The Philosophy of Serial Experiments Lain (1998)

The philosophy of Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain, or “Lain” for short, is a series which focuses on Lain Iwakura, an adolescent middle school girl living in suburban Japan, and her introduction to the Wired, a global communications network which is similar to the Internet. In short, Lain’s first real introduction to the wired reality is when her and a plethora of her other classmates receive cryptic emails from a former student - who has seemingly “found God” by abandoning her physical body to reside spiritually in the wired. After this, Lain finds herself caught up in surreal events that see her delving deeper into the mystery of the network, in a narrative that explores themes of consciousness, perception, and the nature of reality. Written in 1998 by Chiaki Konaka and directed by Ryūtaro Nakamura, who created a plot before its time, they project their own personal beliefs of idealism, existentialism, mental illness and religion onto both Lain as a character and the entire show. The philosophy more so details nihilism, an ideology which suggests that nothing matters because nothing is real; and idealism, an idea explored by George Berekley who believed that objects and beings of knowledge are held to be in some way dependent on the activity of mind. Even 20 years later, the story of this show is up for mere speculation, but the theories presented in it go much, much, deeper.

Lain is seen to state often in the show that she is unaware of who the real Lain is, this is the most reoccurring pointer towards the way which the show’s creators’ experiment with metaphysical ideologies and ideals. The question often begged within Lain is “does anything matter?” or, alternatively, “is anything real?”. Let’s take the Schrödingers cat analogy for example, a theorem focused on quantum mechanics. Schrödingers’ analogy illustrates an “apparent paradox of quantum superstition.” In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat may be considered simultaneously both dead and alive as a result of being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur. Essentially, if there is a cat in a box where no one can hear, see, or perceive the animal it would be both dead and alive at the same time as nothing is to prove either to be the truth. This analogy’s intent was to make a mockery of similar beliefs, but it still makes sense in its own way, nonetheless.

Now, hypotheticals are not the only themes explored in the show. We get a little insight into the way the creators see religion as a concept. Lain is seen to state to a so-called “God” that he’s just a fraud, because anyone is able to be mascaraed as divinity if they have enough people to believe that they are, in fact, divine. This theme of religion, however, is much less prevalent throughout Lain, in comparison to the philosophical references, though they consistently intertwine at multiple climaxes. When nothing matters, nor does God.

Let’s backtrack a little, to George Berekley’s idealism. To understand this, let’s say you go to a museum to view a painting, which you find easy to perceive as you presumably have the required sense organ (eyes) to do so. But, when the museum is closed and there is nobody around to perceive the painting, does it really, truly, exist anymore? More likely than not, your immediate answer to this question would be yes but how about we apply this example to the metaphysical sciences? Your decisive line is quickly blurred. Objects can only be seen if there is the appropriate organ around to register the light projecting it. If there are nobody’s eyes around to translate this light, there is no image of the painting, resulting in it no longer existing. The only proof you would have to the existence of the painting is the fact you viewed it in the past, but you have no proof to clarify that you will still be able to view it in the future. It’s a difficult concept to understand, and it is neither correct nor incorrect, making it odd to be the basis for a television show.

You may be wondering how this remotely relates to Lain, which is a fair question. As the series progresses, the Wired and reality slowly become the same place. As the viewer, from as early as episode 3, we can no longer tell the difference between when Lain is experiencing phenomena in the Wired or the real world. This illustrates to us that, holistically, we are becoming too involved with the internet as a subsection of reality rather than an addition to it. But it also alludes to the idea that our “wired” is, as we are so dependent on it, not inherently our impending doom - dissimilar to the wired Lain is faced with. The creators of the show, personally, find the wired they create to be a haven for those who feel as if they cannot truly express themselves in their present reality; though they fail in making it seem this way whatsoever. Lain, due to her own selfishness and curiosity, ruins the lives of her peers by becoming too invested in her Wired persona. Due to this contradiction between the intent and outcome, the truest meaning of the series has been conspired for years in a “war of ideas”, stated by Ueda; the show’s producer. This is where we see nihilism comes into play as a fundamental theme within Lain and the way it is perceived by those who view it. No interpretations really, genuinely, matter, which is why Ueda wasn’t upset by the “war of ideas” and in fact welcomed it. Lain has no meaning. But at the same time, it means anything and everything you find to be applicable to the way you as an individual view it. The point of Lain is to confuse us; our self-perception, behaviour and what exactly it means to be alive and to live.

From episode 2, Lain begins experiencing strange occurrences, including: dislocations of space and time; visions of other people’s experiences, and as she becomes more familiar with the Wired, discovers another version of herself existing independently in the real and virtual worlds. Eventually, Lain and her doppelgänger turn out to be an omniscient being generated by the Wired, which government agents are attempting to control - her cold, uncaring family is a set of actors and the ‘reality’ that she knows is entirely fake. For Lain, the web portends intrigue, mirage and mortality. In the Wired, Lain is no longer the character we believe her to be - Lain sees her presence in the digital world is an unknown perversion of herself. The digital Lain is a bully, whilst the ‘real’ Lain is a meek teenager often struggling with mere human interaction and confrontation. This bleakness of the ‘real’ Lain gives her the ability to be imprisoned by, simply, her accessibility to the wired and the tales of the version of herself already present in the wired. Lain existed alone if, but for very brief moments in the show, solely within our minds. In that, we are the only people to know what she went through. Essentially, we are Lain as we carry her firsthand memories. She is a warning of the horrors of humankind. The horrors of the alternate world we have the ability to create.

During the time of airing, Serial Experiments Lain was mainly seen as a warning of technological advancements and what that had in store for daily life - but now that we are living in the life predetermined by Ueda Nakamura and Konaka, that consensus resonates more so as an allegory about the perils of forging one’s identity-an alternative identity, however false, misguided, perverse, delusional with the assistance of the internet and AI. Lain becomes so invested in the wired that it becomes her own domain, the other users/beings present there are at her mercy. The role Lain takes as ‘father’ of the Wired resembles the advancements of AI in the last 5 years; in 2023 it is reasonable to assume the message of Lain now may be a cautionary tale of the ways in which AI’s influence may seep into out conscious world, outside of technology. 

So, now all we need to ask ourselves is what Lain actually teaches us. The anime is about enlightenment which is the disillusion of ego, the desire to abolish ego and some of the experiences one might encounter in the process. Yet, simultaneously, it defends one’s ego; Lain is constantly left wonder who she really is and what about her makes her truly Lain. Lain wanted to avoid the collective consciousness of all beings forced together with no freedom or individualism. It clearly defends egoism because that’s what wholeheartedly makes us ourselves. Without ego, we are nothing but unconscious blobs floating on nothingness with zero meaning, all identically copies of the same plainly dull life form. The show is a foresight into this fear, the suppression of mankind and the hands of the ever-growing web. Lain as a character acts as a bridge between humankind and the internet - much like Jesus is the bridge between humans and our God. Lain is everything and everyone, Lain is religion, she is us and we are her; we learn from Lain’s extreme selfishness that we must be selfish. We shouldn’t desire a refuge to act a way in which we are not, to become something we never ought to be. We must learn our sense of self: before we become corrupt and before we damage the world around us.