The Mind: Dreams V.S. Reality

So I was at work today and was dealing with the dates that packages arrived at the warehouse. I scrolled down and saw entires for the 18th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd. I looked at my calendar and noticed it was only March 17th. How could this be possible? A hundred thoughts raced through my head to justify the impossibility before me. Is my calendar wrong? Did I time travel? Are they false entries? No. It was simply the wrong month. I was accidentally looking at February, not March. Phew!

Then I noticed something. My thought patterns were identical to my state of mind when dreaming something bizarre, like a dinosaur attack. First thought: How is this possible?! Then a hundred quick thoughts trying to figure out just what the heck is up. When the solution is reached, it is accepted. Dinosaur attacking? Scientists must have cloned dinosaurs. Martians attacking earth? No time, RUN. I can fly? Flying is a normal part of human life. There is always an instance of disbelief, followed by an explanation. For example, when I was experiencing what I thought was somehow time travel, for a moment I actually lingered on the thought, "Oh my god, did I travel a few days into the future?" I think the brain, when faced with impossibilities, will accept anything that makes sense. Remember, when all other explanations have been exhausted, the only remaining explanation, no matter how insane, must be true. So if I turn on the news and they are reporting that a mini black hole opened up at the LHC and the earth is going to be swallowed within an hour, my brain will attempt to rationalize the situation. It will accept what is happening as the truth. Denial is not an option when faced with "reality". That is why Americans panicked when Orson Welles broadcasted War Of The Worlds over the radio. The radio is reporting it, so it must be real!

In conclusion to this mindless ramble, it is my theory that the mind in dream state is not all that different from the mind in normal waking state. The only difference is, what we call reality is limited by the laws of physics, whereas dreams are not.

What a brilliant thought.

The mind is such a strange and wonderful place. Bizzare and beautiful all at the same time. It's just a shame that we have to go and mess it up all the time by stroking that thing we called an "ego". But we are human after all.

The rationalisations we make on a daily basis are often totally automatic, without any actual rational thought behind them. It seems that our brain takes the first "logical" pattern and runs with it.

It might explain why so many people are described as sheep - in that they haven't learned, or mastered, the art of THINKING.

Cracking thread, and I hope you keep coming up with more, then you'll be a master contributer, rather than an apprentice.

Keep up the good work.

[edit on 17-3-2010 by dampnickers]