The Metaphysics of Inception - Engaging Ontological Uncertainty
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มี.ค. 2019
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Video essay on Christopher Nolan’s Inception and how it explores the implications of ontological uncertainty.
Sources:
Erik Davis - Synthetic Meditations: Cogito in the Matrix
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Also featuring Hans Zimmer’s ‘Time’ - A cover by Whitesand; • Hans Zimmer - Time (In...
With thanks to Jason Silva for incepting me with some of his ideas.
Can't believe it's almost been a decade since this film was released, still so good! What are your favorite Christopher Nolan films? Let me know below!
Cant choose between 'The Prestige' and 'Interstellar'
The prestige is probably his best work..
Memento and Insomnia are still my favorites!
The Dark knight
Insomnia and Interstellar =)
The idea of Cobb being the actual subject of inception is the most ingenious thing I've ever heard anyone say. Totally flew over my head. GRADE A++++++++++++
This idea has been around for a while now, and there is a whole book on the analysis of inception (and it’s philoaophy) that detiledly covers this and other possibilities. It’s a excellent book. There is also a video on TH-cam by the authors which I recommend.
m.th-cam.com/video/ginQNMiRu2w/w-d-xo.html
So they have to make a sequel
But Nolan has confirmed that he is not the subject. And the layers cant be more than 4 in the concepts.
It's so true. Cob is trying to get into the mind of Fisher, but the director is trying to get us into the mind of Cob.
"Reality is a subjective agreement" .... what's most memorable about inception is how it questions this exact idea that everything we perceive is a shaped reality based on beliefs and experiences
All subjects can agree with themselves but with no other. And yet, a wide social and natural world exist. Did one subject make all that? Is they Master of the Universe? You, Sujay Nair?
"The real tragedy of Cobb and Mal's relationship was that they didn't share the same reality", this made me subscribe to the channel.
You are an extremely talented narrator, editor, and an insightful human being. Thank you for uploading this excellent analysis of an amazing movie.
Yeah
You have some real talent
Thank god I was in my room alone
No light
Full dark
No outside noise
With my headphones
Watched this video
Sooooo Bene!
There should be TH-camr awards and you should win one
I'll vote on that.
This is it 🏆
Totally agree 👐
Hmm.. TH-cam actually reads Twitter suggestions.. Who's up to tweet them a screenshot?
There is, but just like the Oscars, it's complete nonsense. So I wouldn't count on it. This has much more value than that. There's a lot of reasons why nobody pays attention to it anymore lol
Your ad is the only one I don’t skip. Because your voice.
and the music, I can never skip Time when I hear it
Me too!
I'm gonna start watching movies that you've analyzed just so I can watch those videos afterwards. You're an absolute treasure, thank you for your work.
This channel is gonna blow up so massively over the next year...
literally everything you post is a masterpiece
Did it blow up?
446k subs right now
If you moved your dot further down it'd be pretty based
"We do not experience the world as it is, we only experience our perception of it"
Thank you for this!
Well, obv.
In the world today, there is so much darkness, hatred, and ugliness lurking in the corners of the internet, social media and TH-cam; where algorithms push us farther and further to the extremes, it's often easy to lose sight of the fact that is also content like yours that is brilliant, poignant, profound, and deeply humanizing. Your essays on "Transcending Time -Interstellar's Hidden Meaning," and "The Essence of Faith - What Signs Was Really About" moved me to tears. Your work leads me to believe that there may still be hope for social media and content on TH-cam. As Dostoevsky said, "Beauty will save the world", but you've already done an amazing video on that as well. Thank you and please keep creating wonder...
Yeah, why am I crying?
"Beauty will save the world" Amazing can't believe i never heard this beautiful quote
There alg fir good change if Soul(Entrnal guestion)th-cam.com/video/w6AHcv19NIc/w-d-xo.html
You're the best channel on TH-cam about films.
That'd be Cinefix.
@@Bobby1998 why not both
Good lord yes, you nailed that! This place is sacred to me, holy ground.
