PsiPog.net

Dreams are cool. Why do we think that dreams aren't real? We're raised to believe that dreams aren't real - but what are the reasons behind this?

I think the biggest issue with dreams is that they aren't continuous. In reality, today is a lot like yesterday. I'm in the same room, with the same computer, same tables, bathroom, job, coworkers, friends, etc. Everything is the same as the day before. With dreams, every night is a new adventure. Is that enough to conclude that they are less real than reality?

Dream "laws" are inconsistent with this reality. I can fly in dreams... I can walk through walls. I can conjure up anything I want. I can run blazzing fast, or breathe under water. So is that enough to conclude that dreams are less real?

We also have the science side of it. Science can map brainwaves, and tell us how our brain acts while we are dreaming. We can see what parts of the brain are active; we've labelled certain states like 'REM' and 'NREM'. Is that enough to conclude that dreams are fake?

I believe the answer to all those questions is no. The evidence presented does not lead one to conclude that dreams are fake, or less real. Now, it's certainly a possible outcome that dreams aren't real - that does make sense. But is that the only conclusion we can come to with the above evidence? Most certainly not.

Now let's bring up some more interesting evidence. People claim to see the future in dreams. People claim to dreamwalk. People claim to visit dead friends/relatives/pets while dreaming. People claim to leap from the dream state to an out of body state. Now what does the evidence suggest?

Can we really continue to think that dreams aren't real? I don't think so. We can leave the option avaiable, but we have a lot of explaining to do until we can conclude 100%. It's time to re-think some things.

I'm not really sure what dreams are. I'm not sure how they fit into reality. They really are one of the most bizarre things that exist. Everyone has them, including animals... yet we have no real idea what they are. We theorize that they aren't real - but we have no way to prove that, nor do we really have any reason to believe that to start with. How can we detect what is real and what isn't real?

If we say that dreams aren't real because of <insert reason here>, then how can we be sure that our reason isn't a characteristic of reality? By that I mean - if you argue that dreams can't be real because they aren't continuous (like I mentioned above), then how do you know that being continuous is a characteristic of reality? Maybe it's only a characteristic of this reality?

~Sean