Origins

Origins

2014, Environment  -   96 Comments
7.71
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Ratings: 7.71/10 from 312 users.

Four years in the making, Origins is a stunningly ambitious new documentary that challenges us to reevaluate our existence in the modern world, and embrace the simplicities that defined the beginnings of our species. "I believe to understand our present and to map our future, we have to go back in time," says Alan McSmith, an ecology instructor and a key interview subject featured in the film.

Like McSmith, Origins argues that the keys to survival for both the human race and the planet that surrounds us can only be understood by looking back on the origins of our species nearly 200,000 years ago. From the vast plains of Africa to the microbes that live in our gut, Origins illustrates that the forces that compromise our potential to thrive are only outmatched by our capacity to provoke profound and positive change.

The fundamentals of that change can be gleaned from a simple study of our ancestors. The first humans established the evolutionary building blocks that have proven most meaningful to our continued survival as a species. They nurtured a respectful and harmonious connection to nature, developed an uncanny ability to adapt, and constructed the tools needed to ensure that all of their basic needs were met.

In the face of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, those basic needs have remained unchanged, yet our modern technologies often imperil the very elements we rely upon to nourish and sustain us. We are more isolated from our natural environment than ever before, and that dynamic has resulted in an unparalleled number of chronic health concerns, a deteriorating planet, and increasingly severe obstacles for our children and grandchildren.

The purity of our existence has been threatened by temporary comforts. Pesticides, hormones and sugars have eradicated much of the nutritional content in the foods we eat, compromising our immune systems and leaving us more vulnerable to disease. Monstrous pollution and toxicity levels represent perhaps the greatest threat to civilization, and their negative effects can be witnessed in forms as varied as the sunscreen we apply to our skin and the air that we breathe into our lungs.

While the challenges facing us might seem insurmountable and complex, the solutions are anything but. Brimming with passionate and persuasive testimony from a distinguished panel of experts in fields ranging from anthropology to medicine, Origins shows us that the power to reverse the tide of destruction is as simple as eating clean foods, rejecting a sedentary lifestyle, and embracing the circle of life in which we all play a part. These revelations make Origins truly inspiring and essential viewing for all audiences who are anxious to make their own change in the world.

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k.m.l.
k.m.l.
4 years ago

I have read all of the comments you all make good points, but we have to admit things should be better in the food and health care fields. and my hope is both sides can get past the fighting, and start discussing the issues and provide at least a suggestion from both sides to help us all. I personally like the documentary not all of it but as a chef the food industry does worry me. thank you all k.ml.

bill
bill
4 years ago

Was David Wolf selling majic bullets a few years ago?

Chris
Chris
6 years ago

Omg. I managed 12 minutes of this pile of manure! A bunch of people who think their are right and have all the answers. Self brain masturbation at its best!

Bill
Bill
6 years ago

Uhhh, did anybody else notice this is a sexist film?

DustUp
DustUp
6 years ago

Although GMO, pesticides, hormones, anitbiotics, and sugar are bad news, I'll take CO2 any day over GeoEngineering/chemtrails, which I can see overhead on most any non holiday. Yes the commercial flights still going but often the chemtrail spewers take a break knowing lots of people are outdoors. The same people who say, "I didn't see any when I was outside on the 4th of July so they must not be happening and these people who claim they exist are morons." Despite the fact you can read the govt documents which provide for those programs, including haarp, on a website with geoengineering as part of its name. Chemtrails ARE killing the planet, more so than any other single thing. And YOU are paying for it. If you call or write your congressperson about it and they don't respond or claim they need to look into it, you need to fire them and nominate someone decent to run that will work to stop these evil chemtrail pukes from killing us. Those that promote it claim it is to prevent global warming but it causes the warming and it is toxic nano metals.

sidsnot
sidsnot
6 years ago

so what happens when you get old??? and the reason you dont see sick and old amimals??? they get eaten :) and who is going to stop ecnomic evolusion??

k
k
7 years ago

Ignore the negative comments. This documentary highlights some important considerations about our current situation on this planet - especially the health epidemic we are in.

Greg Muller
Greg Muller
7 years ago

Milk truck not mild truck. Correction by author.

