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The human brain + dreams
 

offline weatheredstoner from same shit babes. (United States) on 2005-01-05 00:12 [#01445800]
Points: 12585 Status: Lurker



Why is it that when we dream, we can see with such
amazingly vivid detail, when we are awake, our memories
aren't as keen?

Like in dreams, (sometimes) you are able to process
everything in your surroundings, like if you are standing in
a forest, every tree is clear, you can go up to each branch
and count the leaves and still be able to notice the anthill
below you with every ant acounted for and scurrying about.
It becomes a temporary reality.

But when we are awake, I cant even come close. Sure we can
imagine a forest with lots of leaves and a random anthill
somewhere in the picture, but its not a 'reality', its just
a temporary image that will change dramatically if you try
to picture it from another angle.

Its like comparing a 3d game to a blurry picture...



 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2005-01-05 00:32 [#01445808]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



that's a good question. i wonder if anyone here finds an
answer. i'd be interested to hear it.


 

offline bogala from NYC (United States) on 2005-01-05 01:14 [#01445825]
Points: 5125 Status: Regular



for me my dreams are always better than my real life. So, I
guess my mind is subconsciously trying to forget them so I
don't commit suicide.


 

offline Q4Z2X on 2005-01-05 01:17 [#01445826]
Points: 5264 Status: Lurker



I'd guess its because during rem sleep the brain is able to
give its full effort to creating the dream's visuals and
atmosphere, etc., and also because when you are dreaming,
the things that are usually happening are seemingly pretty
random, and are inspired by subconcious thoughts which play
a huge role in what happens overall in the dream. When you
are trying to focus on a single point, image, or idea while
you are awake, you are basically forcing these thoughts, and
I don't think many people have the mental control to do
something like that. I mean, for example, it is difficult to
not think about something, after you've decided what
that something is. coversely, it's difficult to focus in on
one specific thing if you are trying. And in dreaming, the
focal points are often things that are familiar and easy to
visualise, or at least realistically replicate the
experience, if the whole brain is focused on that task. The
brain isn't doing all kinds of things like in real life. I
would think that, while dreaming, brain activity is less
complex than when awake, because the brain is drawing from
itself to create perceptions, and all of its areas that deal
with taking in stimuli, or any physical interaction are shut
down. But then again, the brain is also creating it's
perceptions as the same time as you experience them, so I'd
think that it is using certain areas that it doesn't usually
use while you are awake. Another thing to take into account
is that when dreaming, all that's taking place can seem very
rich and realistic, it doesn't usually register in the brain
the same way as actual physical events or waking thoughts
do. I don't think dreams are recorded in long term memory
the way real things are. So when you wake up, you've got a
slight mental picture of the dream and know what took place
for the most part, but if it were to be stored in your long
term memory, it would probably seem crude and 'patchy'
compared to actual reality.


 

offline Q4Z2X on 2005-01-05 01:18 [#01445827]
Points: 5264 Status: Lurker | Followup to Q4Z2X: #01445826



I've said too much. And I know that people who can lucid
dream probably cancel out a lot of what I said, (like dreams
being less memorable or interactive, or that they are
virtually never 'educational', as in you can draw in new
knowledge or ideas in much the same way as reality..)
I think in the movie 'waking life' the guy explains about
the certain areas of the brain are active/inactive during
sleep and awakeness. you've all probably seen it.


 

offline pachi from yo momma (United States) on 2005-01-05 01:21 [#01445829]
Points: 8984 Status: Lurker



After waking up from a bad dream I think, "damn, glad that
wasn't real."


 

offline Q4Z2X on 2005-01-05 01:26 [#01445830]
Points: 5264 Status: Lurker



Do you ever get that brief moment right after waking up
where you aren't completely sure if what you just dreamt was
a recent memory or fake?


 

offline oxygenfad from www.oxygenfad.com (Canada) on 2005-01-05 02:23 [#01445842]
Points: 4442 Status: Regular



Dreams are extremely sacred to me. I take them very
seriously sometimes.
I've changed things I've done in life because they were
similiar to things I've seen/heard in dreams.

You should pick up a dream dictionary, those things are
great!


 

offline Q4Z2X on 2005-01-05 02:38 [#01445848]
Points: 5264 Status: Lurker



I hate the idea of those things. If dreams are so personal
and expressive of the subconcious, then their interpretation
should be subjective. What a dream symbolises really
completely depends on the person's life situation and
personality. I think a 'dream dictionary' should do little
more than provide a basic starting point as to what a dream
could mean.


 

offline OK on 2005-01-05 02:51 [#01445856]
Points: 4791 Status: Lurker



you can actually excersize how u remember dreams. just by
tryin to remember every detail u can when u just wake up


 

offline hedphukkerr from mathbotton (United States) on 2005-01-05 03:14 [#01445865]
Points: 8833 Status: Regular | Followup to Q4Z2X: #01445826



i cant be bothered to read all that shit, but its prolly
because in our dreams, our mind creates the anthill. in
reality, its there but youre not necesserilly aware of it
mentally.


 

offline Dannn_ from United Kingdom on 2005-01-05 04:26 [#01445921]
Points: 7877 Status: Lurker



I got a notepad, put it by my bed and put a sign on the
ceiling to remind me to write down anything i could remember
straight away when I woke up. I wrote every dream and the
date. It was very interesting, especially in conjunction
with my diary. I haven't done it lately but I will start
again.

I think that dreams are remembered differently to how they
actually occur. I think its only when you wake up that you
form a train of thoughts into a chronological memory,
because this is the only way your mind expects things to be
remembered. So you thought about the trees with all the
leaves, and then you thought about the anthill with all the
ants, and when you wake up and think 'what happened in that
dream?' you remember looking at the trees and then looking
at the ants and you fill in the blanks where you would
expect other things to have happened which help the story
move through time in a normal way. Think about any time
you've tried to recite a dream, and how you tell it with
bits like 'then I walked over to the trees' which you
probably just made up because it feels like what must have
happened.


 

offline weatheredstoner from same shit babes. (United States) on 2005-01-05 08:47 [#01446077]
Points: 12585 Status: Lurker



yes theres always those huge gaps in dreams after you wake
up, you know something had to happen between point A + B,
and perhaps it did, but you lose it quickly after the dream
is over.

I'm not sure what else to discuss as I was prematurely woken
up to go to my shit job and I cant think very well.


 


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