[QUOTE=JRDelirious]
As for the sex dreams, yes, there is a lot of “Skinemax” dreaming, and my hypothesis is that the brain starts trying to get too many things straight to keep the dream running; specially if the other character is NOT someone I have encountered in that context IRL – it’s like, I detect the disconnect between the sense-memory and the scenario (that is, my brain knows what it feels like to do it with a limited number of people, and it’s a set of sensory stimuli that is not only the feeling at the genital point-of-contact but various other visual, auditory, olfactory and kinesthetic clues. Sometimes the dreaming brain apparently can reassemble and transpose various such clues into a new composite that works, but other times, it begins to “feel wrong” and the dream state falls apart (“hold it, this new girl, she feels like A, but smells like B and is about the dimensions of C, and BTW since when do I have a fireplace in my den… and a picture window… and why is all the furniture bus seats… wait, I don’t have a den… uh, oh, abnormal perception of reality…<wakeup>”)
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This rings very true to me. It seems to me that the subconscious will quickly cobble together things like backgrounds and architecture (often getting them all wrong) and even a roomful of extras, but apparently struggles to make strange lovers and others I will meaningfully interact with seem very real – although it doesn’t feel labored when I’m dreaming them. (Although any fan of David Cronenberg’s movies will recall that all things AI and artificial reality have always had difficulty with assembling “the new flesh”. Living things are simply very complex.)
I think another factor is simply running out of time, be that REM-cycle duration or the alarm clock. By the time your brain establishes a situation, introduces the character[s], and gets the chemistry thing rolling, your time’s almost up. My dreams often end when I can no longer ignore the wierd architecture, porch swings, etc., but that usually coincides with the termination of dreaming anyway.
I’d really like to have serial dreams, with recurrent story lines and characters; but I rarely ever dream about the same strangers twice. Unfortunately, the most oft-repeated dream themes for me are the banally realistic ones. For ex., in the months before Christmas, I often dream of getting stuck in an interminably long, barely-moving line in a post office or department store – clearly a reflection of my anxieties about getting the shopping, wrapping, and mailings done on time.
Oh well, it could be worse. I should feel grateful that my post-office dreams have never morphed into sex dreams, 'cause that would get really ugly.
Definitely not a bad way to wake up. I think I actually prefer not remembering those dreams - one I do recall involved having an affair with a teacher I hadn’t seen in a decade. Ick.