Questioning Descartes' Theory of Reality and Dreams in the Movie Inception

In the film Inception, Dom Cobb is a veteran thief at stealing advantageous confidential information from deep within one’s subconscious mind during the dream state, also known as REM sleep, when the mind is defenseless. Cobb's unique ability has made him a lust after player in this tricky situation of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an global exile and cost him everything he has ever cherished.

Cobb is now allowed a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can perform the unthinkable; inception, which is “the act of instilling an idea into someone’s mind by entering his or her dreams.” Since it has never been successfully completed, the stakes are high and there are immense risks. They set forth anyway with high hopes, but no measure of careful planning or proficiency can prepare them for the dangerous opponent that seems to foresee their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have anticipated.

In regards to Rene Descartes’ argument that we cannot know whether or not we are waking or dreaming, I agree and disagree respectively. Descartes’ solution to the problem of dreaming versus reality was to argue that “our memory can never connect our dreams with each other and with the course of life, in the way it is in the habit of doing with events that occur when we are awake.” So, to examine the possibility that you might be dreaming, you need to be awake. This is a way to distinguish dreams from reality, and so can provide a basis for holding that you aren’t currently dreaming.

Descartes describes how what we see isn’t always real; anything we experience in our life could just be a dream because dreams are so real until we wake up and realize they aren’t. Our whole life could just be a dream and we just haven’t woken up yet. Cobb’s dream world is all real, filled with fake memories, and experiences he has had. Just like how Descartes states that everything we experience in a dream we have already experienced in real life. Descartes establishes the argument that, anything we see or experience can be unreal there is always a doubt, we cannot ever be sure if something exist or does not exist. Dreams are unreal perception of our life, but what happens when our real life is just a dream itself.

For the most part, I agree with Descartes’ theory, but it is similar to the argument of whether or not aliens really exist, and does it even really matter if we have the answer to that question? Yes, our entire existence that we believe to be real could all be a dream, but it doesn’t take away the way we feel, or our beliefs, happiness, or experiences. When Cobb was indulging in the inception, his wife was there, feeling completely real and present, even though she was not.

Having her there still made Cobb feel connected and in love with her, having the feelings be authentic in that dream state. We can theorize for the rest of our lives trying to determine if we are in constant REM state, but that does not change the past. If we were to somehow come to the skill that Cobb was able to encompass, then we may be able to get somewhere in changing the way the future would play out, but right now it is impossible.

Overall, I enjoyed the film immensely, it gave right insight and a new lens to look through on the topic of reality, and it corresponds to the material we have been analyzing in class.