Hung , Mark Lim, AudreyTrinidad, FrancoVargas, Glen

Plato’s Allegory at the Cave

Central Themes

How do we perceive reality?

What is true reality?

What do we do with our “accepted” reality?

Similarities

Both emphasize the importance of an “idea”.

Both deal with having two “realities”.

Both struggle finding which reality is best to live in.

Difference

In Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners were already set in an environment, while in Inception they can go in and out of the dream state.

In Allegory of the Cave, once you get out of the cave you know which world is which. In Inception you can hardly tell it without a totem.

FALSE VS TRUTH

How does the mind separate false

reality form true reality

Something unusual or odd

Ex. when Cobb changes too many things in a dream, the dreamer gets suspicious

Memory EX. In the movie if you don’t remember

where you came from or how you got to that place then it is more likely to be a dream

Totem

EX. If the totem stops spinning its reality , if it just keeps on going it’s a dream

Not really accurate in real life

QUESTION #3

•There can be free will because it is your dream that the infiltrator is using. He is trying to diverge into the person’s memories. •We make and create our own world in our dreams, and might as well be the ones controlling it. •The infiltrator is the one who is trying to confuse you in your dream and try to boggle your mind with the memories stored inside of you.

Free will is easily manipulated because you have to take certain obstacles like the scene wherein Fischer is being manipulated in his dream by Cobb wherein he would assist Fischer in to the basics of inception.

Fischer just had to follow what Cobb what instructing him to do.

Your free will is manipulated because there are memories which you find yourself vulnerable, and you can’t let go of them.

Inception and the 4 Noble Truths

Like any other man, the actions and personality of Cobb from the film “Inception”

are recognizable to be aligned with that of the Four Noble Truths which Buddha has

constructed.

First Noble Truth - Suffering

Cobb was clearly living a life of suffering after, and even before the death of his wife, Mol. The two had lived over 50 years in their dreams, which was obviously a delusional thing to do.

After Mol’s death, Cobb was clearly haunted by the past, blaming himself for her death. This caused him to live in anxiety, especially when he’s in a dream.

Cobb also constantly visits Mol in his dreams to preserve their relationship.

Second Noble Truth - Source of Suffering.

According to the Buddha, there are three causes of suffering, which he also called three poisons or three fires. They are:

◦ Greed and misplaced desire

◦ Ignorance and delusion

◦ Hatred and destructive urge

◦ Clearly, Cobb was having, what Buddha called misplaced desire, about living in an alternate reality with his wife. This was also in fact a product of ignorance and delusion. Because of these, Cobb was resulting to have destructive urges.

Third Noble Truth

As Buddha taught, the key to liberating yourself from suffering is through enlightenment. As we saw in the movie, Cobb wouldn’t want to kill Mol in the dreams, which seemed to be the solution to his main problem. Clinging on to his illusions, it was impossible for Cobb to free himself from suffering.

The Fourth Noble Truth – Path to the Cessation of Suffering

There are eight stages in fulfilling enlightenment. Cobb evidently failed to do some, if not all of the stages that were crucial to his enlightenment.

◦ Right Speech – speaking truthfully

◦ Right mindfulness – state of mind

◦ Right actions – stealing and overindulgence of sensual pleasure.