Why would the characters in Inception reveal what their totems are?
In Inception, many of the main characters reveal what their totems are (not necessarily how they work) to their associates. For example, Ariadne is shown to have a weighted bishop and Arthur is shown to have a loaded die. While only they know exactly how their respective tokens function, the fact that they reveal what their tokens are to each other seems counter-intuitive - especially since if they are kidnapped or sedated (like what they did to Fischer) and betrayed by each other, then their captors could easily find out how the totem works in the real world, and then assumedly use that knowledge when creating the dream world to make the captive think that it is real, when in fact it is not.
Example demonstrating the above argument:
Arthur is kidnapped and sedated by Eames. Eames knows about Arthur's loaded die and so he can easily find it on his person IN REAL LIFE, and find out which number it lands on. He then gets an architect to make the die land on the same number in his dream. And then can lead Arthur into his dream and make it appear like real life for Arthur.
While the argument could be made that they share what their tokens are only to people they trust, why would they not also share how their totems function if they actually trusted each other?
Is it not much more prudent to hide exactly what their token is, even to their friends, similarly to what Eames does (or should I say doesn't) do? Specifically, he never states what his totem is, and it is only suggested that his totem is the poker chip.
Best Answer
Because to keep the visual aspect of a totem hidden would not provide any useful additional level of protection from deception, but could greatly hinder its use.
Too difficult to keep to yourself:
The purpose of the totem is to act as an anchor to the real world. If the totem is not right, it is not the real totem, and therefore the user knows they are still in a dream state. The user has to have the ability to check the totem at any time or place, including in a public place. It would be nigh impossible to keep the identity of your totem secret for any length of time while still retaining the ability to use it effectively. It is a lot harder for anybody to work out any more than visual specifics of the totem without actually touching it - even observing the user while they check their totem would not be enough.
Too easy to copy in a dream:
Once your totem has been seen by another - especially if you are not aware it has been seen, which is quite likely - it can easily be recreated by said other to compromise and/or deceive you. The visual look of a user's totem has no defence against it being copied. Again, it is a lot harder to create a fake totem if you don't know how it feels to the user.
Simply put, the visual aspect of the totem is very hard to hide, and it's very hard to visually distinguish dream copies of items by vision alone, so why bother?
Pictures about "Why would the characters in Inception reveal what their totems are?"
What are the point of totems in Inception?
An elegant solution for keeping track of reality. A Totem is an object that is used to test if oneself is in one's own reality (dream or non-dream) and not in another person's dream.Why did Cobb tell Ariadne about his totem?
In the movie Cobb (DiCaprio) tells Ariadne (Page) that the most important rule in choosing a totem is to make sure that no one else has ever touched it. This is emphasized with flashbacks showing him changing his wife's dream by using her totem which is the spinning top.Is Mal Cobbs totem?
Mal's Totem Means Cobb Can Never Know: He's Dreaming And there is much ado about handling someone else's chosen item. However, a touch alone doesn't corrupt a totem in the Inception rulebook; it merely compromises its secretly known properties.Inception Film Theory | Mal's Totem
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Images: Pixabay, Miguel Á. Padriñán, Miguel Á. Padriñán, Jenna Hamra