I find that trauma and tragedy far outweigh the positive things that have happened in my life. It's extremely difficult to find hope in the future when you have a degenerative genetic condition. I watch movies to feel the things that I am no longer able to enjoy for myself; both good and bad.
This is one of my favorite videos that you have made. I wish I could just go into a reality where I have all of my health back. I don't even care if it's real or not anymore. I just want back what I used to have so freely.
Thank you for this beautiful video my friend.
Me too. Genetic condition. However, everyone of us are mortals. However long we have is what God gives us. 💖
hey guys, if you are interested in healing that degenerative condition you can listen to Dr Joe dispenza, he teaches you how to heal any condition either physical or mental, and he gives you how to practice the meditation and other tools. Give it a try
❤
This is my experience of life too.
Pray to your heavenly father YaHuWaH Elohiym Most High for deliverance. All who call upon his name shall be delivered. (Joel 2:32) Know you're loved with an everlasting love.
Everytime u upload my guy i get better perspective on old thoughts stuck in my mind for centuries.
Ontological questions are not important but the ethical ones are... "How should i act?" is a much more important question than the question of "Am i in a dream?". Because if you think about it; it doesn't matter whether we are in the real world or in a dream or in the Matrix; we must act ethically.
I think you bring up a great point. It's like the simulation versus true reality debate. Who cares if we are in a simulation? Does it really matter? I believe the universe does not have an inert meaning, we each individually need to give it one.
"How should we act?" is a better question than "Why are we here?", in my opinion.
Both are important questions, but the latter is just an inquiry to try and gather evidence towards answering the former, if that makes sense.
MrCykko yes but it's not just how we should act for me because not everything is an action- and as everything is connected it's like super important - ethicalness can be in everything every feeling thought etc and being - just being - is ethical - I think of reality as the build and I begin from there as - all is the build so each moment is part of the build and each moment is profound in and of itself
Bob Bobbertson umn who said ? You said - saying things like - let's not get carried away is kinda authoritative - so anyway questions yes but questions as sole guides no and it doesn't preclude any form of analysis anyway
@Bob Bobbertson Actually they are not. Questions of ontology ask "What's real?", "What exists?", "What's its nature?" etc. The right or the wrong, the good or the bad are ethical issues.
Artuc Tell I would say ethics surpass the realm of duality- good bad etc are limited and ethics is more all encompassing - for example in Buddhist teachings there is an idea of the 8 fold path and "right action' it's not good action it's RIGHT and there is a recognition that within each action or state of being there is most usually positive and negative forces at work and acceptance of that is a huge key 🔑 to living in the 8 fold path - I think that there are 8 folds is a stepping away from duality as well - and language - words - are only pointers to what ethics is and can be
I actually have thought for a long time that the idea that the whole movie as a dream makes the most sense thematically. However, I did not know that Michael Cain was told by Nolan that his scenes were reality. I think the context of Memento and other Nolan films, the idea that a reality in which the dream could deliver meaning would be necessary for Nolan to envision. This film is one of the great masterpieces of American cinema, and years later will be viewed as a classic. I definitely think this movie deserves much recognition, and it deserved best picture.
Your bit at the end about introspection is perfect. Absolutely perfect. I think that today amongst the invasive ideas of media and delusional politics we must learn to see if what we come to hold as truth is really our own truth or is it just an idea planted in us. Nietzsche said we must look into the abyss, but we must also look beyond it, deeper and deeper, until we see the reflection... of ourselves. For to see the self is to see the centre, and to bridge that into ideas of eastern philosophy, to see the self at the centre is to see the whole reality of the universe...
Miguel Parada this
By far my favorite Video essay channel. Thank you
Hard to believe this film will be a decade old next year. Aesthetically, it's been aped by countless blockbusters to come out since, but few to none have matched its depth. A true classic and one of the defining films of the 2010s.
20 years since the 1st matrix movie as well.
The idea of togetherness being strongly linked to our reality is so moving...
