Is there any real difference between "reality" and a dream???

DaveC426913

This is looking at the problem only symptomatically, ignoring the origin of these states: the conscious and unconscious mind.

A dream is what your unconscious mind does to entertain itself when your conscious mind is dormant. Waking state is what happens when your conscious mind returns to its active state and reasserts its dominance.

WaveJumper

I got the impression he was stating that the conscious mind/brain is (also) a projection(constituent part of the dream), the opposite of the mind being responsible for all objective sensory sensations. What the thing that 'projects' those sensations(reality) onto the mind is supposed to be like, is not something i can fathom, though. Maybe he can clarify his beliefs about us being in a more fundamental state somewhere else, and only temporarily here(dream state) in this physical universe. I wonder when we "wake up" as he claims after death, how are we supposed to know that we aren't again in a dream-reality?


Would a total freedom and no laws of physics and bounderies mean that you have woken up?

If yes, i don't want to wake up(yet).

Borg

I have hit the ground from a great height while dreaming and picked myself right up. I wouldn't do that in real life. Dreams for me are not real.

secular

> Let me add another state of our mind (in addition to unconscious- dreaming/ conscious-waking) - the sleep state. In this state we do not experience anything, but we are somewhere. Well, there can be another state of consciousness that is different from all these 3. While dreaming we are not aware of reality, so I cannot say what this fourth state is while in this reality-dream. This brings me to another question - what is space? ( is it an absolute reality OR just a sensory perception).


>You did understand what I was trying to convey. So, coming to the concept of space, what space are we in when we are dreaming? are we physically (as per the laws of physics) present in the conscious world (I am talking about individual awareness and not of the body as others can see it)?

> 'somewhere else' need not be some space in the physical sense. Are we in a different physical location when we are dreaming as against when we are awake? Same way we need not be in a different physical location after death, we may become aware of the the illusion of 'what we call reality now' as being something like a dream.

> I do not know about that for sure.


Would a total freedom and no laws of physics and bounderies mean that you have woken up?

While dreaming, have you ever been aware that you are in a dream? It is a very funny feeling. I did experience it a couple of times , but it did not stay for long. I must say I did feel great freedom during that phase, and wanted to enjoy the dream with abandon. Sadly, they did not last for long. Would like to know if anyone has had a similar experience in dreams.

M Grandin

Interesting topic !

Sometimes I have also been aware of dreaming, although still been careful because I could not be 100% sure of dream.

In some dreams I have also made experiments, calculus and even "innovations", aiming to analyze it later after awakening - are the physics laws and logics the same in dream world as in "real" world? Such research in dream is not always easy accomplish. (My impression is that logics is consistent in dream world, but not always exactly the same as in "real" world).

Some times I have also dreamt in dream in dream... up to threee or four stages - and
waked up in stages not sure when finally in "real" world. Bedlamp not working is sign of still in dream world.

Buckethead

I certainly have, many times. It is 100% coincident with becoming fully conscious and not just subconscious. As soon as I realize I'm dreaming, it's like a veil over my whole brain is lifted and I become fully aware, have all my will, can think logically and thoughtfully and be fully questioning how "this" can be so real, just like waking life. It's very odd indeed because if it happens to you once, you will never think of waking reality the same way.

I had a fully conscious experience once where I did not know I was dreaming, and that to me was the most extreme of all mind bending experiences. I had a different job then in waking life, I had a family, a dog, and all memories of this new person that I had become. Had I not awaken, I never would have known that I had any other life than that one. Talk about a religious experience, holy moly. No drugs used.

Quincy

Your brain perceives dreams the same way it perceives reality, so there's no difference between reality and dreams to your brain, but there is obviously a difference between reality and dreams to your body. So the answer to the question "Is there any real difference between "reality" and a dream?" is that to the brain, no, to the body, yes.

DaveC426913

This is not true. I don't know why you say this.

Your brain perceives reality through our senses. It does not perceive dreams through our senses, rather it manufactures dreams from within, partly pulled from memories, but much of it constructed by our mind on-the-fly.

Sorry!

The only difference is that psychological sciences are making great strides towards understanding dreams. In my dream world there are no strides being made towards understanding the 'real' world.

I think this theory is misunderstanding what dreams actually are.

++For those interested dreams are more than likely our brains way of 'defragging' and getting rid of useless information. Dreams can be as short as a few seconds to as long as 45 minutes (quite rare lengthy ones). The average is only a few minutes. Humans have around 8 dreams a night.

Quincy

Their was a study (I don't remember when or where, unfortunately) which showed that the brain doesn't know the difference between when the body is actually experiencing something or is imagining that experience. Maybe "perceives" is the wrong word to use...

Rayman9102

Heres a question that can probably answer this.. Do you guys think a blind man can dream?

Sorry!

This is different from dreaming. The brain knows it's dreaming YOUR not concious of it though.

The experiment your speaking of has to do with how the brain interprets perceptions. AKA While you're concious.

WaveJumper

I thought the brain was me. Are you implying I am not my brain?

magpies

I say they are both a dream state and in only one you really know this fact. Like you start having a dream then you move onto a second dream and become unsure of the fact that its just a dream because of your first dream. So basicaly life is just one recursive nightmare you learn to live with.

russ_watters

I don't think you realize just how irrelevant the question is. Blind people dream - dreams are not exclusively sight driven. You only think they are because as a person who sees, your eyesight is your dominant sense. People who don't see and never have have auditory dreams: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/11187

magpies

They could possibly probably feel things in the dreams also... I know I have felt touching things before in dreams. I have also smelt something a flower I believe and heard voices of people talking in my dreams is fairly common.

Rayman9102

But isnt that a blind person that can partially see? A complete blind person cant see. But if they see blures then they must be able to see some what of life, and then they are not completely blind. But what about a complete blind human? He can feel but cant imagine right? In order for us to imagine we must first see. And in order to dream, we must see to get an 'idea' or a 'picture'. Now colors... If a blind person can see colors then we do know that the colors we see as humans that are not blind are the actual colors of the universe, and not due to our Sun, or evolution correct? Put yourself into a pitch black room, feel around for objects you never 'seen' before, though this may not work well because you 'can' see objects so your going to try to make an assumtion of what they will look like regardless. But as for a 'complete' blind person they have not seen the world around them so how can they imagine? Though they can smell.. I just dont see how this adds up, they can imagine but in order to imagine you must see...