Greg Muller
Greg Muller
7 years ago

This is exactly the sort of presentation that makes people more fearful of science than they already are. Make no mistake, the standard of living we enjoy today is a direct result of a successful chemical industry. When I hear a remark like "a newborn baby ALREADY has 187 chemicals in its body at the time of birth," I am struck by the unfathomable stupidity of such a remark. Only 187? Really? A newborn is entirely composed of chemicals. Isn't it? Everything is chemicals. Absolutely everything. I heard on the radio today that there was a chemical spill on I-95 near Philadelphia!! Yikes! What a crisis!! How terrible!! Another chemical spill!! Head for the hills! Call out the National Guard!! It's a chemical spill! Really. What else would it be? Everything is composed of chemicals. A chemical spill could be a watermelon truck that lost its load or a mild truck that spilled out it's milk or a water truck that sprung a leak. This is pure unmitigated trash and the physicians and scientists that supported this piece of trash should be ashamed of themselves.

Bonsai
Bonsai
8 years ago

So stupid, if them white kids wanted a true wilderness experience then leave the guns at home. You cant truly connect with the land knowing you can shoot the cup out of anything that comes near you..the originally bushman didn't have them so dont try and make lame comparisons.

Lisa
Lisa
8 years ago

Where can I purchase this movie?

Sylvia Sheehy
Sylvia Sheehy
8 years ago

Your document was very interesting and needed for me to resume the proper way to eat. How did we got away from the right food that our grandparents knew so well. Thank you for reminding me of the important things in life.

Tanya
Tanya
8 years ago

Brilliant and inspiring..thank you!

anna
anna
8 years ago

go vegan!!! animal agriculture is the largest factor that causes global warming! watch cowspiracy, one of the only documentaries that isn't graphic and actually provides good information. DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND GO VEGAN :)

Shelley Mizener
Shelley Mizener
8 years ago

brilliant, sharing and very happy and grateful to do so... busy cultivating positive change and reconnecting many to the land, thank you so much...

Maurycy Cyril Kuc
Maurycy Cyril Kuc
8 years ago

my god. go back to school and do some science. this whole documentary was so bloody over saturated with pseudoscience.

Santi KZ
Santi KZ
9 years ago

This documentary is very out-dated in its approach to environment science. It's biased and it's a marketing product. I bet my whole year's salary on the fact that the meat and dairy industries funded it or at least parts of it. Good trick guys!!!
The problem is that if you are misinformed you'll end up sharing it as the word of god, It has all the kitch images and footages that any bluff should have to conquer your feelings.
Animal products are cancerous and they are the worst factor in climate change and deforestation...

Clemens van Stekelenburg
Clemens van Stekelenburg
9 years ago

“Hi, this is doctor Pedram Shojai.” A bad start, since a man is not
supposed to introduce himself using his titles.
The faux-pas comes across at a warning that anything the "doctor" is
going to say will sound very unscientific.

arno
arno
9 years ago

Im sorry... But after seeing Dave Asprey, in the first 8 minutes i started having doubts about this documenarie, but when a couple minutes later David Wolfe was there this was the end for me.

COME ON! are u kidding me? David WOlfe the one who is copying his books says he writes himself and tells that the energy from the universe is in a chocolate plant? Then Dave Asprey the one who invented the bulletproof diet, eat fat.. a lot of fat. Dont eat fruit or legumes because there is sugar in it and thats bad for u but designs i diet that has a total lack of a lot of different vitamins and other phytochemicals

idiots

tom
tom
9 years ago

We cannot keep humanity alive indefinitely. The earth cannot sustain the population. Maybe we are supposed to die off so another life form can carry on after we're all gone...

Revolted
Revolted
9 years ago

Having skipped the self-aggrandizing blabbermouth at the start, and sat through the self-indulgent stock-footage and CGI after that, was greeted by some random guy in a cave saying ‘The earliest humans might have stood here’. What? Any proof? Er… no, just random guy standing in a cave. THEN someone calling himself ‘The Bulletproof
Executive’ (I kid you not) within about 30 seconds comes up with the statement that because cholesterol is a large component of myelin, ‘eating more fat allows you to think clearer.’ EXCUSE ME?? Lipid ingestion has NOTHING to do with myelin formation – nor is (or ever was) myelin in the least exclusive to humans: it’s necessary for vertebrates and some invertebrates. This must have been about 2 minutes into this supposed ‘documentary’ at which point I screamed
and turned it off. What if someone who doesn’t know anything about the rudiments of cell biology takes this at face value? These guys should be SUED for dissemination of falsehoods, not have their ridiculous junk broadcast. DO NOT, repeat DO NOT contaminate yourself with this. Avoid anything else these people make, too.

