How much of Reality are we imagining?

(This post is about The Sixth Sense and contains spoilers. I highly recommend you watch the movie without reading spoilers as it is a great movie to watch.)

The sixth sense is in my opinion a classic movie. A lot of people are left in shock by the ending as it was something that hadn’t been done before around that time. We deal with a fascinating concept of a boy who can speak to dead people. But really what is more interesting is Malcolm, a man who doesn’t realise he is in fact dead. The idea of reality really is the driving force in this movie. We follow the story believing one thing, only to find out that wasn’t the case. The movie brilliantly shows us clips with Malcolm interacting with people. Our mind fills in the main ideas of what is happening. Very similarly to Malcolm who fills in the blanks throughout the story, only realizing at the end he was in fact dead. So, does our mind fill in the blanks in ordinary situations? Do we look at something and presume we know what is going on? I believe the answer is yes. We can see one side of something, and view the reality to be completely different to the way someone else may see it. This is very interesting and scary at the same time. How is it that we can so easily fill in the blanks of what the reality of a situation is, when in fact we know so little about it?  

The purpose of the movie I believe is to get us questioning reality and perception of situations. We think we know what is happening when the reality is completely different. I think this movie really relates to the idea discussed in Descartes Second Meditation. The Meditator tries to clarify precisely what this "I" is, this "thing that thinks." He concludes that he is not only something that thinks, understands, and wills, but is also something that imagines and senses. After all, he may be dreaming or deceived, but he can still imagine things and he still seems to hear and see things. The senses, as we have seen, cannot be trusted. Similarly, he concludes, he cannot trust the imagination. The imagination can conjure up ideas of all sorts of things that are not real, so it cannot be the guide to knowing his own essence. Still, the Meditator remains puzzled. If, as he has concluded, he is a thinking thing, why is it that he has such a distinct grasp of what his body is and has such a difficult time identifying what is this "I" that thinks? In order to understand this difficulty he considers how we come to know of a piece of wax just taken from a honeycomb: through the senses or by some other means?

The Meditator considers what he can know about the piece of wax, and concludes that he can know only that it is extended, flexible, and changeable. He does not come to know this through the senses, and realizes that it is impossible that he comes to know the wax by means of the imagination: the wax can change into an infinite number of different shapes and he cannot run through all these shapes in his imagination. Instead, he concludes, he knows the wax by means of the intellect alone. His mental perception of it can either be imperfect and confused as when he allowed himself to be led by his senses and imagination or it can be clear and distinct as it is when he applies only careful mental scrutiny to his perception of it.

The Meditator reflects on how easy it is to be deceived regarding these matters. After all, we might say "I see the wax," though in saying that we refer to the wax as the intellect perceives it, rather than to its color or shape. This is similar to the way in which we might "see" people down in the street when all we really see are coats and hats. Our intellect and not our eyes judges that there are people under those coats and hats. Confusing? Yes. Identity and reality are very difficult concepts to discuss. We see this in the Sixth Sense. Our imaginations fooled us to the actual reality of the situation taking place. We thought we saw Malcolm alive, trying to help this little boy.