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[GO SEE] "Inception"! Excellent Film Pregnant With Ideas
As someone interested in hypnosis and the human mind, you need to see this movie. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the many parallels to our work.
To discuss the film in the way I'm about to will reveal things about it that are much more fun to discover yourself, so if you haven't seen it yet, stop here and go see it. Then come back and tell us what you think!
The film has some great ideas and ways of illustrating them. And it's fascinating even for those not necessarily interested in hypnosis. But the applications to hypnosis are many and rich. Here's just a few of the larger things I've been chewing on since I saw it yesterday (and new ideas will keep popping up, no doubt):
1) Inception. The film adopts several premises in order to allow the plot to work, one of which is that it is indeed possible to "plant" an idea in someone else's mind. So take the idea of inception in relation to what we do as hypnotists: is it possible (within therapeutic or even "conversational" contexts) to make someone have a volitional idea they wouldn't normally have on their own? Or aren't we merely indirectly giving permission to think and/or do something they already want to? The film stops just short of really dealing with this question, as far as I can tell.
2) Projection. The film illustrates something that I think is immeasurably important in our work.
A) When one works with another's mind, one MUST make concentrated efforts to keep the work client centered, for several reasons, not the least of which is to keep one's own unconscious material from corrupting the work. The film illustrates an excellent allegorical situation that clearly shows how this is a possible issue.
B) During certain scenes in the film (which is most of them), the story is told in the "architecture" of one's "dream". In these scenes the "extras" so to speak are all merely "projections" of the dreamer's unconscious. When it detects the intruder the projections will attack. I found it to be a brilliant illustration of how the unconscious mind is self-preserving, and has an acute ability to sniff out material foreign to its own deep source. Effective suggestion work does indeed depend on our ability to camouflage the "new" thought with the clothing of what the subject is already thinking.
It's certainly not a perfect model for the mind, but an elegant and compelling one none-the-less.
3) Are We Dreaming? Clearly, the message of the film is much larger in scope than to fall conveniently under the umbrella of hypnosis or even the mind. It's a fundamentally philosophical question. But, There is some extent to which it can apply to our work and the models we adopt. Is there another level of our mind - above the conscious?
Hypothetically, If there is such a thing as a higher mind, of which our "normal" waking mind is but a dream, how would that apply to our manner of work? What could we do to improve the effectiveness of what we do? How could that perspective aid us in helping our clients?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Jason
www.lifechangehypno.com
To discuss the film in the way I'm about to will reveal things about it that are much more fun to discover yourself, so if you haven't seen it yet, stop here and go see it. Then come back and tell us what you think!
The film has some great ideas and ways of illustrating them. And it's fascinating even for those not necessarily interested in hypnosis. But the applications to hypnosis are many and rich. Here's just a few of the larger things I've been chewing on since I saw it yesterday (and new ideas will keep popping up, no doubt):
1) Inception. The film adopts several premises in order to allow the plot to work, one of which is that it is indeed possible to "plant" an idea in someone else's mind. So take the idea of inception in relation to what we do as hypnotists: is it possible (within therapeutic or even "conversational" contexts) to make someone have a volitional idea they wouldn't normally have on their own? Or aren't we merely indirectly giving permission to think and/or do something they already want to? The film stops just short of really dealing with this question, as far as I can tell.
2) Projection. The film illustrates something that I think is immeasurably important in our work.
A) When one works with another's mind, one MUST make concentrated efforts to keep the work client centered, for several reasons, not the least of which is to keep one's own unconscious material from corrupting the work. The film illustrates an excellent allegorical situation that clearly shows how this is a possible issue.
B) During certain scenes in the film (which is most of them), the story is told in the "architecture" of one's "dream". In these scenes the "extras" so to speak are all merely "projections" of the dreamer's unconscious. When it detects the intruder the projections will attack. I found it to be a brilliant illustration of how the unconscious mind is self-preserving, and has an acute ability to sniff out material foreign to its own deep source. Effective suggestion work does indeed depend on our ability to camouflage the "new" thought with the clothing of what the subject is already thinking.