Skeptic
Skeptic
9 years ago

I watched 20 minutes of guys going to a tourism trip to Africa and blabering about living as bushman. However, they are all fully equipped and carrying rifles. Waste of time.

sebastien972
sebastien972
9 years ago

This documentary lost me when they referred to humanity starting in South Africa. This is blatantly false and only shows the shallow depth of scientific research which was put into making this documentary. This documentary like Kony is a platform for a "non-profit" organization to achieve gross internal profits that go beyond its benefits to society.

Tobias MacRobie
Tobias MacRobie
9 years ago

I made it to endocrine disruptors.. then all the words turned into s*upid. Scare tactics? Check. Half-truths? Check. Persuaded me? Nope. Hey, did you know that endocrine disrupting chemicals exist in high quantities in nature? They are part of a plant's defense mechanism.. such as SOY! All the vegan nuts love soy, right? Well, it's worse for you than the endocrine disruptors found in the "chemicals" we eat.. which, oh, food in general is "chemicals".. anyway, what a crock of ignorance. This video is yuppyville to the extreme, buncha city-folk pretending to know a thing or two about toxicology, environmental systems, and well, they know just enough to make themselves look foolish. I sincerely hope that NO ONe, and I mean NO ONE, takes this as academic counsel. You are only getting a fraction of the entire picture in this video.. and it is a scared, frantic fraction at that. They talk about the pollution drifting to the USA from "those other places".. well, the USA is one of the big three in population, and we produce plenty of pollution as is. The problem is not in what we do, but HOW we do it. For example, why do we have emissions standards in pollution per gallon? We end up burning more fuel than a pollution per mile system, even if that pollution per mile produces more pollution per gallon, it ends up cleaner in sum, and we have cars that get 80mpg. Just quit being s*upid, and pointing fingers at artifice. Nature is still more dangerous than what we expose ourselves to, and I can back it up if anyone cares to get yuppy on me. Flu vaccines vs. infections, EDC's from natural sources, "carcinogens" and cancers (yes plural, there is no such thing as "cancer (singular form)".. anyway, you get the idea. Yes, be the animal named human. That is good. Don't be the yuppy i*iot who buys into trendy spooks. Instead of watching this drivel, I recommend you find a youtube video called "
VW Passat 78.5 MPG (Imperial gallon) 65.2 MPG US gallon in the Uk"

newworld order
newworld order
9 years ago

Why over analyse? Despite the various comparisons we can make to other documentaries of similar kinds or criticism of lack of weight put on certain topics in the film - the truth is a vast amount of common sense has been dispensed. I have no doubt the movie makers are coming from genuine belief and desire to improve the lot of us all. The makers are genuinely trying to provide an overall picture of the problem and then the beginnings of real solutions that we can all explore in greater detail. I have a 17 month old son and for him I'm going to walk a new path and I finally feel some empowerment. More power to the planet.

ARC
ARC
9 years ago

I am reading these comments below and they are so NEGATIVE!
Your film is beautiful and informative, thank you so much for caring about our planet and our lives if we didn't have your kind of caring we would only die out sooner.
Maybe these negative comments below are all due to their brains already shrinking......
Keep up this work, they is so much to discover in nature......
and ultimately nature can't be destroyed, people will destroy themselves and the plants will keep on growing..........

SOD
SOD
9 years ago

Funny to
watch some white US Americans discovering that “before” was better..and more pathetic,
advising the world that we have to go back to our origins. Messing things up
and then teaching how to be better. Go to real country side to see how rural communities
and Indians are living.. you do not need be inspired by the poems about life,
future and Indians made by Richie-rich.

