5 ms·

While we're here, can someone explain how a "dream within a dream" works in Inception ? Presumably someone has to "fall asleep" inside their (or someone else's)

While we're here, can someone explain how a "dream within a dream" works in Inception ? Presumably someone has to "fall asleep" inside their (or someone else's) dream and go into a dream state again on another level so to speak. The only way I can see the brain implementing that is to dream of its own state so completely that it can run itself as a virtual machine, and fall asleep inside that VM. I haven't read the code, but I doubt the C implementation includes a VM that can run inside itself, Smalltalk-style.

TallGuyShort 9y ago
User-mode Linux was capable of self-hosting. There's always that.
- jwilk 9y ago
  UML inside UML doesn't work for me: $ linux Locating the bottom of the address space ... do_syscall_stub : ret = -1, offset = 1052680, data = 18ca9008 do_syscall_stub: syscall 192 failed, return value = 0xffffffff, expected return value = 0x1000 syscall parameters: 0x1000 0x1000 0x7 0x11 0x3 0x2449 Failed to flush page for address 0x1000 Killed
  - TallGuyShort 9y ago
    I was fairly certain I had done it before. I did some Googling to sanity-check myself and found, "UML can be compiled to run within UML" [1]. I don't seem to recall any unusual compiling options to make it work, but then that was a long time ago, as was that document, I suspect (although it has no dates). Maybe it's broken... [1] http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/UserModeLinux-HOWTO-1.html http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/UserModeLinux-HOW...
_e 9y ago
It is like falling asleep in a Docker container. You don't know what is outside of the container and you don't know where you are because kubernetes doesn't tell you. Everything is abstracted. This is pretty neat overview though: http://www.inception-explained.com/ http://www.inception-explained.com/
- kbenson 9y ago
  Inception as a set of commands to start and stop docker containers within docker containers, and programs within those containers. As a bonus, the last command should be trying to determine if the top level is a docker container, and segfault.
- raymondh 9y ago
  Time moves faster in a dream than it does in the real world. Code running in a container runs slower than in the outside world ;-)
maxerickson 9y ago
It's a plot device that is left unexplained. Nolan tends to write really, really, really soft scifi.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- nothis 9y ago
  His trick is to have characters who sound SUPER sure of what they're doing. Winking at the camera, looking determined, talking total bullshit but it doesn't matter. You want to believe it makes sense because it all feels so cool!
techmagus 9y ago
> While we're here, can someone explain how a "dream within a dream" works in Inception ? Exactly like that. It happens in real-life and no doubt that's where they based it from. It happened to me a couple of times already, the deepest I got was 4 levels. Real-life sleeping > level 1: sleeping > Level 2: sleeping > Level 3: sleeping > level 4: awake Usually, it was very bad. A form of nightmare. You slowly get aware of it, even to the point that your brain tells you that you are awake. Then when something happens that you want to wake up (for example, you died, or you suddenly got aware you're sleeping), you will indeed wake up, up to the next level. Once again, your brain will tell you that you are finally awake. The first experience I had of this was when I was barely a teenager. It was a nightmare within a nightmare within a nightmare within a nightmare. When I got fully aware I was sleeping, that's when I fought, waking up, then waking up, then waking up, then finally waking up to the real world. Problem was, I was no longer sure if it was the real world I woke up to. To this day, I sometimes think I am still sleeping. Just like the other ending in Inception. Hence I love that movie. I can relate.
- Froyoh 9y ago
  That sounds horrifying.
  - techmagus 9y ago
    Yep. And the nightmare, of all things, is Dracula and vampires. I'm aware of Dracula, but vampires, didn't even know that term then (early to mid 90s).
- taneq 9y ago
  I had that happen once. In this dream, I was in a 'fake' world that had some kind of trick or flaw to it. When I found the trick, that world disappeared and I found myself in another world with a different trick. This went on all night, I think there were at least four of these worlds before I actually woke up. It messed with my head for a while.
  - teddyh 9y ago
hgdsraj 9y ago
Yep it's dreaming within a dream exactly. I've had it happen to three levels deep (assuming this world is real). Woke up then woke up again, then woke up a third time and now I'm in this world.
Pigo 9y ago
For me it was even more distressing that this is somehow a thing you can do, but you can only go 3 levels then something completely different happens. Why 3? Why not 15? For something like this to be the case, it would require the brain physically designed to perform these functions.