It's certainly not a perfect model for the mind, but an elegant and compelling one none-the-less.
3) Are We Dreaming? Clearly, the message of the film is much larger in scope than to fall conveniently under the umbrella of hypnosis or even the mind. It's a fundamentally philosophical question. But, There is some extent to which it can apply to our work and the models we adopt. Is there another level of our mind - above the conscious?
Hypothetically, If there is such a thing as a higher mind, of which our "normal" waking mind is but a dream, how would that apply to our manner of work? What could we do to improve the effectiveness of what we do? How could that perspective aid us in helping our clients?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Jason
www.lifechangehypno.com
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by GAIL GUEVARA on -
Cool! I have plans to see it tomorrow. I will let you know. :O)
Thanks,
Gail
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Permalink Reply by John Maclean on -
My son is a journalist and has reviewed the movie here: http://thejournapist.blogspot.com/?zx=ff47902287ebd00d
Went to see it last night, got to the front of the queue and was told it was sold out!!
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Permalink Reply by Jason Keen on -
Thanks John, I enjoyed reading that. You know, there are some interesting books for sale on the shelf at major bookstores, about the philosophies in the Matrix Trilogy. I bet we'll see something like that for this film soon, too.
John Maclean said:My son is a journalist and has reviewed the movie here: http://thejournapist.blogspot.com/?zx=ff47902287ebd00d
Went to see it last night, got to the front of the queue and was told it was sold out!!
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Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig on -
My wife and I went to see it this afternoon, and I have to say it's an excellent film, rife with parallels to what we do.
James
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on -
Jason, John, James, et al
Thanks for sharing - I didn't get much from the adverts and would have waited until the film showed up on cable...
John -
I loved your son's review --
Drop him a line and share this quote with him
"I dreamed I was a betterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly or am I a butterly dreaming that I am a man"
- Chuang Tzu 389-266 BC
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on
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I'm back-
FYI -
I liked the director's other films and I liked the reviews that I read here. So, I saw Inception over the weekend and I can sum up my experience in one word: Disappointed!
The movie did not engage me, there was not one character in the film that I liked or could relate to and it seems to me the film made planting beliefs, so that the person believes that it was their idea -- much harder and more complex than it is-- I give the film 2 stars out of 5.
Michael E.
FYI Richard N posted this on:
http://www.hypnothoughts.com/profiles/blogs/inception-1
I thought the movie kinda sucked. Not my thing, almost at the level of humans fighting non-humans with swords.... That being said I can understand why a lot of hypnotists enjoyed it.
On a side note, it did inspire me to buy a few domain names....
CovertInception.com
IdeaInception.com
SubconsciousInception.com
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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on -
That was my issue, a total lack of charachter development. The wife was unbelievable and will never win an academy award, dicrapio just seemed uptight, the asian guy made no sense and the motivation for why planting the idea was important...... I was bored out of my mind.... Did not engage me in the slightest. Even my 14 year old son said, "eh. Whatever...."
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Permalink Reply by Jason Keen on
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Michael and Richard,
Thanks for coming back to reply!
I can appreciate your comments about the film - as far as films and acting go. You're probably spot-on!
But, if you read my original post it should have been clear that was not what I was interested in talking about. Reviewing it from the film critic perspective is not what I'm (personally) interested in. You're obviously welcome to comment however you like, but I'll sum up my thoughts about the extent to which my original interest was addressed: Dissapointed! LOL! You two are prominant figures on this site and I was looking forward to your well-informed insights.
Michael - you did mention the main concept of inception and I can appreciate your point. It probably wouldn't have been much of a story at all without the extra drama.
I'm still waiting for some interesting conversation (or even just a substantial comment or two) on the three (3) topics I listed in my original post.
Thanks anyway!
(With respect)
Jason
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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on
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Jason you are right, nobody answered your question. And while bored with the movie, I thought about these same topics, all worthy of discussion.
