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'''Dreams''' are defined as the succession of hallucinatory images, scenarios, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily within the mind during certain stages of sleep. Although the content and purpose of dreams are not well understood they have been a topic of scientific research, as well as philosophical and religious interest throughout many aspects of recorded history. There is solid scientific evidence which clearly indicates that dreams are a common occurrence throughout the lives of most human beings and other mammals in general.<ref>{{Citation | title=Do Animals Dream? Science Shows Of Course They Do, Rats Too | publisher=Psychology Today | url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/201212/do-animals-dream-science-shows-course-they-do-rats-too}}</ref> Although there may be many [[psychoactive substance index|psychoactive substances]] which are capable of inducing realistic [[internal hallucinations|hallucinations]], it is worth noting that these compounds simply induce a state of mind during waking consciousness which the brain is already adept at generating during normal sleep.{{citation needed}} | |||
Dreams may be broken down into five differing levels of clarity and intensity described below: | Dreams may be broken down into five differing levels of clarity and intensity described below: | ||
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#'''Partially defined dreams''' - At this level, the ability to hallucinate increases, with random flashes of spontaneous hallucinatory scenarios beginning to show themselves. The hallucinations longer consist of fleeting imagery on the back of a person's closed eyelids, but become sustained as all-encompassing settings which surround the dreamer in what feels like a breakthrough into an alternate reality. In terms of sensory vividness, the dreams are not completely defined in their appearance or sound. This means that they often display themselves as partially to completely blurred and transparent. Additionally, the dreamer's physical body will often still feel at least partially connected to the real world. Other senses, such as touch, taste, and smell, may be extremely vague or entirely absent. | #'''Partially defined dreams''' - At this level, the ability to hallucinate increases, with random flashes of spontaneous hallucinatory scenarios beginning to show themselves. The hallucinations longer consist of fleeting imagery on the back of a person's closed eyelids, but become sustained as all-encompassing settings which surround the dreamer in what feels like a breakthrough into an alternate reality. In terms of sensory vividness, the dreams are not completely defined in their appearance or sound. This means that they often display themselves as partially to completely blurred and transparent. Additionally, the dreamer's physical body will often still feel at least partially connected to the real world. Other senses, such as touch, taste, and smell, may be extremely vague or entirely absent. | ||
#'''Fully defined dreams''' - At the highest level, all five senses are replicated perfectly as the dream becomes completely realistic and indistinguishable from that of everyday reality in terms of the detail and sensory vividness that they provide. These sensations are equally capable of including both positive sensations, such as sexual orgasm, and negative sensations, such as pain and physical bodily harm. | #'''Fully defined dreams''' - At the highest level, all five senses are replicated perfectly as the dream becomes completely realistic and indistinguishable from that of everyday reality in terms of the detail and sensory vividness that they provide. These sensations are equally capable of including both positive sensations, such as sexual orgasm, and negative sensations, such as pain and physical bodily harm. | ||
==Subjective effects== | |||
===Internally sourced sensory input=== | |||
The most fundamental component of any dream or hallucinatory state can be defined as some form of perceivable sensory input. This differs from that of everyday sensory input in that it is received from an internal source created by a person's own mind as opposed to an external source within their perceivable surrounding environment. A dreamscape, the internal environment in which a dream takes place, is capable of manifesting itself completely realistically, with convincing and detailed equivalents of any or all of the five senses across varying degrees of vividness and intensity. | |||
===Externally sourced sensory input=== | ===Externally sourced sensory input=== | ||
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===Setting=== | ===Setting=== | ||
At | At levels 4 and 5 dreams consistently manifest themselves through extremely detailed imaginary landscapes, locations, and sceneries of infinite variety. These exist to act as the setting in which the plot of the dream occurs. The geography of these settings is capable of rendering itself as static and coherent in organization, but will usually result in a non-linear, nonsensical, and continuously changing layout which does not obey the laws of physics. The appearance and style of these settings appear to be selected at random, and are often entirely novel. Dreams do, however, place a heavy emphasis on replicating and combining real life locations stored within a person's memories, especially those which are prominent in their daily life. | ||
Within the | Within the dreamscape, relevant and irrelevant objects may either be placed in appropriate or inappropriate locations and may be interacted with in the same way that any real life object can be, and may react in unexpected and spontaneous ways. However, these objects typically behave as the dreamer expects them to. | ||
===Dream characters=== | ===Dream characters=== | ||
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When communicated with through spoken word the level of coherency in which these entities can reply with is highly variable but can be broken down into 4 distinct levels of communication: | When communicated with through spoken word the level of coherency in which these entities can reply with is highly variable but can be broken down into 4 distinct levels of communication: | ||
# '''Silence''' - this level can be defined as a complete unresponsiveness from the side of the dream character and an incapability of speech despite their prominent presence within the dream. | #'''Silence''' - this level can be defined as a complete unresponsiveness from the side of the dream character and an incapability of speech despite their prominent presence within the dream. | ||
#'''Partially defined incoherent speech''' - this level can be defined as audible linguistic conversational responses and noises which sound like words but do not contain any real content or meaning beyond a vague sense of emotional intent. | #'''Partially defined incoherent speech''' - this level can be defined as audible linguistic conversational responses and noises which sound like words but do not contain any real content or meaning beyond a vague sense of emotional intent. | ||
