Educational Media Reviews Online

This fine short film was produced as part of the director’s Masters of Fine Arts studies at Stanford University. It features Dr. Leonard Susskind, a renowned physicist and one of the fathers of string theory, who provides a brief, simple discussion of the Anthropic Principle. This principle notes that the physics of the university seems to be perfectly tuned for life to evolve. Dr. Susskind contemplates and dismisses as personally unsatisfying the explanation of the existence of some sort of intelligent designer. Given our vast universe, he suggests the idea the laws of physics are not fixed and might have a very large number of variations from region to region. Our “region” has life because it is one of the few places where life is possible. Dr. Susskind finds this explanation satisfying because of its simplicity. This idea is much more fully developed in his first popular science book, The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design (2005).

Although the film is engaging and well-produced, the main challenge for use in the classroom is the number of avenues of discussion it would open up. Extensive debates on the origins of life have taken place among physicists, theologians, biologists, and philosophers for centuries. Adding concepts ultimately derived from string theory to the mix is certainly a new twist. However, in most classroom settings, additional background material would need to be introduced in order to sustain a focused, productive discussion. The broad philosophical themes it opens up might overwhelm some high school students. Still the film is a very accessible, though by its nature, cursory introduction to a fascinating origin of life explanation.