MD Hurst
MD Hurst
9 years ago

Great doc. Now about all the critic's who have took the time to state your opinion's, where is your "Proof" ? that your opinion is the correct one?

Patrick Adrien Varencaus
Patrick Adrien Varencaus
9 years ago

another evolution cr*p theory !!

MarkW99
MarkW99
9 years ago

I almost made it to the 12 minute mark. Watching these clueless goofballs pretend to stalk wild buffalo did it. News flash, you were not, in any way shape or form, "tracking" buffalo in such a way that they were not alert to your presence. That group of hapless granolas couldn't get within 100 yds of a deaf, blind Pomeranian without setting it off.

karin
karin
9 years ago

Some good points regarding the mess our food system and therefore our health is in. Some very basic info re"we are what we eat". This would be an OK movie for someone who has no clue about food. II very much disagree with them supporting animal agriculture. It is immoral, destroying the planet and is very bad fr our health as well. All that corn and soy is going to fed animals. Animal agriculture is NOT sustainable (see "Cowspiracy" and the U.N. report on this issue). You CAN NOT be an environmentalist and be a meat and animal products consumer. A whole foods, plant based diet is the only way to go.

pfir
pfir
9 years ago

A lot of very simple info but for some people who haven't heard it before very valuable.

Nickolas
Nickolas
9 years ago

I'm surprised David Wolfe was in the film. I am very disappointed in him. He was the only one who even mentioned animal agriculture and only saying plant protein was far more sustainable. Otherwise not one word about the fact that animal agriculture is the number one cause of environmental destruction including ocean die offs, algae blooms from animal manure, deforestation, climate change and ecosystem destruction. They talked about all the grain and soy and how it is GE but not one word how it mostly goes to feed animals. They could say enough paleo propaganda on how we evolved on meat and every time health was mentioned you get a view of a family grilling meat, which by the way is the most unhealthy way to cook meat. when talking about all the chemicals and the plastics not one word about it concentrating up the food chain especially in fish. Not one word. very concerning and bias. Please take note even free range organic meat is contaminated due to roundup 2 4 d Atrazine and GE alfalfa yet another inconvenient truth that was not mentioned.

Thom Prentice
Thom Prentice
9 years ago

NO economic analysis -- obesity is, for instance, not a function of capitalism-caused urban food deserts among the working and poor families and expensive "organic" food versus cheap corn-based food like corn chips, etc., but just microbial biology in white people.

No detail about pesticides and chemicals. Lots of assertions and little evidence. Wheat is not what "we" had 50 years ago. OK. I'm prepared to accept the credibility of that. Any proof?

lotsa preaching, little teaching.

Thom Prentice
Thom Prentice
9 years ago

really white and male. lots of talk about Native American wisdom but NO Native Americans. Lots of talk about Africa but except for a Bushman or two, NO Africans. Or African Americans like, say, Neil deGrasse Tyson perhaps.

Thom Prentice
Thom Prentice
9 years ago

this is a TED talk sales pitch evangelical fraud...

FollowTheFacts
FollowTheFacts
9 years ago

...oh gawd, I wasted one hour and 41 minutes on this "documentary"...and people think it's worth almost 8 stars..? – ...I gave it five and knocked down the average a tad...
A couple of years ago I watched another documentary on the same theme, two hour long I think, it was powerfully moving...almost painfully so...this didn't move me at all. Words that come to my mind are "glib"..."slick"...and utterly lacking in authenticity, if we're allowed to use that word...
The sound pick up was good or excellent...mixing of dialog/narration over background music is good or excellent...image quality is of course very good...(background music very good quality stereo and sound)
But the people...all of it unbearable..."happiness"..?? – ..if you're american you have no right to be "happy" I don't care what you eat!
..and the old "sugar is addictive"...well it's not...to compare sugar to cocaine is beyond absurd...I'll tell you what's addictive – nicotine...and you can make a list but sugar has no place on it...
But people seem to like this "documentary" and that's their right, so...that's it for me...

Phroster
Phroster
9 years ago

I find this documentary very subjective, it is completely unbalanced and not neutral. Not like a good documentary should be.

~Oliver B Koslik Esq
~Oliver B Koslik Esq
9 years ago

Outstanding!

