My wife and I attended a screening of Nobelity at the Paramount Theatre last night.
Here's the summary from IMDB:
A look at the future and how to solve global problems such as poverty and the environmental degradation through a series of interviews with Nobel Prize winners.
It's a slightly autobiographical film by Turk Pipkin on global problems and how humans are capable of solving them. It was a nearly sold-out show, and the audience reacted very positively to the film, offering a standing ovation at the end.
I think it is a good film. The premise is simple and rational: the world is slightly fucked up and that is a bit freaky and why don't we ask some really smart people about this stuff and see what they think? Turk identifies each Nobel laureate with a concept like "decisions," "challenges," "knowledge," "disparities," "reason," etc.
At first, most interviewees treat Turk as they might treat any (typically clueless) interviewer. But as Turk listens carefully and asks some thoughtful questions, the laureates becomes passionate and animated as they get deeper into their area of expertise.
That isn't to say we get a lot of detail about typical Nobel stuff like physics, chemistry, economics, or peace. The film sticks to the big picture. The audience gets a brief overview of a few of the major problems faced by the world, but actually spends very little time on solutions. Instead, the focus is on the capability of humans to solve the problems for which they are largely responsible.
And this is where I feel the film falls short. The film appeals to a faith in humanity that I do not share, nor was I convinced by the film that I should have this faith. The closest the film actually gets to suggesting a solution to a grave problem is when Richard Smalley speaks of the need to find an alternative source of energy right now or we are all screwed [1]. He points to solar power as the obvious solution.
What surprises me about this film is that the audience (and some that I spoke with afterwards) was surprised by the content. Some examples: oil is near or has reached peak production, more people died of AIDS on 9/11 than of terrorism [2], the United States is not a signatory to the treaty banning land mines.
Turk asks if Americans don't know or don't care. They don't know and, often, they don't care to know. How else to explain the election of George Bush, the (initial) approval of engaging in war in Iraq, or the near total lack of outrage that our president is contemplating a nuclear first-strike?
Nobelity is certainly thought provoking and interesting. But I find little hope that the juggernaut of irrational human behavior can be stopped. We the People of the most powerful state ever to have existed in human history are asleep at the wheel while our oligarchs lead the world towards a path of ruin and destruction. It has happened many times before, it will happen again.
I certainly encourage you to see the film if you have a chance, because it is good and I did enjoy it, even if I found some of it frustrating. Perhaps you will enjoy it even more or be inspired more than I. It carries a message that can only help.
[1] Richard Smalley says energy is our number one problem and if we solve it, a clear path to solving several more immediately opens up. If there was a single point people take away from this film, I hope it is that one.
[2] More people likely perished in car accidents on 9/11 than from terrorism. As noted in the film, statistics such as these do not mean addressing terrorism is unimportant, just that we should have some perspective about it.
