The meaning of existence

Frieda 2022-03-25 08:01:01

Finally finished watching the anime Lain and understand why those reviews say it's one of the most obscure cartoons ever made. The dim picture, the illusory characters, the ethereal dialogue, the staggered plot, the alternation of the real and the illusory, make you think hard to piece it together and find the clues.

The story is about the survival of the Internet and reality. Lain in the real world is lonely and autistic, out of tune with the people around him. The reason why she is so special is because she is a program written by the "god" in the Internet. Once she wakes up, she can freely shuttle between the Internet and reality - in fact, everyone in the story is a program, why But Lain is so special, I don't understand, is it because she is the protagonist?

The story may be about the meaning of existence: Qiansha chose to give up her body at the very beginning, and sought a new way of living in the illusory online world in the form of spirit, "For this real world, the body is the Meaningless things." "There are many mes that exist in different people's memories, and there is always one me." "Everything is fake, everything exists because of people's memories, if a little bit Rewriting the memory is like nothing happened." But does it make sense to live in the network? The end of the story is to deny the existence of "God" in the Internet. Lain chooses to end himself, delete all his memories, and let everything return to normal. No one will die strangely, no one will be hurt, and no one will hate each other. . It turns out that real existence is a kind of happiness.

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Extended Reading
  • Jesus 2022-03-26 09:01:15

    I didn't understand it once, but it's worth repeating.

  • Shanna 2022-03-25 09:01:23

    Baudrillard's simulacrum theory should be used. The simulacrum theory believes that the simulacra and reality "implode" in postmodern society. The "implosion" eliminates the boundary between the simulacrum and the reality, and the simulacrum is more "real" than reality, thus forming "hyperreal". "Hyperreality" replaces the reality that shapes the essence of the subject's self. The Yingri Zhengmei in the story is the one who tries to start the "imploding". He yearned for simulacrum, believing that simulacrum could promote human evolution to a new height. Lingyin resisted him and succeeded. After Lingyin restarts the world, the boundary between simulacrum and reality is repaired. Lingyin represents existentialism, rejects the erosion of the subject's self by the patterns, symbols, logic, and language represented by simulacra, resists simulacra, and pursues reality.

Serial Experiments Lain quotes

  • Iwakura, Yasuo: Let me give you one little warning.

    Lain Iwakura: Huh?

    Iwakura, Yasuo: When it's all said and done, the Wired is just a medium of communication and the transfer of information. You mustn't confuse it with the real world. Do you understand what I'm warning you about?

    Lain Iwakura: You're wrong.

    Iwakura, Yasuo: Huh?

    Lain Iwakura: The border between the two isn't all that clear. I'll be able to enter it soon. In full range. Full motion. I'll translate myself into it.

    Iwakura, Yasuo: Even with a top of the line civilian Navi, you couldn't.

    Lain Iwakura: I can do it. I've modified mine.

    Iwakura, Yasuo: A Psyche processor, huh? But...

    Lain Iwakura: Don't worry. I'm still me.

    Iwakura, Yasuo: Sometimes I wonder.

  • Lain Iwakura: [gasp]

    Miho Iwakura: The wired might actually be thought of as a highly advanced upper layer of the real world. In other words, physical reality is nothing but an illusion, a hologram of the information that flows to us through the wired.

    Lain Iwakura: But ma...

    Miho Iwakura: This is because the body, physical motion, the activity of the human brain is merely a physical phenomenon, simply caused by synapses delivering electrical impulses.

    Lain Iwakura: But mom, I...

    Miho Iwakura: The physical body exists at a less evolved plane only to verify one's existence in the universe.

    Lain Iwakura: Are you really, truly my mother?

    Miho Iwakura: [disappears]

    Lain Iwakura: Are you?