religious themes.. all while generally mocking religion. Follow me here... according to the Bible, we are made in God's image, God is omnipotent and can control people, things, the environment, space and time, etc...., so since we are made in his image, if we could maximize our brain then we too would be like God, we could be omnipotent and able to control all things.. Now maybe I'm the one that's over thinking it... but that's why I think this is a popular theme... For much the same reason as Heaven and hell, ghosts, spirits, supernatural abilities, angels and demons are all such popular themes in Hollywood movies.

Semi related.

I was reading this article from a Neuroscience expert that said their is 100% chance that real AI can be developed to think like a human. He said its because we as humans don't understand how the brain works. Until we figure that out all of the super computers like "Watson" will only be able to query data and display results.

When you watch Star Wars do you complain that an X-Wing can't make banking turns in space?

It's Sci-Fiction, not meant to be reality.

Race to Witch Mountain has the same premise.

And yes, the premise is the issue with me as well. I don't mind crazy ridiculousness in movies (in fact, I demand it), but I do want to at least be able to accept the premise.

Maybe instead of striving to use more of our brain, we should be striving to use less... (I'll post this in a sports thread too for actual discussion)..

Neymar's brain on auto-pilot - Japan neurologists

Tokyo (AFP) - Brazilian superstar Neymar's brain activity while dancing past opponents is less than 10 percent the level of amateur players, suggesting he plays as if on auto-pilot, according to Japanese neurologists.

Results of brain scans conducted on Neymar in February this year indicated minimal cerebral function when he rotated his ankle and point to the Barcelona striker's wizardry being uncannily natural.

"From MRI images we discovered Neymar's brain activity to be less than 10 percent of an amateur player," researcher Eiichi Naito told AFP on Friday.

"It is possible genetics is a factor, aided by the type of training he does."

The findings were published in the Swiss journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience following a series of motor skills tests carried out on the 22-year-old Neymar and several other athletes in Barcelona in February this year.

Three Spanish second-division footballers and two top-level swimmers were also subjected to the same tests, added Naito of Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.

Naito concluded in his paper that the test results "provide valuable evidence that the football brain of Neymar recruits very limited neural resources in the motor-cortical foot regions during foot movements".

Asked whether Neymar's Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi or Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo might display similar test results, Naito said: "It is fair to assume they would show similar levels given their footwork and technique."

Naito told Japan's Mainichi Shimbun newspaper: "Reduced brain activity means less burden which allows (the player) to perform many complex movements at once. We believe this gives him the ability to execute his various shimmies."

Neymar carried the hopes of host nation Brazil on his shoulders at the recently ended World Cup but his involvement ended in tears as he fractured a vertebra in the 2-1 quarter-final victory over Colombia.

Without their talisman, who had scored four goals in the tournament, Brazil suffered their most humiliating defeat ever when they were pulverised 7-1 by eventual champions Germany in the semi-final.

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When you watch Star Wars do you complain that an X-Wing can't make banking turns in space?

It's Sci-Fiction, not meant to be reality.

And hey, there's no SOUND in space? Why can I hear the ships' engines & the lasers going PEW PEW PEW?!?!?

Well .... what do coaches and baseball managers always say when a guy is struggling at the plate? Isn't it usually "He's just thinking too much up there."?

How many times do we hear people doing extreme things say "I'd never have done it if I'd stopped to think about it"?

Haven't we heard many interviews where an athlete does something just completely unbelievable, and is asked afterwards, "How did you do that?", or "What do you remember?" and the answer is "It was almost like I was outside my own body, and I really don't know how I did it"?

I do think that people sometimes do too much thinking, and talk themselves out of thigns they can do.

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Your thoughts? Why is this an okay premise?

It's a movie. That makes it every bit as plausible as the Incredible Hulk and Godzilla. It's just a movie. A made up bit of fiction for entertainment.

When my son was young and scared by the movie Godzilla. I explained to him, "Those monsters are not real. They don't exist. There is no Godzilla, There never was and never will be. What it is, is someone thinking. 'What if there was this big monster who could step on buildings and pickup buses full of people. Ooooo, wouldn't that be scary?!' But there is nothing like that. So they make one up, build him out of stuff and make a move about it. It's not real. It's just that sometimes if fun to be scared but still knowing, in the end, that none of it is real."

I was greatly aided the next day by a documentary on the making of Godzilla. We watched that and he got to see how it was built out of metal and cloth and plastic and electronics. That it's much smaller in real life but they make it look huge in the movie. He was put at ease and has ever since become a fan of "monster" movies. Like many of us.

Lucy is just such a movie. Someone asked themselves, wouldn't it be cool if there were a person, nay! a flat-out fox, who could access more of her brain and become something to recon with? What would that be like? So they made it up, just like the Hulk, Godzilla, Superman and a plethora of others. It's fiction entertainment.

We accept Godzilla, why not Lucy?

If all movies had to be factual according to science and the physics of our natural world all we'd have would be lame, boring moves. At least after a while. It's all about entertainment so anything goes. Even bad science as in this one.