The monologue at 15 mins was beautiful the whole video was but, wow. Thanks for your content. It really is impactful and makes me reflect more on my life. I gotta watch more good movies.
Dark City, that is an excellent film
In various analyses that came in the months/years after INCEPTION's release, I was always surprised that nobody I saw/read found more meaning in the fact that Cobb is running from a company called Cobol, which is almost the exact same as "Cobb" if you switch the last two letters. Obviously, _knowing_ whether or not Cobb's in the dream or in reality isn't the point, but if you're interested in deep diving into the plot/thematics, this is a strong hint that the Cobb we see is really his "dream Self" running from his actual Self waking from the dream.
Fantastic video!
Think about when we cut from Ellen and Dicaprio meeting to the cafe and then realising we assumed continuation, while they actually dream.
Now think about how Cobb can't go to the USA back to his family. But he meets cane to say that he can't come back who lives... In Japan? But picks him up on the airport in the USA back to his family?
Every time your words touch something deeply hidden in me bringing out cathartic tears. Thank you. Your videos inhibit a serene beauty through its wholesomeness and deep emotional understanding I haven't found elsewhere. You put words to emotions and experiences I fail to express. Thank you! 🤗
I understand you. I also had an unresolved grief for a long time, burning me inside, that needed catharsis.
That makes us even more understanding of the film.
@@your.dark.lord. some pain is so old and deeply buried we forgot it was there. But the burden keeps holding us down. I notice how it affected me only after I resolved it. I hope you keep healing 🤗😊
Exactly. I was appaled when I noticed how affected I was without knowing it.
I hope you keep healing too, we already made the big step ☺
You paraphrased his work in English more beautiful than I could in German as a native speaker :D
@@justmusicart725 haha I am a native german so this was an amazing compliment. Thank you very much :)
A good analysis inside a good essay inside a good video.
(Hanz Simmer Inception sound).
Inside a great film
Hans Zimmer :)
I feel the reason our dreams never start from the beginning...and we end up in the middle of them is because the mind...our subconcious doesn't have the ability to engage and create on its own while we are asleep......our subconcious...mind only draws from series of realities...or memories we have drawn in our mind...scenarios and all....plays them.back in our dream..maybe even in an altered version...u can't dream of anything u have never thought of while awake.....if uve never experienced something ..like sex....ur dream can will only have what ur thoughts on it is while u were awake.........
Like The Stories of Old grew up with Inception
Thank you for your clear explanations with a soothing voice of reason. See you in the dream world.
As a lucid dreamer I always had an interest in this film.
Your interpretation of the meaning is cool.
One of the beauties of Inception is that all the possible interpretations make sense, since the film is so ambiguous.
Am completely blown away that Carr is the subject of the inception. Makes this movie unbelievable, that they had to convince him to go into himself by inceptinh someone else. That's just incredible.
Psychoanalysis is a legit way to. Impartially breakdown the reality one's been given and imprisoned by, so as to slowly deconstruct and reconstruct a newer accurate understanding of the present, and not the pasts intrusion on the present experience.
Best video analysis I've ever seen.
It's not just your ability to disseminate hidden meaning out of art but the way you play it back to the audience is truly magical. Absolutely fantastic work, each and every time.
Man never stop making these videos...dont change a thing . .your voice speaks truth. ..I'm in so much pain ...your channel is one in millions
The first time I've ever watched a youtube video that's over 20 minutes twice in a row. You're video's are awe-inspiring, emotionally resonating, and your channel is one of the best channels I've found on youtube since having an account. Please, don't ever stop doing what you're doing. You've definitely opened my eyes up to film analysis and theory and shown me the power of how films can visualize thought-provoking ideas and the beauty of this life. So much love. Thank you, man!
edit---> Definitely, opening up a Mubi account!
This channel should be trending on no 1 who loves philosophy and deep movies.
"And so, in the end, it's not just about Cobb coming home; it's about all of them being in one reality again." - Like Stories of Old.
This sentence is when my tears started to drop off.
