Hume, Pi, and the Soul of God

Pi very clearly draws a comparison to Descartes. The protagonist is wrapped up in a quest to understand the world through numbers. He discovers a sacred set of numbers and begins using them to understand the world. It is very much about what lies behind the veil of our reality.

I also see notes of Hume in the film though. The entire movie is about searching for the numbers that can be used to understand the world. Even though it is more about the constants of the world and not immortality of the individual there are still parallels. Trying to figure out the patterns in the world and what stays the same is both about the veil of reality and the immortality of things in the world.

Some Jewish men were studying the kaballah. Hebrew letters correspond to numbers. The sacred set of numbers he found were said to be the true name of God. When they tried to coerce the numbers out of the protagonist he said it's not the digits, it's the syntax between them that is important. The interaction between the pieces is where God lies. He also used the numbers to understand the world. The most interesting part is the climax of the movie where he really connected with himself after stopping his medication. He drilled a hole in his head with his drill. It then cut to him talking with someone and basically he lost his mathematical gift. But he had smiled for the only time in the movie.

 It says something that his gift was driving him crazy and ultimately led him to reduce his intelligence. The movie addresses the idea of the soul of the world or reality, what stays the same and repeats. Which isn't specifically what Hume meant but it is a very apt comparison.

The writing by Hume is considering what may be left after death. This is why the name of the writing is "The immortality of the soul." The soul is the embodiment of the material which might be left after death. In this way the number could be said to be what stays constant while the world changes.

The protagonist's search for the meaning of the world through numbers is a search for immortality. Not his own but in looking for God he searched out for the immortal elements of the world. In a way he did find them, but it only lead to him crippling himself intellectually. The ending is open ended but is interpreted as immortality being out of the reach of humans