Most people tend to separate between “reality” and “dreams”, and say stuff like “it was only a dream” - and sure, when we are awake we experience a physical world, but our mental process is exactly the same in dreams as well, and we can use all our senses, even secondary senses like the senses for balance, temperature, pain etc - so in my mind the experience of dreams are just as “real” as waking life, since our brain creates a vivid world and even has our physical bodies react as if it were “reality”.
What are your opinions on this?
Can we really say that it’s all “just dreams, and this is the reality”?
I would never say ‘only a dream’ or just a dream’ since it is dismissive of the dream experience. BUT dreams and reality are totally different. You can feel and experience as if the dream was reality but ultimately dreams are a solo experience. (Except in the very rare shared dreams)
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you wish to perceive it.“as real” is an understatement for me.
Ive heard some people claim that if you are awake, you cannot be dreaming, but this isn’t the case for me. I spend about 90% of my waking life trapped in a dream world. The dreams I have during the day are extensive story based experiences. They can last all day long or as the case usually is - several days before the dream scenario changes. Even when commonly interrupted, they continue where they left off.
Life to me can easily be considered my form of “dream fragments” as they are very commonly not connected to together.
I wrote an essay about it, but decided it would be unproductive, so if anyone is actually interested, I can tell you about it, as to not waste people’s time reading such absurdity.
Philosophically, you know reality from what your senses tell about it… if they all tell you about the dream, then it would be your current reality… as in, you can’t perceive anything more real than the dream while you’re dreaming.
That’s a philosophical point of view, however it’s not mine… I wouldn’t say my dreams are as “real” as waking life, but instead that real life is as illusory as dreams. What if we were all dreaming this reality, or if only one person was dreaming it ? What if you were in a very deep and realistic dream, but you were still caught in false memories and you couldn’t wake up ? After all, you’re pretty much relying on your senses here, just like you do in dreams… What if they were lying from the very beginning?