#'''Fully defined incoherent speech''' - this level can be defined as audible linguistic conversational responses and noises which contain fully defined and understandable words but often lack grammatical structure or general coherency. | #'''Fully defined incoherent speech''' - this level can be defined as audible linguistic conversational responses and noises which contain fully defined and understandable words but often lack grammatical structure or general coherency. | ||
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===Scenarios and plots=== | ===Scenarios and plots=== | ||
Each | Each dream component is randomly shuffled and compiled into an infinite variety of potential plots and scenarios. These may be positive or negative to experience and are challenging to define in a comprehensive manner in much the same way that we cannot predict the plot of abstract literature or films. They can, however, be broken down into basic occurrences which entail visiting any number of settings which contain within them any number of interactive dream characters. Additionally, completely unpredictable plot devices, events, and occurrences force the dreamer to become involved within the specific scenario of the dream. | ||
These scenarios and plots can be linear and logical with events that occur in a logical sequence which lead | These scenarios and plots can be linear and logical, with events that occur in a logical sequence which lead into each other through cause and effect. Equally likely, however, are scenarios and plots that present themselves | ||
as nonsensical and incoherent. This means that the plot will occur with natural events which are capable of switching between each other repeatedly in rapid succession. The plots themselves can either be entirely new experiences that are unlike anything experienced within the real world, old experiences, such as [[memory replays]], or a combination of the two. It is possible in some cases for the plot of the dream to be changed by the thoughts of the dreamer, for example the dreamer could think of a person and the person appear around the corner. However this is anecdotal and not common.{{citation needed}} | |||
The perception of time in hallucinatory dream scenarios typically feel as if they are being experienced in real-time, which means that if 20 seconds are perceived to have passed within the dream the same amount of time will have elapsed in the real world. However, it is also possible for [[time distortion|time distortions]] to occur, resulting in scenarios and plots that can feel as if they last days, weeks, or even an infinite amount of time. | |||
A standard component of any dream is a strong sense of uncontrollable and powerful plot acceptance. This feeling allows the dreamer to accept any plot within a dream as an entirely real event in which the results of a person's own actions have genuine consequences regarding the dreamer's life. This acceptance motivates the dreamer to avoid danger, solve puzzles, and accept the scenarios and plots as reality even if it is clearly and undeniably more likely to be a dream than an event which could ever occur within real life. | |||
==Hypotheses for the mechanics of dreams== | ==Hypotheses for the mechanics of dreams== | ||
While the exact mechanics of dreams remain unknown | While the exact mechanics of dreams remain unknown and the [[Tulpa|tulpa phenomenon]] remains unproven scientifically, the tulpa community has given rise to several popular speculative hypotheses that try to explain the mechanics that would allow people to experience the phenomenon, one of which is proposed below. | ||
===Simulatory mind hypothesis=== | ===Simulatory mind hypothesis=== | ||
The simulatory mind hypothesis | The simulatory mind hypothesis posits that basic thought, imagination, dreaming, and hallucination are all essentially the result of the same mechanism rendering data at different levels of detail within a neurological simulation framework system which exists to mirror the external environment by categorizing the sensory input it receives into a database of separate concepts and subconcepts in order to later use these for the processing of ideas and thoughts. | ||
This suggests that dreams are merely a neurological computer simulation framework which becomes activated during sleep | Assuming this is true, a person's mind's eye could be thought of as similar to a computer simulation framework which uses its internally stored memories to render concepts and ideas at varying levels of detail. Although the detail at which this renders concepts during everyday life is usually low, during [[dreams]] and [[internal hallucinations|hallucinations]] this system is capable of generating data that is detailed enough to be hyper-realistic and indistinguishable from waking life. This includes the ability to generate [[autonomous entities]] which are capable of coherent conversation. | ||
This suggests that dreams are merely a neurological computer simulation framework which becomes activated during sleep, which has a database comprised of internally stored concepts which one has encountered throughout their life. This randomizes, shuffles, and splices its particular set of memories, concepts, and variable together in a manner which places emphasis upon concepts with recency and person emotional significance. | |||
The question as to why such a system would exist within the brain at all is an interesting one. It perhaps exists for the straightforward and basic purpose of generating potential scenarios which one may encounter in life as a means of internal practice to encourage survival should the possible event occur in real life. This would explain why dreams play such a huge emphasis on one's own fears and desires and indicates that they, therefore, serve a fundamentally important evolutionary function. | The question as to why such a system would exist within the brain at all is an interesting one. It perhaps exists for the straightforward and basic purpose of generating potential scenarios which one may encounter in life as a means of internal practice to encourage survival should the possible event occur in real life. This would explain why dreams play such a huge emphasis on one's own fears and desires and indicates that they, therefore, serve a fundamentally important evolutionary function. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[Responsible use]] | *[[Responsible use]] | ||
*[[Lucid dreaming]] | *[[Lucid dreaming]] | ||
*[[Hypnagogia]] | *[[Hypnagogia]] | ||
*[[Sleep paralysis]] | *[[Sleep paralysis]] | ||
==External links== | |||
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream Dream (Wikipedia)] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references/> | <references /> | ||
[[Category:Proofread]][[Category:Oneironautics]] | [[Category:Proofread]] | ||
[[Category:Oneironautics]] | |||
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