Humans Seem to Be an Exception

'Humans Seem to Be an Exception' is a documentary project on the phenomenon Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS). People with EHS claim sensitivity and attribute symptoms to exposure to various sources of non-ionising electromagnetic radiation we have introduced in our living environment. Radiation sources like WiFi, cell phone usage, Bluetooth but also common household electronics. Decades of research have already been conducted into possible side-effects of this radiation. Yet, despite occasional red flags or worrisome correlations, no conclusive proof of a clear, causal relationship between exposure & health problems has been found to date. Electromagnetic hypersensitivity therefore remains unrecognised as an existing condition.

The disease finds itself in an uncertain ground. It's considered as pseudoscientific according to the existing scientific consensus. A psychosomatic manifestation where it is the imagination that turns the body sick rather than an external influence. At the same time, it is taken serious and is researched by this same scientific world that labels it not real. We know of magnetic sensitivity in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and even several mammals. Yet humans seem to be an exception. The final word on it is yet to be said. Until then the phenomenon exists in both sides of this real/unreal question.

'Humans Seem to Be an Exception' analyses EHS from three perspectives. It shows how those with EHS have to exist in a hostile world that not only denies what they feel but is also growing more and more saturated by what they try to escape. The project also shows how the phenomenon exists in the scientific world where it is being studied despite not being recognised. Finally, the work includes DIY provocation experiments made in collaboration with people with EHS and show how the phenomenon exists as pseudoscience. Through their design, these experiments cannot claim to be actual proof of side effects caused by exposure. The intricate protocols science follows scientific protocols that avoid tainted results are ignored. What they do show is confirmation that any claimed symptom is still real, regardless what is causing it.

Because in the end, this is the only certainty no matter what the outcome on the phenomenon will be. In the future science will either discover the disease to be real after all or definitively be able to conclude that it is a psychosomatic syndrome. Either way, whether it be the radiation causing illness or the mind itself, the symptoms remain equally real. There is no option where those with EHS do not suffer.