Can a totem help you figure out if you are in reality or your own dream?

Question

In Inception, the totem is supposed to be a device that helps the totem owner to figure out whether he is a dream or in reality. This is because the totem has some special feature which is known only to the totem owner.

I think what was implied was that if the special feature was present, then the owner is in reality, else he is in a dream.

However, I think it would only be able to tell him if he is in someone else's dream or not. If the special feature is missing, then he is surely in someone else's dream. However, if the special feature is present, then I think 2 choices remain

1. He is in reality or
2. He is in his own dream. Because he knows the special feature, he will know it in his dream also and the totem will exist with the feature in his own dream.

So can a totem owner tell if he is in reality or in his own dream? Or is it implied that a dreamer always knows he is in a dream? I didn't get that impression from the movie.

Answer 1

The existence of the totem is not what proves whether or not they're in a dream or reality - it's the accuracy of it.

Arthur tells Ariadne what his totem is, but doesn't let her touch it. But, how is it weighted? Which side does it lean? How heavy is it? As the architect, Ariadne could insert a loaded die into one of the designs, but she could never get all of the exact details just right. If any of the details are wrong, Arthur would know that he is in someone else's dream.

From the script

COBB

She'll need a totem.

ARIADNE

What?

ARTHUR

Some kind of personal icon. A small object that you can always have with you, and that no one else knows,

[...snip...]

ARTHUR

So. A totem. You need something small, potentially heavy... INT. BATHROOM, WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

COBB takes out his PEWTER SPINNING TOP, SPINS it on the marble counter... INT. WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

ARIADNE looks at ARTHUR, puzzled.

ARIADNE

Like a coin?

ARTHUR

Too common. You need something that has a weight or movement that only you know. INT. BATHROOM, WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

COBB STUDIES the spin of the top as it decays, becoming more and more ECCENTRIC... INT. WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

ARIADNE

What’s yours?

ARTHUR holds out a DIE.

ARTHUR

A loaded die.

ARIADNE reaches for it-

ARTHUR snatches sit away-

ARTHUR

I can’t let you handle it. That’s the point. No one else can know the weight or balance of it.

ARIADNE

Why?

ARTHUR

So when you examine your totem... INT. BATHROOM, WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

COBB’s spinning top WOBBLES OVER.

ARTHUR (O.S.)

You know, beyond a doubt, that you’re not in someone else’s dream.

So just the existence of the totem at the end proves nothing. The devil is in the details - and we're never told whether or not all the details match.

Following this...

• The existence of your totem in a "reality" does not prove anything - unless no one knows of the existence of the totem at all. (example: if Ariadne does not know of the existence of Arthur's loaded die, it's a VERY slim chance that she would randomly put one into a dream design.)
• The accuracy of your totem proves that you are not in someone else's dream.
• Your totem cannot be used to prove whether or not you are in your own dream.

Answer 2

To prove that you are in your own dream you could use both your totem and the totem of another in conjunction. If yours acts in such a way as to denote either existence within your own dream or reality, and the other person examines theirs and finds that they are in the dream of another, hey presto; your own dream. For two people to, in the same existence, have reality-affirming results, it can be assumed (assuming that dream realities cannot merge) that the users are experiencing reality.