This movie means so much to me, and I truly appreciate it that you made this video on it. For the first time, someone was somewhat able to articulate the feelings I have felt again and again throughout Inception. Thank you.
This is an incredibly nuanced analysis. Well done!
Woah!!!!!😮😮😮
You blew up my mind by suggesting that it was actually Cobb who was going through Inception.
I've never heard an interpretation like that before. You did a great job in analyzing this film!
An essay as deep and thought provoking as the source material. Many interpretations of the movie came to my mind for the first time during these 20 minutes, but I think the best I took from it, the "seed" that was planted in my subconscious, was the realization that being alive effectively is to share the same perception colectively. It highlights the efforts and responsabilities needed to have a pleasant life in society.
This is not the first time I have stopped one of your essays and written down your thoughts.
I am asking myself the questions you ask of us at 15 mins for the first time.
Thank you
They say that "when the student is ready, the master will appear". I watched this video maybe 2-3 years ago and while i did like the video, I can't say that I truly received what was being suggested. Now, I'm watching it once more.. 2 failed relationships and 1 divorce later, almost completely broke, and more unsure of myself than ever before... Now I can receive the message.. now "the master" has appeared. No matter what you watch, what you read, what you do or what you see, the experience of life is it's own teacher... so long as we're willing to accept what that really means, the lessons can be learned. I see now so clearly that the answers DON'T matter nearly as much as how we perceive them. What's right or wrong, good enough or bad, best or worse really come down to the subject experiencing. It is so, that "dreams make good stories, but everything important happens when you're awake". I finally feel like I'm awake. Thanks for doing what you do, man. You have the best channel on TH-cam.
INCEPTION... my fav movie of all times! Watched it N times... and thank you LSOO for doing an indepth analysis on this
Beautiful and thought provoking analysis as always. I actually dreamed of this film last night and woke up to see this 😬. Might have to spin the totem now 😁. I once had the opportunity to go on a location scout with Nolan for the dark knight rises and he was a nice genuine person which was cool.
Masterpiece! One of the best essays on inception!
oh man, you are such a gem! every single thing you publish gets to the core and hits me deeply. thank you so much for sharing your gift with the world!
Dude no lie but your vid about relationships really saved mine with my soulmate of 8 years and really helped us understand our relationship in a much better way she gets how long me and her can go in our life and not rush it since we know we'll always be there for each other im referring to the sunrise and sunset vid
This is amazing. I wish you the best in your relationship. I just found this channel, it's incredible how high quality it is, and how articulate, elaborate and soul touching it is. Able to touch you deep inside and help you keep and grow your love with your soulmate. Really out of my mind to imagine this whole situation right now.
As always. Very well done and a video I had to watch several times to deconstruct. Thank you. I find myself coming back to your most powerful videos when things get rough or when I need to feel inspired or hear something beautiful. Your videos do that for me.
Incredible. Looks like it’s time for a rewatch!
Your work keeps getting better, i love how these analysis videos of movies feel like movies themselves with a beginning, middle and end. How the end of your videos feel like the climax of a great film with a catharsis and purging of emotions. You sir are a beast.
Wow! Thanks... what you said and deciphered has so many implications and branches... it opens up doors of perception and, perhaps, explains away many of the oddities of “reality” and , ultimately, of being “alive” in this commonly agreed shared experience
"Leftovers" please 💪💪, it's really a good philosophical series and it really suits your channel's theme.
I don't know, after watching this, all I feel like saying is I love you..for articulating all this which resonates so deeply with me. Thank you.
Just watched the movie for the 9th time ever since it came out. Thank you, I've reached the second catharsis of the day while watching your essay.
I watched your video on Arrival last month, and I have to say I'm often thinking about it, the question "what would you do if you weren't afraid ?" is popping into my day everyday. I think you made a successful inception on me with that video. Nothing I've ever watched on YT has ever had this effect on me. That is why you're my favourite youtuber. I can't wait to experience new content from you.
Movie was a pure masterpiece. Cant even count how many times I watched it. Matter fact I'm gonna watch it tonight.
