Blinded by Science
My companion and I saw the film, “Inside Out” this week. First, it is not a film for kids. It has been a long, long time since we were in a film where there were as many 8 year olds and under as there were adults. This cartoon is for at least 10 year olds and older. Like most of the cartoons made by Pixar and Disney, it is made for adults much more than for young children. The 5 year old sitting next to me kept bouncing in his chair and asking him mom questions. For her part, mom did her best to quiet her son and answer his questions, but she too often talked to the characters on the screen as if sitting in her living room. But the annoyance aside, the film is well done demonstrating once again how science can help humanity understand itself. In the Sunday Review of the New York Times, the scientists that served as consultants for the film wrote their own review of the film and in it provide explanation about the science behind our emotion.
The Science of ‘Inside Out’
Sunday Review | The New York TimesOur conversations with Mr. Docter and his team were generally about the science related to questions at the heart of the film: How do emotions govern the stream of consciousness? How do emotions color our memories of the past? What is the emotional life of an 11-year-old girl like? (Studies find that the experience of positive emotions begins to drop precipitously in frequency and intensity at that age.)
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