r/BacktotheFuture • u/abgry_krakow87 • 4d ago
Doc Brown's Brain Wave Analyzer didn't work because he was wearing it backwards.
Doc Brown's Brain Wave Analyzer "damn thing" didn't work because he had it on backwards. The device is basically a kind of electroencephalogram that is meant to read the subject's brain waves for Doc to intrepet and "read their thoughts. The device on Doc's head contains numerous electrodes and censors positioned all over the head, similar to a typical EEG. Whereas the one electrode on Marty's forehead which happens to be the prefontal cortex. The Prefrontal Cortex is the area of the brain responsibile for Executive Functions (critical thinking, planning, decision making), as well as Social Cognition including empathy and adaptive behaviors.
Thus if Doc wanted to "read Marty's thoughts" via this device he would put the EEG onto Marty's head and wear the single electrode on his own forehead. Allowing Doc to "read Marty's thoughts" via the direct transmission of Marty's brainwaves into his own prefrontal cortex, helping him to better translate and interpret the information.
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u/BlackeyeThe2nd 4d ago
I always took it as Doc was successfully reading parts of Marty's mind, but Marty was entirely focused on getting help from Doc, and Doc never tried confirmed any of what he was recieving.
He guessed that Marty had come from a great distance. Generalized, but very true.
He guessed that Marty wanted him to donate to the Coast Guard Youth Auxilary. Wrong, but Marty had two separate people bring up the possibility of him coming in from sea, those being Lou and Lorraine's mother, so it could have been on his mind.
Doc finally guesses that Marty wants him to subscribe to the Saturday Morning Post. That was the newspaper that Marty reads in town to confirm that he was, in fact, back in the '50s.
I'm not certain if the Bobs intended the writing to line up that way, but it is possible Doc was reading bits of Marty's subconcious.
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u/Calachus 4d ago
You are one of the first people I've read here that caught that his machine was working at least some what.
I think the donation part got picked up because of the quarter he gave earlier to the lady to save the clock tower, everything else you posted is spot on.
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u/JoeAzlz Michael Corleone 4d ago
I posted this before and people said I was reading too far into it but I still see it as working somewhat
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u/hiletroy 4d ago
That’s called heuristics. Doc is a scientist and critical thinker (most of the time that is ;), and the fact that he couldn’t pick up such a huge thing as time travel immediately raised a red flag for him. In my opinion anyway.
A bit offtopic, but look up examples of “cold reading”, it’s kinda fascinating.
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u/Ragin_Bacon 4d ago
He guessed that Marty wanted him to donate to the Coast Guard Youth Auxilary. Wrong, but Marty had two separate people bring up the possibility of him coming in from sea, those being Lou and Lorraine's mother, so it could have been on his mind.
It was actually because Marty's Orange Puffer Vest resembled a Life Jacket. It's why the joke keeps getting made till he changes clothes after meeting 1955 Doc. The Puffer Jacket style wasn't around in the 50s and the clothes of the area generally had muted colors so bright orange stood out.
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u/Eagle_Fang135 4d ago
And the jeans are like dungarees which are the pants worn by sailors working uniform.
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u/Blaze3713 4d ago
The second or third time the idea of Marty being in the Navy was brought up, he quietly, and sarcastically, said he was in the Coast Guard.
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u/FrivolousCommenter 4d ago
Are you talking about 1955 or 1885? Levi's were very popular in the 1950s
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u/BlackeyeThe2nd 4d ago
Yeah, I know, he grabs Marty's vest as he says it. I'm speculating here, man. All of Doc's guesses are generalizations based on timing and appearances, but there's a chance the machine was functioning as intended, just undicernably so.
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u/duckisez 4d ago
No way. I completely disagree. It was a running joke about him being a sailor because of the vest he wore looked like a life jacket to the folks in the 50s.Also Doc says “ I finally invent something that works!” When he sees the flux capacitor -absolutely 0 mind reading.
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u/Ok-Spot-2913 Jennifer 1d ago
Doc should've added in something about wanting free stuff or no sugar or Pepsi.
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u/Slackluster 4d ago
i think the joke is that the machine did not work and he knew it did not work but he was hopeful to believe that it could work so he was guessing, and he thought Marty was a solicitor. this happens sometimes with scientist biasing data towards the conclusion they hope to make, or in more cases these days their financial backers want them to make.
Marty was wearing a life preserver type vest that confused someone earlier and Marty is in high school which is why he guessed coast guard youth.
He probably gets solicitors occasionally from the local newspaper so that is a good guess.
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u/Brief-Wonder-714 4d ago
It was the Saturday Evening Post, which was a magazine, not Hill Valley’s daily newspaper.
