Dreamlike Sense of Self

Paladin

Paladin

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How is it that the sense of self in a dream can be so different from the waking state? Often in dreams I interact with other dream characters but my sense of "me" is very different from my sense of "me" during the day.

It seems to imply that "me" is somewhat fluid, no?
 
Paladin said:
It seems to imply that "me" is somewhat fluid, no?
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Often I'd say. If you ask your mother, your significant other, your child your co-worker their sense of your 'self' won't you get differing responses?

And in differing situations don't you react as a self sometimes you are hardly interested in admitting to and at others a self you can be proud of?

Is your 'self' in your dream consistent?
 
Paladin said:
How is it that the sense of self in a dream can be so different from the waking state? Often in dreams I interact with other dream characters but my sense of "me" is very different from my sense of "me" during the day.

It seems to imply that "me" is somewhat fluid, no?
Click to expand...

When ever I am in a dream state (sleeping) and I am in the dream(rarely) I am never visible to myself I don't see me.... I see the area in which I am in, example the mad hatters tea party I can pan like a camera around the area but I would never see my self, so I'd have to say I have no idea what my "sense of self" is in dream like way as I have nothing to cross reference it with.
 
Paladin said:
How is it that the sense of self in a dream can be so different from the waking state? Often in dreams I interact with other dream characters but my sense of "me" is very different from my sense of "me" during the day.

It seems to imply that "me" is somewhat fluid, no?
Click to expand...
Yeah it does. Psychology says personality is a fusion of images of yourself. You put them all together to have an impression of who you are, so it depends on what images you remember the most. Probably the coolest thing to do in a dream is to forget what you can't do.
 
@Wil:
I'm old enough now to realize I must own all the parts of self, but this is different. Sometimes it seems like I am a different character altogether depending on the dream.

@ Alex:
That is the case with me also, but I'm acutely aware of my frame of mind, perspective, responses and reactions to the dream environment and its characters.

@ Dream:
Exactly so, it reminds me of the film Waking Life.
Perhaps the Mark thing only depends on the character that is assumed to be there, and the sense of what Mark is, is entirely arbitrary and open to interpretation once the normal fail safe mechanisms of ego are down in the sleep state.
 
Paladin said:
@Wil:
I'm old enough now to realize I must own all the parts of self, but this is different. Sometimes it seems like I am a different character altogether depending on the dream.
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ah a different character...how so?

I fly a lot, sometimes I do so with great agility and no issues. At other times I make more mistakes than I know what to do with, can't seem to stay above the tree line, always avoiding branches. And power lines, oh my they are constantly in the way. I've never figured out how sometimes I can sail and others fight the whole way.
 
In the dream state, there is not a sense of "my story" only an awareness of I AM if that makes any sense Wil. During those times I can interact with another character divorced from that perspective. Not so much that I take on other personality characteristics per se, but that the normal reactions and responses are missing somehow.
 
Paladin said:
In the dream state, there is not a sense of "my story" only an awareness of I AM if that makes any sense Wil. During those times I can interact with another character divorced from that perspective. Not so much that I take on other personality characteristics per se, but that the normal reactions and responses are missing somehow.
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Do you consider your self as your regular pattern of reactions and responses (or your karma,) perhaps?
 
lol, Ive had dreams where i can only describe them as "other peoples dreams". Nothing familiar about them at all. Hasnt happened lately tho. its a little unnerving. I felt like i was intruding on someone elses dream. Hey, maybe you had one of mine. lol
 
@SG:
Kinda yes and no. I'm used to the action/reaction/response patterns that seem to correspond to the the history of this mind/body. Does that make sense?

@Grey:
You're too funny :) Anything I should be on the lookout for?
 
seattlegal said:
Yes, that makes sense. (Don't worry, I'm frequently 'disorientated' in my dreams, too.)
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Actually I find it very refreshing, though I know there are those who would find it uncomfortable to consider that they don't exist in the way they always believed.
 
Paladin said:
How is it that the sense of self in a dream can be so different from the waking state? Often in dreams I interact with other dream characters but my sense of "me" is very different from my sense of "me" during the day.

It seems to imply that "me" is somewhat fluid, no?
Click to expand...

I don't know how it is that it is. But I think I understand what you are saying. In my dreams I can still do things that I used to be able to. I can walk, run, jump, dance...even play frisbee; all things now just fond memories.

In my dreams I always win, I always say the right thing at the right time. In my dreams I am the person I believe myself to be inside, the person I wish I was. There's probably something Freudian there, but I've never tried to figure it out.
 
Paladin said:
How is it that the sense of self in a dream can be so different from the waking state? Often in dreams I interact with other dream characters but my sense of "me" is very different from my sense of "me" during the day.

It seems to imply that "me" is somewhat fluid, no?
Click to expand...



