Group 2:  Anika Hassan, Kaitlyn Mcleod, Yamilay Andre, Stefania Arroyave, Mdrona Moussad

Science in the Movies: Self/less 

The concept of death particularly, how to evade it, has plagued mankind since the discovery of our mortality. Tales as old as the Epic of Gilgamesh express the desire for immortality. With modern-day technology, one might project that a future where we can genetically engineer immortality is not far off. This prospect becomes a reality in the 2015 movie “Self/less” directed by Tarsem Singh. The film focuses on using different bodies as “vessels” for your mind when your own body begins to fail. Dr. Albright, the intellect behind this scientific operation, considers this development an opportunity to give the “brightest minds” more time to do what one lifetime did not offer them the chance to accomplish. An enticing proposition to anyone until the truth regarding the origins of the “vessels” surfaces. An NYC billionaire named Damian Hale dying from lung cancer is offered a second chance in life, and after collapsing one day at work due to the severity of his illness, he decides to take it. To partake in this process, Hale has to erase all aspects of his past, including his daughter. 

He undergoes the process of “shedding,” which allows him to transfer his mind into a new body. Every medical procedure has side effects, and this one is no exception. Shortly after the process, Damian starts to experience detailed visual hallucinations and intense seizures; upon expressing concern over his condition, Dr. Albright provides him with medication to address the issue, citing it as a common side effect of shedding. Damian is instructed to take one red pill every day to remedy the hallucinations and ensure his new body does not reject his mind. Before undergoing the procedure, Albright had explained to Damian that his new body was created in a lab, genetically engineered for perfection, but after inadvertently missing a dose of the medicine and experiencing some all too real hallucinations, Damian begins to question the truth. He confides in Albright during a weekly check-in, and Albright disregards his worries and suggests a change in location to take his mind off things. Instead of leaving as Albright had planned, Damian goes to a place he saw in one of his hallucinations; there, he follows a string of memories and finds a house and the woman that appeared in one of his episodes. The truth becomes evident to Damian upon inspecting the area and finding his new body in pictures with the family from his hallucinations. He understands now that this “vessel” was not made in any lab, but was its own person with a life and a family. Later on, it comes to light that the “vessel,” Mark, was a veteran with a wife and a very sick daughter battling cancer. They had no money and could not afford treatment for her, so Mark did the only thing he could think of, selling his body. Albright eventually notices Damian’s absence and sends his men after him, forcing Damian and Mark’s family on the run to escape Albright and his men. By the end of the movie, Damian succeeds in his endeavor to keep the girls safe and provides them with a new home, while Albright seals his fate and receives retribution for sacrificing so many for his shedding experiments. Damian’s final act before accepting his fate is giving his daughter the gift that she had always wanted from him, a meaningful and heartfelt expression of love. The film ends with Mark waking up and watching a video of Damian explaining his actions and elaborating how he had stopped taking the medicine so that Mark could come back. Mark finds his way to the beach where Maddie and Anna are staying and reunites with his family.

Instead of misleading people, I think this movie warned people of the reality of consequences; Just like Newton says, every action has a reaction. Being the imperfect animals humans are, we sometimes expect all the good without any bad, a simply unrealistic outcome. The characters in this movie had that same expectation; a body created in a lab, in which they could live a second life in a manufactured vessel, but nothing comes without drawbacks. 

Shedding is the process of transferring a person’s consciousness into another body through the use of a highly advanced machine. Damien hale, the protagonist of the film, undergoes this procedure and soon comes to recognize the side effects of this process as his host begins to reject his consciousness. Essentially, it is impossible to transfer one’s consciousness into another vessel, but the rejection process is a plausible occurrence. The human brain varies from person to person, therefore the possibility of transferring one’s consciousness would indicate the brain’s ability to conform to an entirely new structure, including incorporating one’s memories, thought processes, and mental hardware into the preexisting cognitive arrangement of the host. This foreign presence would initiate a response from the host in attempts to preserve the initial structure, a reaction highlighted in the film as Damien experiences unexplained hallucinations soon after his procedure and has to take medication to suppress the violent episodes. The hallucinations are the host’s memories, indicating resistance against implanting a new consciousness to a preexisting framework. This rejection process can be observed in many organ transplants performed in our world and is, therefore, a scientifically reasonable side effect to shedding. Despite the differences in technological advancements, the world portrayed in the film is not much different than our world today. The film highlights that innovation in science is an indication of growth, and these developments are easily accessible to the wealthy. Shedding, however, may never be a possibility in our reality, regardless of scientific advancements. 

