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Perhaps someone here can explain something that has annoyed me since I saw Inception. Falling (accelerating under gravity) is meant to "wake you up". Whilst fal

by Jabbles 15y ago

Perhaps someone here can explain something that has annoyed me since I saw Inception. Falling (accelerating under gravity) is meant to "wake you up". Whilst falling you feel weightless - almost by definition (if you and the weighing machine are accelerating in sync, you apply no pressure to it). For some reason falling causes the loss of gravity in the dream world, and there's that whole scene about "recreating gravity". But since falling is indistinguishable from being weightless, what is stopping the dreamers from waking up? And why does weightlessness only go one level down? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weightlessness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weightlessness

natep 15y ago
Because it's not the falling, it's the jolt of landing. When in free fall, you are not actually accelerating. In terms of landing, though, it doesn't matter if you hit the ground or if, say, the bottom of an elevator hits you.
- Jabbles 15y ago
  I haven't seen the film since it came out, so I may be mistaken. Didn't Cobb demonstrate to Ariadne that you wake up when you sense yourself falling? By tipping Arthur's chair over as he was dreaming? Arthur (if it was that character) didn't fall on the floor, there was no jolt. Also, doesn't the van land in the water, and no one wakes up?
  - natep 15y ago
    According to the Inception Wiki, we're both right. > One method used to awaken from a dream within a dream is called a "kick", which is the sensation of falling, hitting water, or a sharp jolt that can startle the sleeper awake. Although I still think it's terribly inconsistent, if the details matter. There's too many different kicks with too many subtle differences and similarity for me to go into in a reasonable-length post.
- natep 15y ago
  OK downvoters, you're right. In the movie, they explain that a kick is the feeling of falling. So why didn't Cobb wake up when he was falling towards the water, but after he fell in? My guess is that the water invaded the dream and he drowned, and exited the dream via death. But they called that a kick, too. As we've seen, the movie is hardly straightforward. And if one of you had bothered to comment "they say in the movie that it's the feeling of falling" then I wouldn't have had to rewatch half the movie.
rdtsc 15y ago
> Whilst falling you feel weightless - almost by definition (if you and the weighing machine are accelerating in sync, you apply no pressure to it). Ah but how often do have a chance to feel weightless? Unless you are on a space station, bungee or parachute jumping? So the feeling of weightlessness itself is pretty startling. Also it is the moment from when you are standing on something and get pushed over the edge and then all of the sudden you are falling that is quite startling. Think back on a dream of you falling. Everyone has those. For me, it is always the weightlessness that is shake me up and wakes me.
- ars 15y ago
  Feeling weightless feels EXACTLY like falling. It does not feel like floating.
  - joeguilmette 15y ago
    I disagree. I have around a thousand skydives. The only time I feel a sense of falling is when acceleration is involved. When acceleration is involved, weightlessness is not. When jumping out of an aircraft you are already going around 100mph, close to terminal velocity. There is not a pronounced sensation of falling. It feels more like laying on your stomach in water, it a bit windier. When jumping out of a stationary object, the feeling of falling is quite pronounced until you stop accelerating. A hot air balloon or helicopter produces this effect (and is pretty damn fun). While I've never done it, BASE jumping provides a similar sensation.
    - ars 15y ago
      Why do you disagree? You are describing EXACTLY what I said. Did you typo and mean to write agree? When you hit terminal velocity you are no longer in free fall, I would expect it to feel like pressing lightly on something - which is what you describe. To be in free fall you have to be accelerating (that's why it's called free fall and not zero gravity), and again that's what you describe. This is not a correct sentence: "When acceleration is involved, weightlessness is not." In fact it's exactly the oppose of that. You can't have zero gravity near the earth - the earth has gravity, and you can't get away from it. Instead you accelerate at exactly the same speed as the acceleration from gravity. In order not to hit the ground due to your acceleration you move in a big circle and keep missing the ground. The reason you don't keep getting faster and faster is that you keep accelerating in a different direction, your average is zero, but you are always accelerating, just in different directions (and you make sure to always put the earth in the right place to match your acceleration). People on the space station feel like they are falling the entire time. Presumably they get used to it after a while, but that's what it feels like.

by Jabbles 15y ago

natep 15y ago

Because it's not the falling, it's the jolt of landing. When in free fall, you are not actually accelerating. In terms of landing, though, it doesn't matter if you hit the ground or if, say, the bottom of an elevator hits you.

Jabbles 15y ago
I haven't seen the film since it came out, so I may be mistaken. Didn't Cobb demonstrate to Ariadne that you wake up when you sense yourself falling? By tipping Arthur's chair over as he was dreaming? Arthur (if it was that character) didn't fall on the floor, there was no jolt. Also, doesn't the van land in the water, and no one wakes up?
- natep 15y ago
  According to the Inception Wiki, we're both right. > One method used to awaken from a dream within a dream is called a "kick", which is the sensation of falling, hitting water, or a sharp jolt that can startle the sleeper awake. Although I still think it's terribly inconsistent, if the details matter. There's too many different kicks with too many subtle differences and similarity for me to go into in a reasonable-length post.
natep 15y ago
OK downvoters, you're right. In the movie, they explain that a kick is the feeling of falling. So why didn't Cobb wake up when he was falling towards the water, but after he fell in? My guess is that the water invaded the dream and he drowned, and exited the dream via death. But they called that a kick, too. As we've seen, the movie is hardly straightforward. And if one of you had bothered to comment "they say in the movie that it's the feeling of falling" then I wouldn't have had to rewatch half the movie.

rdtsc 15y ago

> Whilst falling you feel weightless - almost by definition (if you and the weighing machine are accelerating in sync, you apply no pressure to it). Ah but how often do have a chance to feel weightless? Unless you are on a space station, bungee or parachute jumping? So the feeling of weightlessness itself is pretty startling. Also it is the moment from when you are standing on something and get pushed over the edge and then all of the sudden you are falling that is quite startling. Think back on a dream of you falling. Everyone has those. For me, it is always the weightlessness that is shake me up and wakes me.

ars 15y ago
Feeling weightless feels EXACTLY like falling. It does not feel like floating.
- joeguilmette 15y ago
  I disagree. I have around a thousand skydives. The only time I feel a sense of falling is when acceleration is involved. When acceleration is involved, weightlessness is not. When jumping out of an aircraft you are already going around 100mph, close to terminal velocity. There is not a pronounced sensation of falling. It feels more like laying on your stomach in water, it a bit windier. When jumping out of a stationary object, the feeling of falling is quite pronounced until you stop accelerating. A hot air balloon or helicopter produces this effect (and is pretty damn fun). While I've never done it, BASE jumping provides a similar sensation.
  - ars 15y ago
    Why do you disagree? You are describing EXACTLY what I said. Did you typo and mean to write agree? When you hit terminal velocity you are no longer in free fall, I would expect it to feel like pressing lightly on something - which is what you describe. To be in free fall you have to be accelerating (that's why it's called free fall and not zero gravity), and again that's what you describe. This is not a correct sentence: "When acceleration is involved, weightlessness is not." In fact it's exactly the oppose of that. You can't have zero gravity near the earth - the earth has gravity, and you can't get away from it. Instead you accelerate at exactly the same speed as the acceleration from gravity. In order not to hit the ground due to your acceleration you move in a big circle and keep missing the ground. The reason you don't keep getting faster and faster is that you keep accelerating in a different direction, your average is zero, but you are always accelerating, just in different directions (and you make sure to always put the earth in the right place to match your acceleration). People on the space station feel like they are falling the entire time. Presumably they get used to it after a while, but that's what it feels like.