1.) Incpetion. The basic idea of hypnosis, therapy, parenting, policing, ministering, etc. is to take the minds of others and have them adapt your ideaas as their own.
2.) The idea that the attacks are projectstions to self-preserve was brilliant, and one I will probaly use in pretalk...
3.) Are we dreaming all of this and what is real is the great metaphysical question of time. The more I live the more think all of this is an illusion.
I think the film also bring up time distortion. I saw the movie in DC with Taylor Sherman on Saturday night. It is now Monday and I am in Tulsa. It seems like it was three years ago. But when I think of three years ago when I first met Taylor at Hypnoticon in Atlanta, it seems like yesterday.....
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Permalink Reply by Jan Krüger on -
I haven't watched the movie yet.
1) At this point I believe that it's indeed possible to give someone an idea that they didn't actually want to get. I believe that for a number of reasons; first and foremost, if I didn't believe it, that would mean I would be incapable of helping people who are so confused about something that they are incapable of looking at it objectively. There is, of course, a discussion about ethics somewhere in this, but we've probably talked about that before, so I'm not going to do it here.
I also believe that it's possible because I believe that I have seen it, and that I have experienced it myself. As a simple example, some people are rather suggestible in a normal context and you can easily spoil their meal by talking about gross things. They don't want to contemplate them but they do, and they revivify (or construct) a sensation or experience related to them even though it's not actually good for them, and I don't see any reasonable argument that they would seriously want to do that.
Similarly, fear-mongering... we tend to get bombarded with messages designed to instil fear, by people who think they are really good at sneaky manipulation or by those who are already anxious themselves. Unless we are aware of what's going on, it tends to work sooner or later.
I think that's how it works in general: be aware of something and you can prevent it from working. That means the limit of non-consensual manipulation is what the subject is aware of. As far as I can conceive, no person is aware of everything, so in theory it should be possible to manipulate everyone if you happen to find their blind spot and figure out how to exploit it.
2) There wasn't any question here. For what it's worth, I agree with your thoughts insofar as I don't think they apply universally; I believe that minds can actually work in a different way.
3) Are we dreaming? Well, no matter whether it's true or not, I think that one interesting way of changing someone is to deconstruct their sense of how reality works to the point that you can rebuild it in a slightly different way that empowers them. There are many things we usually think about reality that can be challenged... after all, nobody can prove that any given model of reality is correct.
To me it doesn't really make a difference whether there actually is a higher level or not. Changing your map of reality has the level of impact that we would expect if a higher level existed, but if it doesn't, the impact is there anyway.
Or, put into different words, why think of distinct levels? Your current reality is delineated by how much awareness you have, awareness of things that are or might be. Anything you aren't aware of might as well not exist in your reality (except for, I guess, things that are really persistent and so have an effect on you without your being aware of them). Any gain of awareness will necessarily expand your current reality, going from my own definitions of the terms. Reality is that which you can become aware of... and you don't really know which things there are that you aren't aware of, right? If you did, you'd be aware of them to some degree, after all.
Whew. With all that talked about, I want to recommend a film myself, without creating a whole discussion about it. It's hard to describe, not least because the story isn't really what it's about. But, to us, it's easy to see it as a film that's about suggestion, motivation, personality. So, if that sounds interesting, you might want to watch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Be warned that it's not an entertainment thing. It's an experience thing.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on
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@ James,
Excellent film! What the heck were you smoking? =^..^=
@ Jason,
Just so you know, I didn't have to waste the time and money on the sucky movie to discuss your talking points. FYI- I intended to address your talking points when I got around to it and I wanted to warn others and share my disappointment, right away- before anyone ran out to see Inception based on your and James recommendations: Inception is not even a good movie, let alone an excellent movie.
1) Inception.
"Inception" happens all the time, with and without conventional hypnosis -- Letting people think that something was their idea is the secret to a happy marriage and many other relationships. Newly certified hypnosis are often bummed to realize that their clients can get their desired results and still not believe that they were hypnotized -- More experienced hypnosis practitioners know how to empower their clients and help them appreciate that they had some help... I am confident that Richard covers this in his advanced trainings as do I.