Because Superman, Godzilla (And Kaiju movies in general), Star Wars don't try to explain how it happens to us. And if they do, it's only a foot note, but getting blasted by it 24/7 when you know it's not possible kills the vibe.

I really think that we have 2 minds in a way ...... a mind that interacts with the world in an overt manner .... deciphering and interpreting the events around us, and how we should respond to certain rational events. Then we have to physical mind, that includes instincts and senses beyond those we normally accept. This mind might see, for example, a person tensing up as to attack, or the way a woman looks at you when she is interested, and so on. I think that this "mind" also includes inspiration and other insights.

One brain limits us, in a way. It holds us back from making the big mistake. It applies rational thought to everything it can. It says "be careful, because you can't always trust what you think you see" .... while the other mind says "Trust me, and let go." "We can do the impossible".

Look at athletics. The 4 minute mile could never be broken. It was impossible.

Well, until it was accomplished.

The rational mind said that all kinds of bad things could happen ..... tendons couldn't handle the pressure, muscles would surely tear. and so on.

Then the 4 minute mile barrier was broken. 1964 changed everything for runners. Today the record is 3:43. That is astonishing. 17 seconds faster than the "impossible". No one even thinks about the 4 minute mile anymore. Many have run that fast. Once the rational brain got out of the way, the physical brain took over and made the impossible possible.

This makes me sound like we should just rely on instinct and intuition, and that's not the case. Maybe one day man will learn how to fly, but I am not going to encourage the person whose inner voice says "just jump off that cliff. You'll be fine". Maybe that would work ..... but if it doesn't ...... splat.

It's funny, because this kind of ties into my studies of Christianity and the miracles of Jesus. Jesus left earth, saying that his disciples can do anything he did, if only their faith is strong enough. If they would only accept that the impossible was possible, then it would be possible. People could be healed, They could speak in tongues. They could do anything Christ could do.

Imagine that concept for a minute. Jesus was God in human form, living upon the earth. He came to earth with all of the powers of God, but in a mortal, human form. However, He used his powers in only one way .... to spread the Holy message of God's love. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and raised the dead. He did the impossible, and then told His disciples that they could do the same. How? Through prayer. What does prayer do? It sets aside the "me", and turns to the higher power of God. It calms fretful thoughts, and eases anger, rage, and hatred. Jesus' message is that no one is beyond redemption, and anyone who repents their sins and accepts Him as their savior will be saved. There is no room for hatred of other, no matter what their sins are. Jesus forgave those who hung Him on the cross, who held up vinegar to His lips when He was beyond thirsty, who tortured Him, laughed at Him, scorned Him, and forsake Him. He set aside all, and just let love rule, even in a time of horrific human suffering.

I don't mean to turn this into a religious post, and those who are uncomfortable with accepting such things can feel free to skip that part of my post. However, I think that there is a lot we simply don't know about the human body, the brain, the soul, and energy, within and outside of the body, and how it is all interconnected.

Maybe man can fly. If there is energy all around us, maybe it just takes being able to see our own energy, and the energy currents all around us, and to be willing to accept the impossible. Who knows ..... maybe one day man might just fly at that.

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Maybe man can fly.

Nope.

I heard a comedian on XM - I forget his name - riffing about this very subject (suspension of disbelief) ... it went something like this:

I went to the movies and saw Superman Returns, and of course he returns. But there was this point in the movie where a guy shot Superman in the face at point blank range and the bullet bounced off his eye and the guy next to me said "Yeah right." - like that's where the movie all came apart for him, that's where he thinks it couldn't possibly be real. He could see Superman flying around, lifting boats out of the water, and being from whatever-the-hell planet he's from but a bullet bounces off his eye and he goes ..."No, sorry, I don't think that could happen."

It's only a movie..

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Maybe man can fly.

Nope.

Boy aren't you gonna be surprised ........

Bath salts?

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Maybe man can fly.

Nope.

You just have to fling yourself at the ground an miss. You accomplish this by finding a distraction and forgetting that you're about to hit the ground. It's actually quite difficult to do.

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I heard a comedian on XM - I forget his name - riffing about this very subject (suspension of disbelief) ... it went something like this:

I went to the movies and saw Superman Returns, and of course he returns. But there was this point in the movie where a guy shot Superman in the face at point blank range and the bullet bounced off his eye and the guy next to me said "Yeah right." - like that's where the movie all came apart for him, that's where he thinks it couldn't possibly be real. He could see Superman flying around, lifting boats out of the water, and being from whatever-the-hell planet he's from but a bullet bounces off his eye and he goes ..."No, sorry, I don't think that could happen."

In the old TV series, SM would take 6 shots to the chest standing tall and never flinch , then the bad guy would throw his gun at him and SM always ducked out of the way .. why is that?

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First I believe you are way over thinking this...

so he is using more thyan 10% of his brain

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First I believe you are way over thinking this...

so he is using more thyan 10% of his brain

Respectful applause.

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...the bad guy would throw his gun at him and SM always ducked out of the way .. why is that?

You're right! I'd never thought about it.