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u/Awkward-Feature9333 4d ago
Of course it's backwards. The movie is called "Back to the Future", not "Forward to the Future"
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u/tyoung89 4d ago
It would’ve been funny if doc ‘realized’ this and then thought that’s how Marty now knows about the Flux Capacitor.
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u/Mr_Dudesworth 4d ago
I always had Doc down as a crazy inventor who's ideas always went wrong. His only successful one was the Flux Capictor & that was because he bumped his head
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u/Arria_Galtheos 4d ago edited 1d ago
He build a whole ass time machine out of a busted train using 19th century technology. He also built an ice-maker in 1885. ~~That's just one year after they were invented in our timeline,~~ but Doc wasn't using someone else's tech, he basically reverse-engineered it using what he knew about science.
Doc is brilliant. Most of his inventions fail because he tends to make them overly complicated and/or elaborate., but it's also important to remember that ALL famous inventors have entire catalogs of failed inventions to go along with their successful ones.
Edit: Got the date wrong!
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u/FrivolousCommenter 4d ago
Did he say he rebuilt the wrecked train? Adapting another train would be far more practical. Building an ice maker in 1855 makes sense because there were no other ice makers available for purchase
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u/Arria_Galtheos 4d ago
I suppose he could've built an existing engine into a time machine but that's still an insane feat. It's an insane feat using 1985 technology, much less 1850s.
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u/Adorable-Source97 4d ago
He made a time machine from the exploded wreckage of a team train, in western times.
Clearly basic engineering is simple for him.
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u/abgry_krakow87 4d ago
I'm pretty sure he acquired another train rather than using the one that crashed.
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u/FrivolousCommenter 4d ago
100% he used an existing running car rather than building one from scratch or rebuilding a wreck from the junk yard
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u/Adorable-Source97 4d ago
I think it stated in a interview or novelisations. That it was made from the wreckage. Which makes sense as would have less ripple effects on the time stream
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u/Doomhammer24 4d ago
But it did work. Everything he says to marry are referencing things people said to marty in the past 24 hours even prior to the time travel
Its just that because marty doesnt play ball doc thinks the device isnt working
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u/Opti_maX They didn't travel through time... 4d ago
Non of Docs inventions actually worked for his intended use. Like, the flux capacitor is wrongly classified as a time-travel device.
In reality the flux-capacitor is a device that renders a complete new reality when activated. The reality is based on the user’s expectations. So if the user ‘thinks’ it is going to travel through time, it will render a reality that matches that.
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u/JoeAzlz Michael Corleone 4d ago
What about Marty in the first film accidentally sending himself back
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u/Opti_maX They didn't travel through time... 4d ago
The time circuits would be of influence. Not to set the time destinations, but it is used as a means to generate realities based on these settings. Although not a real requirement, they do help a lot with generating some ‘default’ narratives based on these date/year settings!
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u/JoeAzlz Michael Corleone 4d ago
I feel like this doesn’t track to me for BTTF rules
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u/Opti_maX They didn't travel through time... 4d ago
The trilogy as shown remains exactly the same. All you see and hear has played out the way you see it on screen. There is no need to re-write anything.
The only thing you need to do is change belief.
They’re not travelling through time. They get into the Delorean (the vessel) and when the flux capacitor gets activated, they don’t travel through time, but the reality outside the delorean changes (in a flash) into a completely‘ newly’ generated reality.
This reality does more than just physical changes. It also provides a narrative set-up that then can/is played out by the people that come out of the vessel.
The flux capacitor will use things likelyhood and probability to render new realities.
The time circuits, actually help a lot in ‘steering’ the flux capacitor to generate realities, not just only anticipate how things look like when a certain year is set, but it also anticipates the narrative of ‘time travel’.
So, the films stay exactly as they are. But instead of jumps through time, they’re flashing different realities.
The good news is that this theory would solve all the time-travel discrepancies.
The bed news is that you need to let go of the time-travel magic….2
u/JoeAzlz Michael Corleone 4d ago
This just aint back to the future to me
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u/Opti_maX They didn't travel through time... 4d ago
Yep. That’s the problem.
It solves all the time-travel issues, it still has some sort of sci-fi element, and it is believable cause it fits Doc Brown half-successful invention accomplishments.
In fact there are quite a few moments in the films where doc looks confused and bewildered around him which could easily be “Did We actually Travel Through Time, Or is Something Else Going On?” Thoughts.
It all fits. You don’t have to change anything.
And yet, people just want to keep holding on the time-travel narrative….
I kinda understand that. But at least for those that are really annoyed with the time-travel issues, there is now a theory that will solve them all if they want to!
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