This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedanta.
There's a scene in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off that has become iconic.
It's a spot-on portrayal of what it feels like to be disengaged and disaffected.
In the film, actor Ben Stein plays an economics teacher who is not about to win any teaching awards.
He speaks in a deathly monotone.
In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives,
in an effort to alleviate the effects of the anyone,
anyone, the Great Depression, passed the anyone, anyone, a tariff bill.
The students in the classroom are suffering from a boredom that verges on the catatonic.
On and on the teacher goes, asking for responses, but barely expecting any.
And indeed, no one ventures a word.
Today, we have a similar debate over this.
Anyone know what this is, class?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Anyone seen this before?
The laugher curve.
Anyone know what this says?
There is no spark of interest or curiosity.
The moviegoer can hardly blame Ferris