Inception

Reyes, Ronald Angelo A.

2010-39084

The movie “Inception” left many people fascinated about dreams. It opened our eyes in the wide range of possibilities that can happen while asleep. It made us question our own reality. It made us choose between living in a dream or in reality given the chance. It opened debates about the scientific accuracy and the theoretical feasibility of inception. Ultimately, it drove people to study dreams more passionately. Not only those who we call sleep doctors but also people from the tech industry. It leads to the conception of step-by-step processes for achieving lucid dreaming and thus, inception.

“Inception” is a sci-fi film directed by Christopher Nolan starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It revolves around Dom, played by DiCaprio, a professional spy specializing in infiltrating his targets’ subconscious. The plot is about a using inception to influence an heir to a powerful corporation into dissolving his father’s legacy. This opens an opportunity for the story’s protagonist, Dom, to get a ‘ticket’ for a flight back home, back to his children. Dom was a master in his craft, he and his team could have finished the job without a hitch but there was a problem. His subconscious is haunting him, his dead wife. This poses a problem in the movie and this problem might also be reflected in the real world as our technology and research delves deeper in the world of dreams.

The movie introduced to us several things we do experience when dreaming. An example of this is the “kick”, the sense of falling that wakes up a person, ending a dream. I myself have experienced this “kick” when I fall asleep while travelling. Another experience the film shared with reality is the concept of a dream within a dream. In my experience, it happens when my body is extremely tired and is in a deep sleep. Another idea shared by the movie is one of the things that tell us that we are in a dream: not knowing when or where the dream started.

Recently, a new device, a headband, was launched on Kickstarter last January. It promises to allow its user to control his/her dream. This is a sign that humanity is taking serious steps into taking control of everything there is, including his dreams. This brings us into thinking about the opportunity, morality and consequences of the strides humanity is making in the research of dreams. This kind of technology can change the course of how we treat neurological processes or everything in the field of science.