The technological advances in the field of neuroscience in 2015 were not enough for this procedure of shedding to be performed on humans, and the science behind it had yet to be studied. According to psychology today, in 2015, the new findings of the brain tied brain functions more with cognitive and emotional states than with physical ones. The only physically related breakthrough was the brain structure between male and female; it affirmed that the male and female brains looked similar to what was initially theorized. Additionally, the technology used in the movie to perform the process of “shedding” is far beyond the scope of the technological advancements in the field of neuroscience. According to Society for Neuroscience, the newest device developed in 2015 was called AMPET and was useful because it was easy to handle as a person would be able to wear it as a helmet. The device could be used with smaller amounts of radioactive material than other traditionally used methods of brain imaging and was able to provide detailed images, especially in cases of brain-injury recovery and disease-related structural changes in the brain. In an interview with Dr. Charles Higgins (one of the movie’s scientific consultants and a neuroscientist) for the Huffington Post, he said that this procedure is still not possible today, but one day may be possible when there is sufficient knowledge of how a human brain would work in a foreign body.

In the film, Damian’s thoughts and memories were transferred from his old body to a new body. Memories are not tangible, so it would be quite difficult to transfer them, but not entirely impossible. According to Dr. Charles Higgins, a neuroscientist, memories are neurons that fire impulses, so if we could somehow download these impulses and place them on a blank brain, the transfer of memories could be possible (Funk). However, in order to “cut, copy, and paste” neurons to a new brain, scientists would have to recreate the trillions of neural pathways that one brain contains (Funk). According to neuroscientist Dr. Wolfgang Fink at the University of Arizona, it would not be possible to transfer memories as everyone’s brain is structurally unique (Lewis). Not only are scientists swapping memories, but they are also swapping how the brain processes those memories. The closest we have come to transferring memories is dabbling in head transplants, but even that is difficult and risky. In theory, memory swapping could happen, but it would require a lot more research and more scientific advancement before it does (Lewis).

All things considered, it is evident that the science and advancements shown in the movie are not attainable as of right now, but can be possible in the future. The question remains, why was this showcased in the movie? This concept of shedding and ridding the mind of a decaying body to a healthier body plays on a common fear of people: fear of the unknown. When it comes to death, there is no telling what awaits after. Where do you go? When do you go? Will you be remembered? Damian Hale, while rich and able to undergo the process of shedding, is just like everyone else, scared to go and leave everything and everyone behind. He was selfish in his first life but learned to change in his second one. While his situation isn’t theoretically possible, it speaks to the nature of human behavior. We can’t live our lives strictly living for ourselves with selfish intentions. This movie teaches viewers to be present in the moment and to look beyond selfish thoughts and ask how much this moment, this memory is worth. Science is used in this movie because it causes viewers to ask questions. What’s worth more: life, money, or love? In essence, Self/less is a movie focused on the science of the mind, but it also explores lessons regarding the invaluable aspects of living. 

References 

Bergland, Christopher. “Top Ten Breakthroughs in Neuroscience for 2015.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 27 Dec. 2015, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201512/top-ten-breakthroughs-in-neuroscience-2015.

Funk, Allie. Is “Shedding” Possible? ‘Self/Less’ Science Is Mind-Blowing, but Is It Real? 10 July 2015, www.bustle.com/articles/95476-is-shedding-possible-selfless-science-is-mind-blowing-but-is-it-real#.

“Inside Neuroscience: New Ways to Study the Brain.” Society for Neuroscience, www.sfn.org/publications/neuroscience-quarterly/winter-2016/inside-neuroscience. 

Lewis, Tanya. “In ‘Self/Less,’ a Man Cheats Death by Transferring His Mind to Another Body – Here’s How Close We Are to Making That Reality.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 9 July 2015, www.businessinsider.com/science-behind-the-movie-selfless-2015-7.Rojas, Alejandro. “Neuroscientist Discusses the Idea of Consciousness Transfer From   the New Movie Self/Less.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/neuroscientist-discusses-_b_7765712.