Last night I finally got a chance to watch the popular movie "Inception". It explores not only the question of the possibility of accessing and manipulating minds through accessing the subconscious in the dream state but also the question whether a perfect constructed illusion would be preferable to the real world.
The first time I encountered the latter question was about 30 years ago in a short science fiction story (of Isaac Asimov if I'm not mistaken). It's been picked up in various variations in a number of movies since then - some that come immediately to mind are the energy ribbon "Nexus" in "Star Trek Generations", "The Matrix" with the option to swallow the red or the blue pill and "The Truman Show", to mention just a few.
As perfect and in many ways preferable the constructed illusion seems to be in comparison to the real world, the main character always chooses reality in the end. And although the two are hardly distinguishable, in the illusionary world there are always hints left that the dream world is not objective which gives the ability to discern and ultimately prompts the choice whether to return or to remain in limbo.
As much as I enjoyed "Inception" with its great imagination and cinematography, the TV series "Lost" was more engaging because it probes deeper into the issue of what is real and what is not, particularly when it comes to the life stories of each character. There, it's not just the question what's real but also what is true about a person or not: Is Sayid (and in a way each of the cast) defined by his past as an Iraqi torturer and unredeemably evil? Does Jack have what it takes or not? Will the missing validation from his father continue to haunt him forever?
But let me add something rather unrelated about "Inception" that continues to intrigue me: have you ever dreamed in a dream that you dreamed, "woke up" in the dream and then were convinced that you'd be in the real world (until you finally woke up for real)? I have. I think I can even a recall a level 3 or 4 dream I had once. It is indeed a freaky thing - which makes me wonder what role dreams play beyond the more obvious biological need to process the overload of sensory stimuli and information which doesn't get processed consciously.
