I Am TEACHER EDITION The shift is about to hit the fan.

The world is his, who can see through its pretension see it to be a lie, and you have already dealt it its mortal blow. -Ralph Waldo Emerson What are the 2 main questions the director asks his guests? 1. Whats wrong with our world? 2. What can we do about it? Humanity is going to require a substantially new way of thinking if it is going to survive. Albert Einstein 3. What is the ethnosphere? The ethnosphere is the sum total of the world's cultures. It incorporates, among other cultural facets, ". . . all thoughts, dreams, ideas, beliefs, myths, intuitions, and inspirations brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness". Ethnosphere refers to both the accumulation of living cultures and the ancient lineages from which they evolved. This framework emphasizes the diversity, complexity, interrelatedness, vulnerability, and importance of the worlds cultures. 4. What is the lie we tell ourselves? That if a little stuff makes us a little happy, then a lot of stuff will make us a lot happy. 5. We used to believe in dragons and monsters, but what is the modern-day monster our society believes in? The economy 6. What has the American ideology Greed is Good done to our world? We have infected the worldthe belief that we are separate from other living things. The idea that we deserve more than our fair share. We are using too much at the expense of other people and other living things. 7. In our modern-day society, what value does competition have? What value does cooperation have? In nature, what value does competition have? What value does cooperation have? In our society, competition= high value, cooperation= low value In nature, competition= low value, cooperation= high value 8. In Charles Darwins famous novel, The Descent of Man, he uses the phrase survival of the fittest, a phrase we have come to use frequently to describe our society and our behavior, only twice. How many times does he mention the word love? 95 times. 9. What did Darwin believe was the strongest instinct in human nature? Sympathy We are because we belong. Desmond Tutu 10. The mirror neuron allows humans to what? To feel what they seeto mirror the emotions/feelings of what were seeing. When we see others in pain, we feel their pain. When we see others happy, we feel happy. 11. The filmmakers discover that humans are hardwired for a compassionate response when we see others in distress. What do they discover about our brain functioning when we are angry? What do they discover about our brain functioning when were in a state on compassion? When were angry, it actually inhibits our brain, it inhibits our actions. We function better in a state of love and compassion. 12. Our brain is usually considered the center of our ideas, actions, emotions, etc. but after more research, what system is believed to possibly know information FIRST? The heart. 13. Human emotionality (our feelings, the vibes we send out into the world) can do what to our environment? Effect other living systems, creates a real energetic field.

14. What did Native Americans believe was considered a mental illness? The accumulation of private property beyond your needs. 15. When something DOES take more than its fair share, what do we call that? Cancer. Harder still it has proved to rule the dragon money a whole generation adopted false principles, and went to their graves in the belief they were enriching the country they were impoverishing. Ralph Waldo Emerson 16. List at least 3 examples of non-violent movements they mention in the film: Womens suffrage, Gandhi, Civil Rights/ MLK, Vietnam protests, Apartheid Love your enemies, Bless them that curse you, Be good to them that hate you, And pray for them which spitefully use you. --Matthew 5:44 17. What did Martin Luther King believe would save our world and our civilization? Love. It was easy to love God in all that was beautiful. The lessons of deeper knowledge, though, instructed me to embrace God in all things. St. Francis of Assisi 18. The final comment from the filmmaker is that we all cast our votes each day with what we do and what we dont do. So, what does he say is the way to change the world? Love! 19. G. K. Chesterton wrote that I Am is what is wrong with the world, and that is also the title of the film. Why did Shadyac pick that as the title? What does the phrase I Am imply about our society and the problems within it? We put ourselves firstwe are selfish. I AM tired, I AM hungry, I AM rich, I AM better. This self-involved idea is what is most damaging to our society. We dont live with thoughts about how our actions will effect others or future generations. We need to live more conscious of those who will come after us, and those that surround ushuman, plant, animal, and Earth. 20. What is your lasting impression of this film? What tiny acts can you do each day to help change your world for the better? (Try to list AT LEAST THREE!) I AM isnt as much about what you can do, as who you can be. And from that transformation of being, action will naturally follow. Tom Shadyac, director of I Am