Do I lie to myself to be happy?

1. Do I lie to myself to be happy? Steven Alfred So Jemimah Thai Trisha Lorraine Saile Krimi San Pedro Carissa Castell Dustin Ingusan

2. What to you are the central themes in Plato’s allegory of the cave?

3. Humanity Knowledge

4. Allegory is “the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence.” Plato’s allegory of the cave is about knowledge and humanity. People are trapped inside the cave like prisoners, chained and unable to move. All they see are shadows on the wall. They this is the reality because it is all they’ve ever known. On the other hand, there are people outside the cave, exposed to the light. They want the cave dwellers to get out of the cave and see the truth and reality. However, the people inside the cave wouldn’t want to leave because they already believe that their world is the reality.

5. A depiction of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (1604)

6. What are the ways by which the film closely resembles the allegory of the cave?

8. The film closely resembles the allegory of the cave. The people trapped in the cave are like the people trapped in their dreams, thinking that it is the reality. They are fooled into a false reality. Many characters in the film were taken within the dream world and tricked. All they see are projections of reality just like the shadows of reality Plato talks of in his allegory of the cave. Because the cave people believe so surely in the shadows, just as some of the characters in the movie like Cobb’s wife, it is extremely difficult to get them to leave. As people are chained to the walls in the cave, they are led to believe they are in the one world, seeing all there to see. In dreams, people are thrown into situations, and led to believe it is the world and the truth. Both are trapped in caves of their own.

10. Conversely, what are the ways by which the film differs from it?

11. In the allegory of the cave, the view of the prisoners in the cave is justified. The prisoners are trapped inside a cave where they only believe in the shadows they see which are controlled by other people, in the same way as people in reality are trapped in what they believe in or what other people make them believe. On the other hand, the view of Mal can be mistaken because it is solely what she believes in. It is only a view of one person and does not reflect the reality. Also, in the dream, Mal and Dom built a world based on their memories and what they want only. Thus, it does not reflect about the humans as a whole.

13. Enumerate instances (key scenes) where the film clearly delineates “false” reality from “true” reality.

14. Delineations of "false" reality from "true" reality were particularly evident in: (1) The early scene where Cobb recruits Ariadne to become the architect for their "extraction team". They created a "maze" that defies the laws of physics and tricks the subconscious to believe in this false reality; (2) When they developed their own "totems" to verify if they are still in a dream or not. Totems became their measure of "true" reality since they are subject to logical and technical principles (science, among others). "False" reality would then cause their totems to behave "unnaturally"; (3) Cobb admitted that he keeps Mal alive in his subconscious (even in the deepest dream layer, Limbo). However, in "true" reality, she is dead. This causes a drift in Cobb's thinking pattern as he can't keep Mal isolated in a specific part of his memory which even jeopardized the whole extraction mission.

16. If someone can infiltrate your dreams in order to make you behave a certain way, do you really have free will?

17. According to Plato, the major difficulty we face is the lack of consciousness of the true world: “idealism” while falsely taking the apparently world as reality. In Nietzsche’s viewpoint, one of the greatest modern issues we face is the destructive belief that there is a metaphysical world and that it is more momentous than the apparent waking world. Mal’s tragic death is caused by both of these issues. Firstly, she willingly forgets that limbo is unreal. This is symbolically shown when she puts her spinning top in a safe in her dolls’ house. Dom remedies this with his first inception. Secondly, she succumbs to the idea that waking reality is a dream – resulting in her suicide by jumping from a window.

18. In the film, extraction and inception only seem possible when the target is not aware of being in a dream. When Mal alerts Saito of being in a dream, he can quickly block their plan. When Mr. Charles informs Fischer of being in a dream, hostile projections are more alert. Arthur had previously warned them of this, based on a previous failed attempt to use the “Mr. Charles” gambit. Therefore, in the reality of the film, loosing grip of what is “real” opens the mind to be manipulated. • From personal experience, thoughts and ideas of a person is only the collective of that person’s human experience. However, it is up to the person to act on it. Should somebody infiltrate their dreams, and in extension their minds, to make them do something, there is still the presence of resistance from completely succumbing to the command. Imposition and indoctrination is ever-present, but it is up to the person to find a way to negate it, no matter how cathartic it may be.

19. Is free will that easily manipulated?

20. Free will, in itself, is subjective to the person. Since it is inherent to the person’s mental abilities and personal experiences, it ultimately depends on every person. The premise behind the movie is the manipulation of dreams, giving us the clashing values of free will versus determination. The main tactic of this manipulation is the "dream within a dream." This brings to mind Descartes, who used dreams to illustrate our lack of certainty about reality. Descartes reminded us that we have all had a dream that seemed real as we were experiencing it, only to find when we awoke that it was only a dream. This is Descartes' basis for asserting the possibility that the "reality" we awake into may be yet another dream--we cannot know for certain that it isn't.

21. A good example for this is the characters' need to carry an object with them when they enter the dreams of others, which they can use to tell if they are in the dream world they intend to be, or if they have entered another--perhaps their own. The idea of needing such an object shows us the blurry nature of "reality," and how tentative a grip we have on it.

22. Discuss how Cobb’s actions follow closely either some of the 4 Noble Truths or all of them.

23. Buddhism is very much centralized in the doctrine of the 4 Noble Truths. Its main theme is about the very nature of suffering, its cause, and a way out of it

24. The Four Noble Truths • 1. The truth of suffering. It is inevitable for human to actually experience suffering, pain, and anxiety. It is part of life. It can either be physical torment or mental suffering. Buddhism addresses the mental pain. • 2. The origin of suffering. The cause of suffering is having this unquenched thirst or grasping on a certain desire. According to Buddhist teachings, there are three poisons that are the main cause of suffering: ignorance (delusion; not knowledgeable of reality), attachment (greed; excessively clinging on to something), and aversion (hatred; not getting what one wants). • 3. The way out of suffering. This part is also called the cessation of suffering when one eliminates the cause. In the case of the grasping of desire, one must learn to let go to set him free from such suffering. • 4. The path leading to the cessation of suffering. The famous path stated here is the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration

25. After exploring the concept of the 4 Noble Truths, we can evidently say there is a close pattern of such practice to the actions of Cobb in the movie Inception. Cobb is the protagonist of the movie; he extracts information in dreamland by hijacking into the subconscious state of a person. • Delving into the film, we see his many struggles and sufferings. He was haunted by his wife’s suicide and severely tormented by the fact that he cannot see his children. Through his actions, one can sense loneliness, guilt, and pain. Indeed, there is truth in suffering.

26. Going to the second truth, we identify the cause of such suffering: excessive attachment to his dead wife. Upon sharing a dream, Ariadne was able to see Cobb’s skeletons in the closet. He kept a special place for his dead wife Mal. Projections of Mal all over the layered dreams sabotaged Cob’s team. He was clinging on to the idea of Mal; he was also very guilty for causing Mal’s suicide.

27. He must be able to release and let go of his projections of Mal. When Ariadne and Cobb entered Limbo, an intense confrontation happened between the couple. At long last, he was able to confess that he was the one responsible for implanting the idea of suicide into his wife’s head when they were in limbo so that they could leave Limbo. With such action, he was able to let go of his overly attachment with his wife; he also found closure upon confessing his inception.

29. Finally, he was free from the haunts of Mal. In the end, he was able to find Saito and bring him back to reality. The ending was ambiguous in the sense that his top continued to spin; but for me, it was clear to see that he was not haunted anymore by the projections of his wife; he just wanted to embrace his children.

31. Thank you!