Dream Within a Dream

You probably guessed from the title: this post is about Inception. If you have not yet seen the movie, I highly recommend watching it, and not reading this post because there will be spoilers. The basic premise of Inception is that humans can now share dreams. One person can invade another's subconsciousness and interfere with their dreams. This is used by Dom (Leonardo DiCaprio) to extract information from the dreaming victims. He does so by blurring reality. We later see that this is not his proudest, nor most controlled, skill. That was the bare bones of the movie. What I am planning to talk about is the idea of dreaming within a dream, and the possibility that there might not be a reality. This begs the idea: Are you awake or dreaming right now?
You might scoff at this idea, but not after watching the movie. If you get immersed into movies as I often do, then you will understand my initial panic and consequent perplexity. I should add that I am currently reading Decartes' Meditations. I remember asking my roommate after the movie and as we were about to go to sleep, "what if we're dreaming right now?" She responded, "don't." As silly or ridiculous as this sounds, this doubt can create a real problem for some people, such as the woman to the right. If you saw the movie then you know what I mean. I mean, if you are convinced you are dreaming, then why wouldn't you try crazy things? Especially since the consequence of dying in your dream is waking up. I take all the risks I wouldn't otherwise take in real life. We don't know what is behind death, but once we know and are ok with it, then nothing will hold us back. Sure you might really like your dream and want to stay there forever, but eventually you get bored of it. That's why a lot of people say they don't want to be immortal. However, if I was offered immortality I wouldn't refuse, but that's only because the uncertainty of the end scares me more than anything else right now.
I find the idea of dreaming inside a dream really interesting. I remember watching an episode of a cartoon that dealt with this issue. I think it was Spongebob Squarepants. A lot of cartoons have deeper meanings, but you can only see it after watching them again when you're older.
What did you think of Inception? Do you think you're dreaming right now? How are you sure of reality? Do you like Spongebob Squarepants? Let us know by commenting below!