TallGuyShort 9y ago

User-mode Linux was capable of self-hosting. There's always that.

jwilk 9y ago
UML inside UML doesn't work for me: $ linux Locating the bottom of the address space ... do_syscall_stub : ret = -1, offset = 1052680, data = 18ca9008 do_syscall_stub: syscall 192 failed, return value = 0xffffffff, expected return value = 0x1000 syscall parameters: 0x1000 0x1000 0x7 0x11 0x3 0x2449 Failed to flush page for address 0x1000 Killed
- TallGuyShort 9y ago
  I was fairly certain I had done it before. I did some Googling to sanity-check myself and found, "UML can be compiled to run within UML" [1]. I don't seem to recall any unusual compiling options to make it work, but then that was a long time ago, as was that document, I suspect (although it has no dates). Maybe it's broken... [1] http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/UserModeLinux-HOWTO-1.html http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/UserModeLinux-HOW...

_e 9y ago

It is like falling asleep in a Docker container. You don't know what is outside of the container and you don't know where you are because kubernetes doesn't tell you. Everything is abstracted. This is pretty neat overview though: http://www.inception-explained.com/ http://www.inception-explained.com/

kbenson 9y ago
Inception as a set of commands to start and stop docker containers within docker containers, and programs within those containers. As a bonus, the last command should be trying to determine if the top level is a docker container, and segfault.
raymondh 9y ago
Time moves faster in a dream than it does in the real world. Code running in a container runs slower than in the outside world ;-)

maxerickson 9y ago

It's a plot device that is left unexplained. Nolan tends to write really, really, really soft scifi.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
nothis 9y ago
His trick is to have characters who sound SUPER sure of what they're doing. Winking at the camera, looking determined, talking total bullshit but it doesn't matter. You want to believe it makes sense because it all feels so cool!

techmagus 9y ago

> While we're here, can someone explain how a "dream within a dream" works in Inception ? Exactly like that. It happens in real-life and no doubt that's where they based it from. It happened to me a couple of times already, the deepest I got was 4 levels. Real-life sleeping > level 1: sleeping > Level 2: sleeping > Level 3: sleeping > level 4: awake Usually, it was very bad. A form of nightmare. You slowly get aware of it, even to the point that your brain tells you that you are awake. Then when something happens that you want to wake up (for example, you died, or you suddenly got aware you're sleeping), you will indeed wake up, up to the next level. Once again, your brain will tell you that you are finally awake. The first experience I had of this was when I was barely a teenager. It was a nightmare within a nightmare within a nightmare within a nightmare. When I got fully aware I was sleeping, that's when I fought, waking up, then waking up, then waking up, then finally waking up to the real world. Problem was, I was no longer sure if it was the real world I woke up to. To this day, I sometimes think I am still sleeping. Just like the other ending in Inception. Hence I love that movie. I can relate.

Froyoh 9y ago
That sounds horrifying.
- techmagus 9y ago
  Yep. And the nightmare, of all things, is Dracula and vampires. I'm aware of Dracula, but vampires, didn't even know that term then (early to mid 90s).
taneq 9y ago
I had that happen once. In this dream, I was in a 'fake' world that had some kind of trick or flaw to it. When I found the trick, that world disappeared and I found myself in another world with a different trick. This went on all night, I think there were at least four of these worlds before I actually woke up. It messed with my head for a while.
- teddyh 9y ago

hgdsraj 9y ago

Yep it's dreaming within a dream exactly. I've had it happen to three levels deep (assuming this world is real). Woke up then woke up again, then woke up a third time and now I'm in this world.

Pigo 9y ago

For me it was even more distressing that this is somehow a thing you can do, but you can only go 3 levels then something completely different happens. Why 3? Why not 15? For something like this to be the case, it would require the brain physically designed to perform these functions.