The Science Behind “Inception”
Photo by Christophe Hautier
What is Inception?
If you haven’t seen the movie “Inception,” stop reading. You will most definitely not understand a single thing in this article. In 2010, Christopher Nolan produced a mind-bending, and complicated thriller called “Inception.” In the movie, the protagonist, Dominick Cobb, (Leonardo DiCaprio), is a thief with the ability to enter people’s dreams and steal secrets from their subconscious. Cobb has lost everything he loves and suddenly gets a chance at redemption, by planting an idea in someone’s mind. This is called an Inception, and he and his team must conduct the perfect crime, but an enemy foreshadows Cobb’s every move.
The Science Behind It
Despite”Inception” being confusing, it also make neurological sense. According to Wired, “from the perspective of your brain, dreaming and movie-watching are strangely parallel experiences. In fact, one could argue that sitting in a darkened theater and staring at a thriller is the closest one can get to REM sleep with open eyes.” When you fall asleep, you undergo the dreaming state, also accompanied by a wide range “limbic” areas. “Inception” tries to cave in the thin difference from dreaming and movie-watching. The whole movie has scenes that don’t make sense, like the scenes change dramatically, and many questions leave unanswered. “Inception” is also heavily based on lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is the state that the person is aware they are dreaming. According to Salon, “lucid dreaming may also be the key to communicating with the awake: a new study reveals that it is possible to communicate with someone while they are dreaming, although the catch is that it has to be a lucid dream.”
Is it Possible to Enter Someone’s Mind?
“I know how to find secrets from your mind–I know all the tricks!” This is a scene from the movie, when the protagonist enters someone’s mind through a dream. But is it science fiction, or reality? Well, Jack Gallant, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, has researched neuroscience and psychology, and at Berkeley whose purpose is to see inside the mind. By taking a functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) scan of their brains, he can construct a model of the individuals visual system. It’s like taking a picture right out of your head. While research in mind reading technology is still presses ahead, there are limitations to what we can do. And now the question you’re probably wondering, is it possible to plant an idea or “inception” in someone’s mind? Well for now, the thought of it remains fiction, well for the time being. “You have to have a way to manipulate specific neurons and synapses in specific ways–and that’s really difficult and not going to happen anytime soon,” says Gallant. “I think it’s legitimate for some people to have some concerns about brain-reading technology being used for bad things, but nobody has to be worried about one of those bad things being writing stuff to the brain.” I think this type of technology is dangerous. Yes it’s important for us humans to explore the brain and think of the possibilities, but imagine a world where your mind can be invaded, and a thought can be planted in your head.
Related Stories:
https://www.forbes.com/2010/07/29/inception-science-dreams-technology-brain.html?sh=71f9066019e6
https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/inception-dream-reading-technology-real-science
https://www.wired.com/2010/07/the-neuroscience-of-inception/
TAKE ACTION:
