# Are dreams better than reality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 10, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169 "2016-10-10T19:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/61 "2016-10-14T22:28:51Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Hey, look at the dumb things we actually do in the name of pleasure. Skiing, golf, watching football on TV, collecting model railroad equipment, writing micro-essays on an internet discussion board… > > So long as we “pay our taxes” (work to earn enough money to support ourselves) what the hell? Who cares how odd people’s waking dreams may be? That’s actully unrelated to what I was getting at ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/62 "2016-10-14T22:39:17Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > That’s what I’m getting at. Humans do such struggles because that’s what gives pleasure. But if you could have a box that gives good feelings at the push of a button, why struggle. There would be no need for the “human” experience with such a device. > > Any protest to such an idea is based on the ideas we have grown up with in our current society. Drugs and alcohol give people good feelings at the push of a button. Even if you subtract cirrhosis of the liver and other inevitable maladies from the equation, however, I still don’t believe most people would choose that life. OTOH, a lot of people do choose that life even with the inevitable consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/63 "2016-10-15T02:08:47Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > That’s actully unrelated to what I was getting at You haven’t “gotten at” anything in this whole thread. You’ve asked questions, but never once have you actually stated a position. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/64 "2016-10-15T02:26:18Z")
> [@nachtmusick](#): > > Drugs and alcohol give people good feelings at the push of a button. Even if you subtract cirrhosis of the liver and other inevitable maladies from the equation, however, I still don’t believe most people would choose that life. OTOH, a lot of people do choose that life even with the inevitable consequences. Those have consequences, we are talking about and instance where there is no downside. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/65 "2016-10-28T04:38:59Z")
What about the memories? How can you tell the difference between what was a dream and what is real? Wouldn’t you want your memories to be of soaring through various planets and doing whatever was possible? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/66 "2016-10-28T05:59:05Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > What about the memories? How can you tell the difference between what was a dream and what is real? Wouldn’t you want your memories to be of soaring through various planets and doing whatever was possible? Firstly, I think you’re still missing the point that trying to have the most pleasant experiences is _one of_ the things that motivates most people, not the only thing. But secondly, if I wanted the most pleasant memories then I still would pick real world including dreams, as we have right now. Because dream memories tend to be short, vague and confused. If you want to posit a hypothetical dream existence that is vivid and detailed and doesn’t need real world experiences to “seed” it…then things might be different (depending on how the rest of this hypothetical existence is defined). But that’s already very different from dreams as we know them. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/67 "2016-10-28T17:59:00Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Firstly, I think you’re still missing the point that trying to have the most pleasant experiences is _one of_ the things that motivates most people, not the only thing. > > But secondly, if I wanted the most pleasant memories then I still would pick real world including dreams, as we have right now. Because dream memories tend to be short, vague and confused. > > If you want to posit a hypothetical dream existence that is vivid and detailed and doesn’t need real world experiences to “seed” it…then things might be different (depending on how the rest of this hypothetical existence is defined). But that’s already very different from dreams as we know them. But it’s like the article said (hypothetically in heaven), would you want to say that you soared through the cosmos and visited many different planets and the like, or that just work for NASA and launched rockets that weren’t even that far. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/68 "2016-10-29T07:15:11Z")
Dreams are better than reality, but like getting drunk, when you wake up (or sober up) your real life is still there requiring your attention. Dreams won’t pay the rent or put food in the fridge, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![sweetheartgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sweetheartgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweetheartgreen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169/69 "2016-10-29T07:20:21Z")
The tough truth about reality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-dreams-better-than-reality/768169.md?page=3)