Limitless Movie Review

Posted by Allen Baird, Partner on Mar 28, 2011 in business, emotional intelligence, learning, personal development | 1 comment

So I saw Bradley ‘Faceman’ Cooper’s new movie Limitless on Saturday night.  It’s about a washed-up writer dude who gets a cutting-edge pill that multiplies his IQ into a four digit figure… with dark consequences.  “I wonder what you made of it?”, I hear you think.  Well, wonder no more.

First, the movie.  Bradley Cooper was funny in The Hangover, or rather the movie was funny around him.  He just did his pretty-boy thang, but at least he was prepared to send himself up a little.  Then comes The A-Team, with more pretty-boy antics, too much Cooper and not enough Sharlto Copley, and the sweet cologne of typecasting lingering in every frame.

In Limitless, Copper raises his game.  Apparently, he can act after all.  The transformations between him without the pill and on the pill are impressive, backed up by sharp dialogue and the mere presence of Bobby De Niro on set.  More fundamentally, I can’t think of a film that shares a similar premise (except possibly The Lawnmower Man).  I deeply appreciate this fact – most of the movies I’ve seen recently seem ripoffs or hybrids of other movies ’til I want to scream.

Next, the idea.  Is it possible to radically increase your brainpower in the way the film shows?

Apart from dubious ‘brain training’ type activities, there are three advanced ways to enhance human nature: genetic engineering, neural implants, or performance enhancing drugs.  The drugs aren’t just limited to the physical realm.  When applied to mental capacities – like memory, motivation, and attention – they are known as nootropics.
The net is already alive with debate about whether Limitless provides a glimpse of our future.  Some pharmaceutical companies seem to be using the film to raise awareness of products they already have on offer.  While some offer ethical or scientific objections to this scenario, my questions are practical.

OK, so suppose you can boost some dude’s IQ from average to genius.  Fact – that won’t make him successful.

As Malcolm Gladwell shows in Outliers, someone – Chris Langan to be exact – can possess an IQ off the charts but still not have the breaks/and or inter-personal skills to climb the greasy ladder of success.  EQ trumps IQ as a success factor every time, once IQ has reached a mildly-above-average 120.  And EQ can be raised; IQ is stagnant.

Again, suppose you can give a dude a ‘photographic memory’.  Is that an advantage?

Again, not really.  Properly called ‘eidetic memory‘, a photographic memory may be linked to conditions like autism and synesthesia.  Famous sufferers – like Solomon Shereshevsky – have found it more of a curse than a blessing.  It might help you pass fact-based exams or remember people’s names; it will not help you interpret those facts or get on well with those people.

So the drugs don’t work, even if they did exist.  If you want to become limitless, to really grow your mind, to increase the synaptic connections within your brain, here are my suggestions:

Become a dedicated and deliberate lifelong learner.

Open yourself to new ideas, place yourself in new situations, learn new skills, meet new people, attend new courses, read new books.   You get the idea.

Speaking of books, if you really want to expand your mind, join a book club, or try reading:

• Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Mindfulness by Ellen Langer
• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink
• Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

And no, you can’t borrow mine.  Get your own stash.

Image credit: kroszka.