You Disappear Page #4

dictating what reaches our conscious mind

and how we act upon it.

Our choice has already been made before

we experience making it.

The philosopher Spinoza said that

the only difference

between a man and a stone

rolling down a hill,

is that only man believes himself to

be in charge of his destiny.

Mia Hailing. How about his emotional life?

Was his mood monotonous and stable,

or did his mood rather swing dramatically?

The last couple of years

before his surgery,

he could get angry or upset in a way

I've never seen before.

And...

Well, I enjoyed that, too.

He didn't hide his feelings

from me anymore.

He let me in.

Is it your impression that Frederik

was prone to distractions,

such as spontaneous pleasures

and impulses?

Yes, now and then he'd be more

impulsive than usual.

But he bought a Mercedes.

That must have surprised you.

Yes. But it's hard to say when it wasn't

just his old self developing,

because he was impulsive

before the tumor, too.

And when he had in fact become

a different person.

Our eyes only sense.

It's with our brain that we see.

Our brain shapes what we see.

The way we each see, individually.

The same thing goes for what we hear,

touch, smell and taste.

All that we know, fee! And remember,

even what we see in front of us,

is the result of a subjective

mental process.

We are our brain.

We are only what's in it.

The impressions made on it,

and its ability to steer us through life.

Laarke, what's up?

Aren't you looking forward to seeing your

friends? Won't it be nice?

No.

Should we put on some music?

No, I don't feel like it.

No.

Yes. Come on.

I don't want to.

Bernard, don't overdo it.

It's so good.

See? You got her all worked up now.

Isn't it better to see her like this?

That's a good girl, Laarke.

Niklas. Come down here for a second.

What?

What's this?

It's for Dad's loudspeaker.

It's the school's. Did you steal it?

Dad can't do anything wrong.

You don't reprimand him for

stealing 12 million.

But if I take something that's not

even for myself.

Dad is seriously ill. You know that.

My frontal lobes don't work

like they should either.

I'm a teenager.

You sure are.

Make allowances for my brain, too.

I make allowances for you constantly.

You think so?

My long-term planning and impulse control

don't work like a grown-up's.

What are you talking about?

I saw your print-out.

What?

It's on the table. When you're 15, you're

just as intelligent as a grown up.

But areas of your brain aren't fully

developed until you're 20.

The same area as Dad's.

Hey, cut it out.

You can't live like that. You won't be

held accountable for your actions,

because your brain isn't fully developed.

We can't live like that.

That would end in a chaotic society.

Hi, Niklas.

Hi.

Thank you for coming. I'm going to ask

you some questions. Okay?

Yes.

Have you experienced any

change in Frederik?

When I read what impulse

control disorder meant,

it all made sense to me.

Can you give us an example?

He didn't behave like an

ordinary grown-up.

In what way?

I remember once...

I was having a girlfriend over.

And my parents let her in.

When I came down, my dad was

saying nasty things to her.

And he didn't do that before he got ill?

I see...

Did you experience any other changes?

Before, he was never home.

And he was always stressed out.

But then three years ago...

He became fun to be around.

He was fun?

We started goofing around.

We made bonfires and

watched Formula One together.

What makes you think this was

caused by the tumor?

Well...

The tumor gave him like a teenage brain.

A teenage brain?

Like mine.

We became like... friends.

Before, he was just a man who came,

and left for work and fought with my mom.

And that was more or less it.

It's so nice that everyone could come.

Mia has got something interesting

to show us.

Yes.

Thanks for coming to my home.

You're welcome.

I brought this.

What's that, Pas-Man, Pas-Man

and Pas-Man?

Yes. Yes.

How many triangles are there?

Good question.

One, two... At least two.

Three.

I would say more.

There are none.

None?

Our brain puts the fragments together to

form a whole, but there is no whole.

It's an illusion.

Our brain leads us to believe we see a

white triangle, but there is none.

Oh, right.

Exactly.

Am I not right in saying...

That it's our ability to perceive

fragments as a whole,

that leads us to believe we

have a free will?

But we don't notice all the unconscious

processes that precede our thoughts,

and our decisions,

so we think we choose more

freely than we really do.

We imagine that we have a free will,

but it's our brain that instantly creates

cohesive wholes like ours just did,

when we saw the illusion

of the Kanizsa Triangle.

It's utterly fascinating.

I'll pass it on.

I feel we have no choice at all.

It's been seven years since Katrine

was diagnosed with a tumor,

and was told she needed surgery

in her left temple.

Close to one of the brain's

language areas.

The evening before her surgery,

we both knew she might lose

her power of speech.

We lay there embracing each other

before we went to sleep.

She suddenly raised

her head and said...

"Maybe I won't ever be able

to say I love you again."

And then she said...

"If I can't tell you again,

please always remember that

I told you tonight."

That's the way it was.

Just breathe naturally.

You're doing great.

Getting sleepy, Frederik?

Say good night to your wife then.

Good night, Mia.

You can say good night to him now.

Good night.

Take a few deep breaths and you

should be asleep soon.

There you go.

He's asleep.

We'll take good care of him.

I love you.

Hi, Dad.

Frederik, don't pull it off.

Brain Surgeon Jan Sittelman.

What did you remove from the defendant?

This is a picture taken during

the surgery.

This is Frederik's brain.

And here is the meningioma.

Before we removed it.

Meningiomas arise from the meninges,

which are the membranous layers

around the brain.

The brain is intact but under pressure

caused by the meningioma.

Can you give us concrete examples

of how the tumor or meningioma has

affected the defendant?

It's complex, because to a

certain extent the brain

is able to compensate for injuries.

The brain is a big network.

Other parts of the network can

take over functions.

So even though you can determine when

the tumor started growing,

you can't determine exactly when

it started affecting him?

Yes, you could say that.

You could say that.

When you look at the brain scan,

can you determine the exact symptoms

the defendant might have?

Yes or no?

No, not precisely.

So the exact symptoms

can't be determined

by either the location or size of

a meningioma?

Frederik, is your sex drive

stronger than usual?

Frederik.

Hmm...

I think we have a fairly normal sex life.

For a married couple.

What do you mean?

We don't have sex.

That's not true.

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