Mind Talk: The Brain's New Story

Who are we? Spiritual beings or sentient units of information technology? Is the brain, as one researcher puts it, nothing more than "the meat cognition happens in"? Are we more than the sum of our synaptic connections or is our sense of free will merely illusory? In Bob Drake and Wendy Conquest's illuminating documentary, viewers will examine key physiological, psychological, philosophical and societal issues surrounding the varying models for understanding the human brain (including the current favorite, the computer). Combining sometimes relevant (and sometimes not) background footage together with occasional computer-animated models, the real draw of the program is the engaging interviewees--an admittedly widely eclectic bunch--such as philosophers Daniel Dennett and John R. Searle, cosmologist Roger Penrose, Supreme Court Justice David Hodgson, psychologist Peter D. Kramer (author of Listening to Prozac), net guru Jaron Lanier and filmmaker Ken Burns. While the mind/body question is still just as baffling today as it was in Descartes' time, we face numerous tributary questions that never crossed the mind of the 17th century mathematician/philosopher. Such as: Should presently available intelligence-boosting drugs be accessible to all or just to those select few who can afford them, and what effect would that have on, for instance, SAT scores? Mind Talk would be equally worthwhile as a discussion starter amongst a bunch of guys sitting around hoisting brewskis ("Bill, this beer is actually killing brain cells as we drink it, but we're still able to talk about our brains...'cause...I guess...it's not destroying the ones that it uses to think about itself. Whoa, I just gave myself the creeps; could you toss me another cold one?") to advanced high school students and college psychology majors. Recommended. (R. Pitman)