can't stop thinking about something
I keep thinking about something you said.Waking Life · 2001 — Chapter 4 of 13 · 3'48" · C1
Two People Discuss Reincarnation, Explained: collective memory
Two people discuss seeing life through the eyes of an old woman about to die, then move to brain activity and dream time. The line "I'm still just as real as anything else" makes it personal: if the speaker exists only in someone else's mind, what does that make them? The talk then turns to reincarnation.
What happens
Two people are talking about a feeling one of them described: watching life from the perspective of an old woman about to die. The talk moves from Tim Leary and brain activity after death to reincarnation, collective memory, and the possibility that people share experience without knowing it.
Listen for
from the perspective ofYou know what I'm saying?dumb fuckfirst-round humans
00:00 / 03:48Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
collective memory
memory shared by a group
Someone redefines reincarnation as a poetic way of naming collective memory, as if settling the long argument.
The song has entered the country's collective memory.
Also in this scene
- from the perspective of
as seen through someone’s eyes
- You know what I'm saying?
are you following me?
- dumb fuck
a stupid person (vulgar)
- first-round humans
humans on their first go-around
- poppin' up
appearing suddenly
Everything marked in this scene
27 notes across 54 lines
The p in keep is barely released before thinking; keep the phrase connected.
I keep thinking about something you said.on the point of dying
from the perspective of an old woman about to die.to recall the past
Like I'm looking back on my life.to await something with pleasure
that he was looking forward to the moment...to stop working completely
They say that there's still 6 to 12 minutes of brain activity after everything is shut down.to go on for hours
go back to sleep and I have those long, intricate, beautiful dreams that seem to last for hours,Keep could soft and link be your; stress whole life.
Exactly. So then 6 to 1 2 minutes of brain activity, I mean, that could be your whole life.to live only in someone's imagination
I mean, yeah, maybe I only exist in your mind.Link as anything and let else fall softly.
I'm still just as real as anything else.as time passes
Just about reincarnation and where all the new souls come from over time.embedded question: The embedded question keeps normal word order after about and asks where new souls originate.
Just about reincarnation and where all the new souls come from over time.stupid person (vulgar) — Vulgar insult for private anger; never use it in polite or work settings.
I always want to tell them they were probably some dumb fuck like everybody else.a soul that never ends
- So if you really believe in that ego thing of one eternal soul, - Mm-hmm.that ego business — Slightly dismissive; avoid it in serious academic discussion.
- So if you really believe in that ego thing of one eternal soul, - Mm-hmm.what-clause: The what-clause names the point, and the that-clause after 'is' delivers its content.
No, no. What I'm trying to say is that somehow I believe...a lyrical way of naming something
reincarnation is just a-- a poetic expression of what collective memory really is.relative clause: The clause pins the article to the speaker's own reading, a small aside folded into the noun phrase.
There was this article by this biochemist that I read not long ago, and he was talking about how when a member of a species is born,to use something as a resource literally 'draw on' a surface, but here it means to use stored memory
it has a billion years of memory to draw on.to receive instincts as a legacy
And this is where we inherit our instincts.sudden advances in innovation
That would explain why there's all these, you know, seemingly spontaneous, worldwide, innovative leaps in science, in the arts.not dependent on one another
You know, like the same results poppin' up everywhere independent of each other.sprouting up — Casual for things appearing; too loose for formal writing.
You know, like the same results poppin' up everywhere independent of each other.to work something out
- figure out the same thing. - Mm-hmm.compared with or concerning something
in relation to the general population.to notice or catch on to something literally to pick something up, but here it means to catch or absorb an answer
So it's like once the answers are out there, you know, people can pick up on 'em.'em shrinks to a bare m; run pick up on together into it.
So it's like once the answers are out there, you know, people can pick up on 'em.Two People Discuss Reincarnation, explained
What's really going on
At first the scene sounds like two people trading theories, but the pressure is personal: one person describes seeing life from the perspective of an old woman about to die, as if waking life were her memories. The reply asks what that would make the other person; the answer, "I'm still just as real as anything else," refuses to treat a life inside someone else's mind as fake. The later talk about collective memory and telepathy widens that claim: shared ideas and instincts may be as real as the people who have them.
Theme
PhilosophyThe scene treats dream time, death, and reincarnation as open questions rather than fixed beliefs.
MemoryReincarnation becomes a way of talking about collective memory and instincts passed down over time.
Listen for
- keep thinking — The p in keep is barely released before thinking; keep the phrase connected.
- could be your — Keep could soft and link be your; stress whole life.
- as anything else — Link as anything and let else fall softly.
- pick up on 'em — 'em shrinks to a bare m; run pick up on together into it.
Like my waking life is her memories.The speaker describes waking life as if it were the memories of the dying woman whose perspective they imagined—life felt from the end, looking back.
And a second of dream consciousness, right, well, that's infinitely longer than a waking second.Dream time is described as stretching far beyond clock time: one second inside a dream can feel longer than an ordinary waking second.
I'm still just as real as anything else.Even if this person exists only in someone else's mind, they claim the same reality as anything else in that world.
It's like we're all telepathically sharing our experiences.The idea is that people may pick up on answers or inventions once they are out in the world, as if experience were shared without direct contact.
Questions about this scene
Why does the conversation turn to Tim Leary?
One person brings him up as someone who supposedly said he was looking forward to the moment when his body was dead but his brain was still alive. It supports the idea that a few minutes of brain activity could contain a whole lifetime.
What does "first-round humans" mean?
It means young souls, people who are experiencing human life for the first time. The question asks whether reincarnation is real or whether half of us are simply new to being human.
Why does the math about world population challenge reincarnation?
Because the world population has doubled in the past 40 years. If each person had one eternal soul, then only half of those souls would be over 40, and only one in six over 150.
What is collective memory in this scene?
It is the shared memory of a species, including instincts and solutions passed down over time. The line calls reincarnation a poetic expression of that memory, not the reverse.
Waking Life · 13 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 5charadeThe Free Will Lecture
Chapter 1on an even keelA Ride Full of Sea Metaphors
Chapter 2write ourselves offSpeaker Defends Existentialism
Chapter 3at the whim ofThe Evolution Lecture
Watching · Chapter 4collective memoryTwo People Discuss Reincarnation
Chapter 5charadeThe Free Will Lecture
Chapter 6two sides of the same coinMan Rants About Control
Chapter 7in the middle of nowhereGas Station Shooting Story
Chapter 8make the best of itLucid Dreaming Tips and Tricks
Chapter 9come out of the momentTwo People Debate What Film Captures
Chapter 10be an antStrangers Talk About Not Being Ants
Chapter 11beside the pointA Character in a Dream
Chapter 12coauthors ofBridge Monologue on Dreams
Chapter 13false awakeningsDreamer Describes False AwakeningsChapter 4 of 13 · about 28 min to go