Inception

Yesterday we decided to go and watch Inception. The commercials worked and made me wonder about the whole thing, especially given that most of what I do involves looking at how people use their minds...

The first thing I did was look the word up. I had read the synopsis online and it was kind of a key word! :-) I found a few definitions quite close to each other but the general idea is beginning, creation.

Then I sat through a couple of hours of breathtaking action, the kind I like, no gross gratuitous violence and quite some thinking put behind the story, featuring pretty amazing people. I really thought a few times that I was dreaming, and getting this feeling you get when you are in a very vivid dream you really hope to get out of soon.

Anyway, I don't want to tell you more about the movie. I definitely recommend it though. It is really one of those movies that you want to take a leap of faith to go and watch. Don't let anybody give you any ideas about it and spoil it for you.

But this is what I think I can tell you: We do it every day. Even though the movie takes it one step further (or 2 or 3 levels deeper actually), human beings constantly plant ideas in other people's minds. More importantly, parents plant ideas in their kids' minds all the time. Educators do it too. Now we all do it for good reasons, we are not trying to brainwash our kids but we have to realize the impact it can have on them.

Once the idea is heard enough to make its way into the subconscious, it is there, it is acquired and it will be very hard to remove. Now, this can be a very good thing if it is a good principle to live by.

But what if a parent keeps telling Little Johnny that it is normal that his spelling tests are so bad because nobody was ever good at spelling in the family? What if Little Sarah is constantly told that she is just not good at exams, just because of that one test she failed last year? What if parents and educators tell kids that dreaming big will only lead to disappointment?

What if your kids make these ideas that you plant in their minds their own, and take them for absolute truths? There is no way Little Johnny is going to try any harder at spelling given that he already knows that he is doomed by his genes. There is no way Little Sarah is going to go into an exam feeling confident if she already knows it is not her thing. What if kids simply give up on any idea because they think they'll be disappointed?

But is Little Johnny really a bad speller or does he think he is and, therefore, doesn't try and consequently doesn't perform? Does Little Sarah really forget it all in her exams or does she actually spend the night before pacing up and down in anticipation instead of actually reviewing for the exam? How many geniuses could have changed the world but gave up too soon because we never allowed them to fail? Think about this when you talk to kids.

The question is: What is REALITY?