Nietzsche, in "On Truth and Lies in the Non-moral Sense" expands on the Ancient Greek's concept of reality and non-reality by challenging us to try to remember that there was once a time when "human intellect" did not exist and there was no "knowing." This makes me think of Albert Einstein's quote of "To know is nothing at all but to imagine is everything." Nietzsche would probably agree with this in the sense that he seems to think that human existence could be nothing more than an imagined dream. Just where does the dream end and the reality begin? How do we know we are not dreaming now? This imagined reality is a concept that seems popular in this digital age, as evidenced by a recent influx of motion pictures devoted to reality and non-reality. My daughter points out that it seems many of these films star Leonardo DiCaprio, but whether that is relevant or not, one wonders if writers and directors had Nietzsche in mind when they created the film "Inception." (Here is where I wish I knew how to create hyper-text. Is it really simple to learn this?)
Anyway, for those who have not seen Inception, it deals with how the mind during sleep is able to trick itself into all kinds of beliefs about what is real. It is a breeding ground for the power of suggestion which allows, in this fictional tale, infiltrators to enter your dreams and alter your dream consciousness so much that it affects what you think or feel or believe in your waking consciousness. Nietzsche states that "Pascal is right in maintaining that if the same dream came to us every night we would be just as occupied with it as we are with the things that we see every day. Quoting Pascal, he continues, "If a workman were sure to dream for twelve straight hours every night that he was king, I believe that he would be just as happy as a king who dreamt for twelve hours every night that he was a workman." Nietzsche believes that man wants to alter his own truth or reality, as it is a way to experience the elusive happiness. "[M]an has in invincible inclination to allow himself to be deceived and is, as it were, enchanted with happiness when the rhapsodist tells him epic fables as if they were true, or when the actor in the theater acts more royally than any real king. So long as it is able to deceive without injuring, that master of deception, the intellect, is free; it is relased from its former slavery and celebrates its Saturnalia. It is never more luxuriant, richer, prouder, more clever and more daring." Is this an argument that the human intellect needs to occasionally exchange reality for imagined reality in order for it to thrive?
Nietzsche's belief is never more relevant than it is today as film, television, and computer-generated digital realities take over most of our "waking" lives, blurring even more the lines between illusion and reality, truth and untruth. Like Plato's men in "The Allegory of the Cave" we are sometimes more comfortable in our "shadow realities" or the the images projected to us on a screen. Why else would virtual computer worlds become so popular and virtual actions? Why become an actual rock star or tennis player when Wii can make you feel as if you are -- or, as Nietzsche would put it -- lie to yourself that you are what you imagine you are.
Next, I'd tell you to enjoy some scenes from Inception that I found on You-Tube, but I can't figure out how to post the video. Drat! My daughter was home from college and helped me last time. Seriously, it can't be this hard to figure out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OmY6A6YW-qQ
No comments:
Post a Comment