Hey Paladin. I actually read this thread yesterday.... after the dream I
had last night, I realized something. Here is some weirdness for ya:
even though my situation is exactly the opposite of yours, it comes with
its own baggage. Like when I wake up, I honestly can not tell the
difference between some of the stuff that happens in my dream, and real
life. Because I am exactly the same. The reason why this can be a problem
is because the memory of the dream, becomes encoded into my brain
exactly like a memory of a waking event.

Example:

Today, I woke up, and I had to check my bitcomet cue line, because
in my dream, I had started a download, even though my monthly bandwidth
quota was finished, and I knew my damn SP would shut down my internet
again if exceeded the limit.. So I was actually worried when I woke up, cuz
I couldn't tell if I had exceeded the bandwidth limit in my dream, or real
life...

But with this type of weirdness, there is also a pretty kool upside.
like sometimes, things get REALLY exiting lol. Especially in lucid states.
Like in a nightmare, when I figure out I can control stuff... and I imagine
that I have a katana!! Its super samurai time that night lol... But....
sometimes things get... a little out of control.... and those memories stick
like glue for a while... and it can really mess with your head. I remember
I told a nightmare I had once to some friends a long time ago, and when
I was done, they were like... "you shouldnt tell things like that to people"
... I was like, '??? you told me to tell it!!', and she's like, 'i didn't know it
was gonna be that scary damnit!'..... lol

Also, another problem is when you do things like... give into temptations
or whatever, in the dream... you feel really guilty afterwords, because there
is no difference between the memory of your dream and your waking state..
And because there is no difference between the "you" of your dream and
the "you" of your waking state, you really become suspicious of yourself...
So just like you Paladin might get suspicious because of the dichotomy,
I sometimes get suspicious because of the similarity... of the actions of
the dream me, and the waking me.
 
Past few nights have been interesting. Intentionally wanting to follow dreams to see what was transpiring with self.

Yes Code, I've had similar dreams, dreams where I solve waking life problems in my dreams and then can use that the next day...of course doing things twice is burdensome and 3d takes longer than dreamstate.

I've been trying to find a mirror to look in as well...so far haven't been able to find a reflection anywhere.

But last night took the cake. After a scene where I fell out of a car (tried to fly out, but last night was one of those where I had to work hard to fly)...so after I fell out, no one recognized me. I was there, my self was there, but it was as if they couldn't see me, then I noticed they were talking around me, and then about me...I had died in the car accident, and I was dead to them in my dream yet I was moving thru the dream.

Now that was quite interesting. First I've never died in a dream before as far as I know and second the fact that my 'self' existed, I was as aware as before was quite interesting. During the dream I was contemplating that this is a proof of soul and afterlife....however it was a dream.
 
wil said:
Past few nights have been interesting. Intentionally wanting to follow dreams to see what was transpiring with self.

Yes Code, I've had similar dreams, dreams where I solve waking life problems in my dreams and then can use that the next day...of course doing things twice is burdensome and 3d takes longer than dreamstate.

I've been trying to find a mirror to look in as well...so far haven't been able to find a reflection anywhere.

But last night took the cake. After a scene where I fell out of a car (tried to fly out, but last night was one of those where I had to work hard to fly)...so after I fell out, no one recognized me. I was there, my self was there, but it was as if they couldn't see me, then I noticed they were talking around me, and then about me...I had died in the car accident, and I was dead to them in my dream yet I was moving thru the dream.

Now that was quite interesting. First I've never died in a dream before as far as I know and second the fact that my 'self' existed, I was as aware as before was quite interesting. During the dream I was contemplating that this is a proof of soul and afterlife....however it was a dream.
Click to expand...


Sweet! you disproved that myth that if you die in your dream you die in real life
 
c0de said:
Sweet! you disproved that myth that if you die in your dream you die in real life
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Yeah, I thought about that, but I don't recall the accident (only my other dream folks did) All I recall is having issues getting out of the back of the vehicle and flying, I never hit the ground or anything else.
 
wil said:
Yeah, I thought about that, but I don't recall the accident (only my other dream folks did) All I recall is having issues getting out of the back of the vehicle and flying, I never hit the ground or anything else.
Click to expand...


someone told me once that you can't know how something feels
in a dream if you haven't felt it in real life. I don't know how true
that is, but it applies to this since it makes sense that your dream
skipped over the part with you actually dying.
 
Last night I dreamed I had cash tucked into various places in my bedroom. I didn't think about it again until I'd already been awake for a couple of hours. It took a few moments to discern that it had not been real and to experience and get over the disappointment.
 
Dream said:
Last night I dreamed I had cash tucked into various places in my bedroom. I didn't think about it again until I'd already been awake for a couple of hours. It took a few moments to discern that it had not been real and to experience and get over the disappointment.
Click to expand...



LOL !

reminds me of this : p

dreams.jpg
 
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