I love that the brain still relies on real-life data on the world it creates, and when it gets you into shit you’ve never experienced even remotely, and thus doesn’t know how to handle, the simulation just kinda freezes.
Oh, you were just thrown a few hundred {yards,meters} by a trebuchet, but don’t know how it feels to be squished to death? Ok, happy walking away with a strange feeling.
I love that the brain still relies on real-life data on the world it creates
I've heard that the brain isn't really capable of creating unique faces, so when you see people in a dream - even if they seem random to you, they're probably just someone you saw in passing (on the streets, online, etc) which is interesting!
Realistically there isn't a way to reliably test that theory, but it definitely makes sense to me at least.
Great, next time a demon uses psionic powers to pin me to a chair and then levitate that chair in the air and spin it around while screaming at me, "You're going to hell! You're going to hell! You're never going to get out of this, God won't save you now! hahaha! I'll know exactly what to do.
Under extreme circumstances too. A place you have never seen, while your running is slower than your real life walking, your punches barely do anything, and If you fall from your height, then it's game over. Also color? what's that?
If you want to "fix" those dreams. Just check your back pocket, you'll likely find whatever weapon would most deal with the "problem" behind you.
You can run or punch, because the body's motion is being suppressed. You are fine to operate guns or heavy ordnance (up too as past an anime grade mecha suit. And yes, in a dream world, it will fit in your back pocket or other hammerspace equivalent!)
I'm not so sure about what my brain considers "combat readiness drills".
I've had nightmares where I was woefully unprepared for an exam that I went to school, running late, without any pants nor underwear on. And as I sat for the exam, I felt so nervous I wanted to pee. And so I did, right in my seat. Thankfully, I was able to wake up before I peed in my bed.
And then I've had a recurring nightmare where I was exploring an endless staircase, with a team of like-minded people. We kept going down and down, as some of our teammates eventually succumbed to fatigue, and then thirst as our supplies dwindled. In some versions, we ended up in the same place we began. In another version, we ended up at some large underground facility, totally dark except for the staircase where we came from.
The only nightmare I could ever consider "combat readiness drill" is a nightmare where I found myself to be a civilian caught in a crossfire inside an abandoned factory, much like what you'd see in action films. How I ended up there, I have no idea, but I eventually got shot as I was trying to escape, and died.
Those seem like pretty good combat readiness drills for modern life!
Coming late to an exam and pissing yourself is likely the socially worst thing that could happen to a teenager in modern days. Likewise, losing yourself in the unnatural environment of confusing building staircases has happened to people, so it doesn't seem too far-fetched.
Good points! I forgot to say though, I graduated from high school a decade ago and I still sometimes have those school exam nightmares for some reason. I'm guessing it's because the trauma is real, lol! The pain of dying socially in high school stays with you.
There's rarely any sort of violence in my dreams, but I can tell my brain is trying to predict a given situation that I've been exposed to or am worried about.
The rare times that violence is on the table, it's always me struggling to respond. Same old story for all of us. Can't punch, kick or run because our brain has us literally paralyzed.
I'm being shot at and I've got my Colt 1911 in hand. Seriously it didn't go bang?! OK, charge it. And now the slide is stuck. OK, take it off safe. Still stuck. Clear the malfunction and "click". Oh fuck me.
Thanks to this thread, my brain has located a long-suppressed nightmare from childhood and put it up on the big screen.
That 200 ft monster, of which I've only actually seen the bottom half of it's legs (couldn't look upwards?), will resume chasing me through my hometown at exactly the same speed at which I'm running away. Endlessly. Worse than Michael Myers' random appearances.
If unspeakably NSFL stuff ever happens to me IRL, my mind will be adequately prepared to handle it. Probably still won’t make it out alive, because I never practiced that. Given all the practice I do have, I shouldn’t freak out at all. I’ll just be like: “Oh no, not again.”
You'll only find mlp plushies that are rather cute, at least for me.
Which makes it even more like where the actual fuck does actual pure nightmare fuel come from.
I really don't want a repeat of that shit. I don't care if it's being chased by a monster, getting caught doing tax fraud or falling off a cliff. At least it isn't psychological trauma in a dream.
I am so ready for that giant snake that bursts out of a wall of my childhood home while I am wearing a sharp looking suit. Been running that drill since the age of 7.
I didn't have nightmares until I started work as an aircraft repairman.
I used to dream about exploring places. I remember one where I was swimming through this large building, I could breathe underwater but it was underwater, and it was just "let's see what else is here."
Now I dream of inevitable threat. One I remember pretty vividly was being trapped in this cave, there was no way in or out of this 30x30 foot room, and in the middle of it stood a gallows dangling a noose over the head of a ...man? Who turned and started slowly stomping toward me, and the gallows shifted around to keep the noose over his head, making a repetitive clanking sound. Weird imagery on the typical "thing slowly chasing you" dream.