Thank you for explaining my favourite movie to me, I never considered Cobb being the true target of inception.
This is, hands down, the best channel in the history of youtube
Sitting down to watch a new video of yours gives me the same thrill as sitting down to watch a new movie in a theater. Excellent video!
You do such amazing work, LSOO. Thank you so much for sharing your views and insights, as well as for the dedication and attention you put into constructing everything so beautifully. It is noticed and appreciated. It is inspiring.
I just want to express my gratitude for what you are doing here. It's not just that you do it, it how. Inflection of voice, choice of vocabulary, all the little things put together to create a masterpiece close to what it is you are describing. Thank you for what you do sir!!! It stirs my soul!
Your videos are the ones teachers show in school and universities, well done. Im blown away
You inspire me to narrate these Masterpieces to my own children the way you do when I become a father.
That's a feat not every TH-camr or perhaps a human being can achieve.
thank you for accomplishing and taking the time to sew together theses concepts and videos
it feels good to finally be able to witness a man sharing a considerable frequency and depths of thoughts
we are rare ..
it's good to not feel alone
I watched the film umpteen times and never realized the prime subject was Cobb. Brilliant deduction. It gave me chills. Please analyze Zimmer's music. There's something hidden found in those rhythms and notes ... His Inception soundtrack is hypnotic, profound and deeply spiritual.
The soundtrack is Je Ne Regrette Rien played at a slow speed. Not sure I spelled that right.
@@locutusdborg126 - Edith Piaf = The singer, a fascinating character from history too, worth a read up about.
Yoo! Thanks for doing Nolan! This has to be my favorite movie 😍😍
Also a huge fan of Interstellar and Memento. Something about leaving the viewer to piece together the story on their own is something almost magical that he's done
Incredible work. This is one of the finest video essays I've seen.
Every time I watch something about this film someone proposes new theories. I don't think I'll ever completely understand it, nor do I think we'll ever stop discussing it
Bazinga !
Thank you for helping me break apart my need to have either the whole movie be a dream or the upper layer be definitive reality and the lower layers be definitive dreams. The lower layers are metaphors for the upper layer and yet all layers work the exact same way to the movie goer because that's what the art was intended to convey. Thank you for helping me pull back and see the movie as a greater whole. Great video as always.
You've done it again. There has already been so much written about this film, and rightly so. You, however, have managed to create new meaning, find an original interpretation, and deepen other people's understandings of this text, human subjectivity, and art in general. You are incredibly talented at what you do. I hope you're proud of yourself, because what you create should be shown in classrooms and educational institutions around the world.
Your voice is relaxing. Better than the creepy-sexy sound most people do when trying to narrate
Love the way you articulate your videos and cinema. You turn it back into a story of morality instead of a fantasy. Great work please keep doing it!
I’m so into these videos. This one has me watching it over and over again. I feel as though I’m in a class where Christopher Nolan’s work is the textbook, narrator of the LSOO channel is our instructor, and the music provided for by this video and Hans Zimmerman movie soundtrack are the perfect tools to drive the message home. Thank you for exploring topics that I find fascinating!!!
The most profound most inspiring most sickeningly powerful channel on youtube. Freaking endlessly filled with magic. Thank you so much.
I just read most of the comments on this video, I wish I could have the mental flexibility and the english fluency to find the best words to show my gratitude for you. After all this I'm in tears and grateful to be living life and living this. I'm also thankful that so many people felt similar about this video and you. I'm truly shaken.
Beautifully done, almost indeed more so than the movie itself. Tears were running, I felt alive.Thank you
First of all, Thank you... your channel is one of the best.
Second, I would like to congratulate you on such a wonderful video. The tone of your voice, your well chosen words, and excellent video editing are very professional and this is what separates you from others.
Once again, Thank you very much.
What a beautiful piece you have put together! Thanks for sharing.
My favorite video so far, like water in an otherwise existential desert!! Thank you for your work!!!
