Dreams: Difference between revisions

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==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 ~~the way~~ that it is received from an internal source created by ~~one~~'s own mind as opposed to an external source within ~~the immediately~~ perceivable surrounding environment. ~~The~~ dreamscape of a ~~human being~~ is capable of manifesting completely ~~realistic~~, convincing and detailed equivalents of all five senses across varying degrees of vividness and intensity.

The most fundamental component of any dream or hallucinatory state can be defined as some form 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.

These themselves can be broken into 5 differing levels of clarity which are broken down and defined below.

#'''Imaginative visualization''' - ~~The~~ lowest level of a ~~dream is extremely common and occurs frequently during waking consciousness on~~ a ~~daily basis. It can be defined as the~~ heightened state of mental visualization that one drifts into when ~~simply~~ daydreaming or using ~~the~~ imagination. This state results in a level of visualization that is mostly felt internally within the mind's eye instead of visually perceived. It can be described as a short-term detachment from ~~one~~'s immediate surroundings during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a ~~visionary~~ fantasy. The generation of the details of this internal visualization are partially autonomous in nature but mostly controlled by the content of one's current thought stream.

Dreams may be broken down into five differing levels of clarity and intensity described below:

#'''Partially defined hypnagogia''' - ~~As one begins to fall asleep~~, the experience of daydreaming and general imagination begins to progressively heighten and form into what is known ~~in the literature~~ as "hypnagogia". This is defined as the experience of the transitional state between wakefulness to sleep and generally consists of hearing indistinct noises and seeing faded imagery behind closed eyelids.

#'''Fully defined hypnagogia''' - As the vividness and intensity slightly increases~~, the~~ spontaneous imagery becomes fully defined in its appearance~~/detail~~ and is now seen within ~~the~~ person's direct line of sight under closed eyelids. Alongside of this, audible noises such as fleeting voices, music and general auditory hallucinations are often present.

#'''Imaginative visualization''' - At the lowest level, a person may experience a heightened state of mental visualization that one drifts into when daydreaming or using their imagination. This state results in a level of visualization that is mostly felt internally within the mind's eye instead of being visually perceived. It can be described as a short-term detachment from a person's immediate surroundings, during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a fantasy. The generation of the details of this internal visualization are partially autonomous in nature, but mostly controlled by the content of one's current thought stream. This level is extremely common and occurs frequently during waking consciousness on a daily basis.

#'''Partially defined dreams''' - As the ability to hallucinate increases, random flashes of spontaneous hallucinatory scenarios ~~begin~~ to show themselves. ~~At this level, the~~ hallucinations no longer consist of fleeting imagery on the back of ~~one~~'s closed eyelids but become sustained as all-encompassing settings which surround the dreamer as what feels like a ~~sudden~~ 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. ~~Alongside of this~~ the dreamer's physical body will ~~also~~ still feel at least partially connected to the real world. Other senses such as touch, taste and smell ~~seem to~~ be extremely vague or entirely absent ~~altogether~~.

#'''Partially defined hypnagogia''' - At this level, the experience of daydreaming and general imagination begins to progressively heighten and form into what is known as "hypnagogia". This is defined as the experience of the transitional state between wakefulness to sleep and generally consists of hearing indistinct noises and seeing faded imagery behind closed eyelids. This level is commonly experienced as a person begins to fall asleep.

#'''Fully defined dreams''' - At ~~this~~ level, all five ~~of the~~ 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 ~~which~~ 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 hypnagogia''' - At this level, the vividness and intensity slightly increases and spontaneous imagery becomes fully defined in its appearance and is now seen within a person's direct line of sight under closed eyelids. Alongside this, audible noises, such as fleeting voices, music, and general [[auditory hallucinations]] are often present.

#'''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.

===Externally sourced sensory input===

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 ==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 the way that it is received from an internal source created by one's own mind as opposed to an external source within the immediately perceivable surrounding environment. The dreamscape of a human being is capable of manifesting completely realistic, convincing and detailed equivalents of all five senses across varying degrees of vividness and intensity.
+The most fundamental component of any dream or hallucinatory state can be defined as some form 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.
 These themselves can be broken into 5 differing levels of clarity which are broken down and defined below.
-#'''Imaginative visualization''' - The lowest level of a dream is extremely common and occurs frequently during waking consciousness on a daily basis. It can be defined as the heightened state of mental visualization that one drifts into when simply daydreaming or using the imagination. This state results in a level of visualization that is mostly felt internally within the mind's eye instead of visually perceived. It can be described as a short-term detachment from one's immediate surroundings during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy. The generation of the details of this internal visualization are partially autonomous in nature but mostly controlled by the content of one's current thought stream.
+Dreams may be broken down into five differing levels of clarity and intensity described below:
-#'''Partially defined hypnagogia''' - As one begins to fall asleep, the experience of daydreaming and general imagination begins to progressively heighten and form into what is known in the literature as "hypnagogia". This is defined as the experience of the transitional state between wakefulness to sleep and generally consists of hearing indistinct noises and seeing faded imagery behind closed eyelids.
-#'''Fully defined hypnagogia''' - As the vividness and intensity slightly increases, the spontaneous imagery becomes fully defined in its appearance/detail and is now seen within the person's direct line of sight under closed eyelids. Alongside of this, audible noises such as fleeting voices, music and general auditory hallucinations are often present.
+#'''Imaginative visualization''' - At the lowest level, a person may experience a heightened state of mental visualization that one drifts into when daydreaming or using their imagination. This state results in a level of visualization that is mostly felt internally within the mind's eye instead of being visually perceived. It can be described as a short-term detachment from a person's immediate surroundings, during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a fantasy. The generation of the details of this internal visualization are partially autonomous in nature, but mostly controlled by the content of one's current thought stream. This level is extremely common and occurs frequently during waking consciousness on a daily basis.
-#'''Partially defined dreams''' - As the ability to hallucinate increases, random flashes of spontaneous hallucinatory scenarios begin to show themselves. At this level, the hallucinations no longer consist of fleeting imagery on the back of one's closed eyelids but become sustained as all-encompassing settings which surround the dreamer as what feels like a sudden 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. Alongside of this the dreamer's physical body will also still feel at least partially connected to the real world. Other senses such as touch, taste and smell seem to be extremely vague or entirely absent altogether.
+#'''Partially defined hypnagogia''' - At this level, the experience of daydreaming and general imagination begins to progressively heighten and form into what is known as "hypnagogia". This is defined as the experience of the transitional state between wakefulness to sleep and generally consists of hearing indistinct noises and seeing faded imagery behind closed eyelids. This level is commonly experienced as a person begins to fall asleep.
-#'''Fully defined dreams''' - At this level, all five of the 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 which 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 hypnagogia''' - At this level, the vividness and intensity slightly increases and spontaneous imagery becomes fully defined in its appearance and is now seen within a person's direct line of sight under closed eyelids. Alongside this, audible noises, such as fleeting voices, music, and general [[auditory hallucinations]] are often present.
+#'''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.
 ===Externally sourced sensory input===