Inception and Lucid Dreaming: Truth Behind the Movie

Christopher Nolan (Director of Batman Dark Night)'s movie Inception promises to be one of this summers greatest works.  This science fiction fantasy brings to life a world were dreams and reality intertwine, delivering a truly original story that is drawing praise from both critics and audiences alike.  Along with a unique plot this movie delivers Oscar worthy performances from its cast which includes Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic) and Ellen Page (Juno).  Inception rounds itself off with stunning special effects and epic action scenes that compliment the inspirational acting and multi-layered plot.  Inception is the story of rogue agents that use a device developed by the military to consciously enter into the dreams of their targets in order to steal information for their clients.  The team is lead by Cobb (DiCaprio) who has been jaded by the resent separation from his family who continue to haunt his dreams. 

Inception is unique because it deals with the world of dreams on the silver screen in new and innovative ways; in it dreams are something more that just the subconscious ramblings of the sleeping mind.  However, unlike its predecessors such as Dreamscape (1984) or The Nightmare on Elm Street series, which added a level of mysticism and fantasy to the dream realm, Inception deals with dreams in a scientific way.  The dreamers are connected to a machine that links them all into the dreams of one individual.  Once inside the dream world it is explained that everyone who is not connected from the real world is the subconscious manifestation of the dreamers themselves.  Just like in real dreams the dreamer can become aware of the fact that they are dreaming - this phenomenal is known as lucid dreaming.  It is also possible for one to forget they are dreaming and get lost in the dream.  Time itself operates at different speeds while dreaming.   Most of these phenomena have some grounding in the reality of dreams as we all experience them.  Let's explore the difference between the facts and fictions of the dream world.

The most notable aspect of the lucid dreams in Inception is the ability of more than one person to coexist in a mutual dream. Throughout history and myth there have been reports of people sharing dreams. In Robert Jordan's fantasy series The Wheel of Time the dream world is known as Tel'aran'rhiodand the characters can coexist in this world at the same time. Their have been many movies where the stars meet in dreams for various purposes, be it intentional or not. Neil Gaiman's award wining Sandman series brought the Dreaming to life in an epic story like none other. Australian aborigines believe in the Dreamtime which is their spirit world that exist parallel to the physical world; their shamans are able to travel in the Dreamtime for knowledge and healing. Despite the above works and beliefs in mutual dreaming, I am aware of no real scientific data that would support the possibility of mutual dreaming. Their have been studies however which state that instances of dream telepathy far exceed the odds of chance. One such case would be Dr. Montague Ullman and Dr. Stanley Krippner's study in the 1960's at MaimonidesHospital in Brooklyn; in this study a subject who was awake in another room attempted to send mental pictures of paintings to a subject who was in REM sleep. [From: Stephen LaBerge, (1985). LUCID DREAMING] When waking many subjects recounted dreams similar to that of the pictures being sent to them. If you couple the possibility of psychic links with the idea of an external device connecting two people together it may some day be possible to share dreams with the aid of science. As for now I would have to conclude that dreams are a subjective experience and mutual dreaming is beyond the capabilities of anyone without exceptional psychic abilities. And if these individuals exist there is no available scientific data to prove it.

The second aspect of Inception I would like to address is a concept you may have experienced to some degree already - that is the ability to become consciously aware you are dreaming in your own dreams.  This concept is known as lucid dreaming, and its practice is becoming more popular every day.  For some of us this has only happened once or twice by accident and we usually wake up as soon as we realize we are dreaming. Others may never have had a lucid dream.  But there are some individuals to whom the art of lucid dreaming has become a science.  They study the methods of inducing lucid dreams and practice their skills while in the dream world.  Once the dreamer becomes aware of they are dreaming they can control their dreams to a degree that surpasses that of the characters in Inception.  Not only can a skilled lucid dreamer control the content of the dream but they can also control themselves as well.  A lucid dreamer could very easily fly or grant themselves superhuman strength.  The imagination may truly be the limit where lucid dreaming is concerned. 

There are several other aspects of Inception I would like to discuss here. The extras in the dreams were referred to as subconscious manifestations of the psyche. Given that our dreams occur in our own heads and are subjective to us I would have to say this is an accurate description of the people we encounter in our dreams. It is common to meet someone you know in a dream yet they do not look like the person you know them to be. In a standard dream we do not even realize this is happening until we wake. In a lucid dream this is less likely to happen. It has also been reported by many lucid dreamers that they meet people in their dreams claiming to be guides who teach them if they want their help. This is very similar to my experiences with core shamanism, and I think the shamanic state and the dream world may be tied very close together as the aborigine's Dreamtime suggest.

In the movie time slowed greatly for the dreamer.  As they traveled deeper into the dream world time slowed even more.  Now I think this was great for the movie and it made for some truly awesome choreographed scenes.  But in the real world the time disparities are not that great.  I know in the usual unconscious dreaming time is completely whacked out.  The time between me hitting my snooze button and it going off again can seem like seconds or hours depending on the circumstance.  But studies in lucid dreams have shown that time differences while consciously dreaming are minimal to non existent.

The history of lucid dreaming most likely dates back to the days the first humans dreamed. But it was not known as lucid dreaming until the phrase was coined by psychiatrist Fredrik van Eeden who began recording his own dreams and classifying them by type in 1896. Little contribution was made to this science however until Dr. Stephen LaBerge began writing his theses on the subject for his PH.D. at StanfordUniversity in the 1980's. Dr. LaBerge is the leading lucid dream researcher in the world. He founded The Lucidity Institute which promotes dream research and trains people on how to achieve these dreams. I have read some of his works on the subject and found them to be very enlightening. When he sees Inception I hope he enjoys it as much as I did.

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