What you do with love has supreme quality engrained in it and you, LikeStoriesOfOld, love what you do . Thank you!!!!
I love your channel my man. While there are other great channels that delve into the thematic and technical aspects of film, you delve into the philosophical and emotional sides of it. Keep up the great work!
Your videos, in all their tender thoughtfulness and mastery, continue to inspire. Thank you for your work.
I've watched Inception 5 or 6 times. It gets a deeper meaning everytime. I don't think its bottomed out yet. I also don't believe a positive emotion trumps a negative one every time, but the reverse. Positive has a limit. Good can only get just so good. Negative is bottomless, limited only by imagination.
I got so many things to say about your channel but im going to sum it all to say im so happy to see this videos and meet something worth for my time to watch. Greetings and thank you
What a great video, it kept my mind engaged at every turn. True talent at picking apart every detail as much as possible and opining new ideas on how I will see films from now on.
Beautiful, very well put together.
I've seen movies with less care and thought put into them than your videos. You just blew my mind a bit with this one. Keep up the good work, because honestly, whenever I see one of your videos, my day, no matter how bad its been, gets better. You inspire me to sit down and write down the stories in my head.
I’m glad we have TH-cam so I have a chance to come across someone as talented and a deep thinker as you. Also it can be seen you are optimistic about this world and humanity which is probably the biggest contribution you are making to this world because these videos give people understanding, drive and motivation in their life on a different level.
I don’t think this movie was secretly about a Cobb intervention all along. I just think that it was a beautiful byproduct of the “final job” that he happened to take on. It all served the script and story well. Very well written.
I like how you kept the aspect ratio of the movie, it looks really cool.
Great content as always. Truly blessed to have you on this site.
your videos always make me cry. seriously, beautiful work
Man... your videos are so powerful, words can't capture just how *impactful* your videos are..
IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO KEY TO OPEN UP MULTI-UNIVERSE AS WELL AS MORE.
GREETINGS YEE OF WHO STILL THINKETH YEE ARE YOUR PHYSICAL BODY UNDERSTAND AND KNOW THAT YEE ARE MUCH MORE AS YEE ARE A CREATION FORCE WITHIN YEE AS ALL HAVE THE SAME BEGINNING FROM FORM TO FORMLESS LIMITLESS WE ARE ALL ONE
Every time I watch this movie I come back to this video, and while I listen to your voice, a sea of emotions invade me. Awakening, peace, calmness like everything is going to be alright. There is has to be more to this world, I feel it deep in my bones.
Thank you for sharing your insight 💚
The real tragedy is that Cobb and Mal's relationship is that they did not share the same reality ! We all need others to confirm our reality.. Then reality is a co construction... That's so true
I knew about the theory about the whole movie being Cobb's dream, but you are the first one to convince me !
Very well put together! Great video!
This video is the best first impression I got of a channel. It may sound contradictory but this was so good that I paused in the middle to write some things that came to my mind about myself. I had to pause. Your words bubbling ideas on my mind. Thanks a lot for this existential journey. I'm subbing, to share more of my days with you.
The existence of this channel is a great gift!
I feel cathartic from watching this video. Reflecting on the complexities of the human mind and the source of your deepest sadness wishing for it to be resolved but not knowing if it ever will, and yet there's a certain comfort you feel from it never ending. Fantasizing that an epiphany would reveal itself on your deathbed and having it so suddenly everything makes sense. Life is a trip, enjoy this stupid ride.
I came to the point that I meet every single person that came to my dreams, in the day after. In a very similar or in some way, in connected ironical situations. There is a thin line between a dreams and the reality, sometimes they intercept each other and sometimes we have to learn to dream what we want.
Precisely!
Heyy mee tooo!
Great video! I haven’t been able to watch your last couple of videos because I like to have seen the movies beforehand, but you make such great content, and now I have a list of recommended movies that I need to watch.
These videos are always so profound...so deep. Great job!
one of the best videos i have ever seen on youtube
I really appreciated this one. Watched it at the day of release and couldn't stop watching