10/10!
+1

bradley
bradley
9 years ago

Overall a good positive feel good message, however was a bit boring and over-done in places. A lot of very simple info but for some people who haven't heard it before very valuable.
I stopped watching the first time cos got bored but tried a second time and enjoyed from half an hour on. I have respect for the people in the show and think using people with a big following is a good method of getting the video out.
if you have a low toxin diet and avoid sugar and unnecessary antibiotics and harbour a great love for the planet there may not be much here for you, but for younger people or people on standard diet or suffering from unknown illnesses this could be really invaluable.
The films given for free so they have a right to advertise their own product at the end, you dont have to buy, surprised at the negativity here ( i didnt notice any advertisements myself maybe they cut it out).

ginarnold
ginarnold
9 years ago

First I noticed the lack of real scholarship, a couple md's, but authors, and business people. Then I noticed it was all "fluff" information, not so inaccurate but tell me something I did not know. Finally the speaker said, "antibiotic, anti against, biotic life so against life". Very, very deceiving, sort of like, guns don't kill people. Of course I had to go to the end to find out, I can buy for $97, down from $495, this program. There is one on every corner.

shaody
shaody
9 years ago

A great book relevant to this documantary is "Missing Microbes" by Martin Blaser.

guarrandongo
guarrandongo
9 years ago

The sublime Will Powers "Dancing For Mental Health" contains a voiceover almost identical to this guy. But it's c o m e d y.. duh! How long could I stand to listen to this overweight pompous dirge so oh-so-nobly long in the making n' all puffed up with po-face alpha macho boys and girls trying their damndest to look cool and concerned? A tedious 37 mins. Hey where's my prize? Nobody else lasted this long having to hear about "oh my gaaawd .. fings ain't what they used to be.."!
Just personally, I'm about 20 years older than i would have survived if not for our tewibly sinful modern way of life. and when I get the demon toothache nothing sees it off like old Oxytet, believe me. And no,, camomile tea really doesn't hit the throbbing fkn spot.
Oh and by the way --- crass as it sounds to your tender newage ears --- life is what it IS and life will always find a way (remember one time -- you're just a bunch of 'crappy chemicals' yourself!).

PS. Was the bozo-with-a-casio muzak soundtrack "4 years in the making too?"

Philip Kelleher
Philip Kelleher
9 years ago

Great documentary ! Maybe the naysayers will come up with a 'perfect' film themselves...some day...:-)

Guest
Guest
9 years ago

very important info

paul
paul
9 years ago

I can't believe you did this. Didn't you screen this and ask people what they thought. You ruined the most incredibly important message ALL people need to see. Starts with a bunch of white yuppies or whatever they are now called....white folks with lots of money to spend and continued to show 95% white people.. Couldn't you find some doctors, nutritionists, ecologists, farmers, authors, etc. of COLOR. You really ruined the message. If you had shown this to 25 people and asked them what they thought they would have told you. Four years of work wasted. The message is 100% right on and accurate, but I would be embarrased to tell people to watch it.

desktop joe
desktop joe
9 years ago

Makes me feel like going outside and growing some vegetables. Fresh veges without the Monsanto genome are great.

Debra
Debra
9 years ago

I have just seen the cutest baby ever!

JohnAdams
JohnAdams
9 years ago

for shame to all of the persons whos guilty conscious allowed themselves to foolishly comment negatively about this wonderful and hope inspireing . . .Truth. . . you people need to ask yourself why you had to find fault with simple truths. . . . but please do not put your guilt from nonaction on our generation. . . we wish you no harm but hope you can see and well walk the path of beauty together. . . . THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS MOVIE. . . .

Vlatko
Vlatko
9 years ago

I think this movie has several major problems:

1. Few known facts are mixed with many half-truths and yet unproven theories and all that is presented as already established knowledge.

2. There are many claims but there's no support of any serious studies, research and peer-reviewed articles presented, or even mentioned as such.

3. Some of the people interviewed are coming from "questionable" organizations. For example one lady in the movie is a CEO of a company that sells baby products, one gentlemen is a head of mental clinic that is known for promotion of bogus products, etc.

4. The film is just a click bait with an end-goal of selling a package of products on the film's homepage.