2) Projection.
A) I work and teach using a client centered model and I am always mindful of keeping my stuff out of it. However, since joining the HT.com community, I realized that many hypnosis practitioners continue to be trained and practice hypnosis in the old "Therapist Centered" model...
B) George Orwell called this function of mind: Protective Stupidity - Once we believe something there is an automatic reflex that protects us from "dangerous information" that is in conflict with our personal mythologies... In effect, we unconsciously police our thoughts.
One can take on these beliefs by hitting them between the eyes or by moving the person into a receptive "state" -- i am always amazed to discover just how many "certified" hypnosis professionals are not aware of this.
3) Are We Dreaming?
I was tempted to say that life is but a dream, but instead, I'll just say that if we are in a waking sleep we are mostly likely dreaming.
Life is like a movie and we can help our clients rewrite or redirect theirs in ways that promote feeling better, healing faster and generally being more effective -
Are you feeling better - Now.
Warmest regards,
Michael E.
PS - Thanks for the kind words--
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Permalink Reply by Jason Keen on
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Thanks Jan - that's exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to to hear more of. That gives a lot to chew on for a while - much appreciated!
Jason
Jan Krüger said:I haven't watched the movie yet.
1) At this point I believe that it's indeed possible to give someone an idea that they didn't actually want to get. I believe that for a number of reasons; first and foremost, if I didn't believe it, that would mean I would be incapable of helping people who are so confused about something that they are incapable of looking at it objectively. There is, of course, a discussion about ethics somewhere in this, but we've probably talked about that before, so I'm not going to do it here.
I also believe that it's possible because I believe that I have seen it, and that I have experienced it myself. As a simple example, some people are rather suggestible in a normal context and you can easily spoil their meal by talking about gross things. They don't want to contemplate them but they do, and they revivify (or construct) a sensation or experience related to them even though it's not actually good for them, and I don't see any reasonable argument that they would seriously want to do that.
Similarly, fear-mongering... we tend to get bombarded with messages designed to instil fear, by people who think they are really good at sneaky manipulation or by those who are already anxious themselves. Unless we are aware of what's going on, it tends to work sooner or later.
I think that's how it works in general: be aware of something and you can prevent it from working. That means the limit of non-consensual manipulation is what the subject is aware of. As far as I can conceive, no person is aware of everything, so in theory it should be possible to manipulate everyone if you happen to find their blind spot and figure out how to exploit it.
2) There wasn't any question here. For what it's worth, I agree with your thoughts insofar as I don't think they apply universally; I believe that minds can actually work in a different way.
3) Are we dreaming? Well, no matter whether it's true or not, I think that one interesting way of changing someone is to deconstruct their sense of how reality works to the point that you can rebuild it in a slightly different way that empowers them. There are many things we usually think about reality that can be challenged... after all, nobody can prove that any given model of reality is correct.
To me it doesn't really make a difference whether there actually is a higher level or not. Changing your map of reality has the level of impact that we would expect if a higher level existed, but if it doesn't, the impact is there anyway.
Or, put into different words, why think of distinct levels? Your current reality is delineated by how much awareness you have, awareness of things that are or might be. Anything you aren't aware of might as well not exist in your reality (except for, I guess, things that are really persistent and so have an effect on you without your being aware of them). Any gain of awareness will necessarily expand your current reality, going from my own definitions of the terms. Reality is that which you can become aware of... and you don't really know which things there are that you aren't aware of, right? If you did, you'd be aware of them to some degree, after all.
Whew. With all that talked about, I want to recommend a film myself, without creating a whole discussion about it. It's hard to describe, not least because the story isn't really what it's about. But, to us, it's easy to see it as a film that's about suggestion, motivation, personality. So, if that sounds interesting, you might want to watch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Be warned that it's not an entertainment thing. It's an experience thing.
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