5 ms·

What are the limits of what you can dream about?

ravar 5y ago
different person, also have aphantasia. My dreams are completely devoid of sensory content except sometimes the entire dream is music.
- aix1 5y ago
  Your comment really caught my eye. Would you mind saying a few words about what a dream that's devoid of sensory content is like (i.e. what is it that remains that makes it a dream)?
- jay3ss 5y ago
  > sometimes the entire dream is music What does this mean?
- Groxx 5y ago
  I sound pretty far down a different path - my dreams are nearly always entirely audio-free in any form, but I can read just fine in them, which I've heard described as "impossible" many, many times.
scruple 5y ago
I wouldn't know... I have aphantasia and sometimes I'm not even convinced that I even dream (I'm being facetious but at the same time I'm really not). Many others with aphantasia report similarly that they do not have recollections of their dreams. I think that I know that I dream, deep down, because of things that former roommates and my wife have told me, but... I am trusting them at their word. And I know they're not lying to me, because why would they, but... I don't know it myself because I haven't experienced it.
- bobsmooth 5y ago
  Dreams are different from imagining things. When I dream, I'm seeing the dream out of my 'eyes', but its more floaty and out of body. But when I wake up, I'm remembering what I experienced and it's like a fuzzy movie playing in my head. Imagining things, I think, is very closely tied to remembering and manipulating visual input.
314 5y ago
I have aphantasia (when I'm awake) and visual imagery in my dreams that is sharper and more detailed than real life. I'm also able to lucidly dream although I try not to as it messes with my long term memory. I would say that we can dream about most things but there are a few obvious limits as there are types of thoughts that will make you wake up: * Reading is difficult and typically books in dreams don't have words in them. * "Pushing" (there is no good word for this) the direction of a dream in a particular way too hard will wake you up. It has to be done very gently. * Abstract reasoning / logic is difficult in dreams, it causes you to concentrate too hard and then you wake up. In general the limits are to do with the two dominant modes of thought: spontaneous unquestioning creation of ideas is very compatible with dreaming and you can float easily between multiple "perspectives" or versions without any problem. Analytical / questioning / critical thinking is incompatible with dreaming and causes you to wake up. Lucid dreaming is typically learning how to float in the sweet spot between the two modes.
- FPGAhacker 5y ago
  > I have aphantasia (when I'm awake) and visual imagery in my dreams that is sharper and more detailed than real life. I'm not being snarky, but... how do you know? I mean, if you can't visualize when you are awake, how do you even know what you see/saw when you were dreaming?
  - mikelevins 5y ago
    I'm guessing they can remember having seen things in the dream in the same way that they can remember having seen things in waking life, but cannot voluntarily conjure arbitrary images while awake. I think the range of abilities and experiences around visualization, perceptual memory, and so forth, suggests that seeing and remembering are pretty complicated collections of multiple simultaneous processes that are a little differently expressed in different people, and that are not necessarily perfectly coordinated. More generally, I think we tend to think of ourselves as singular, but we have pretty good reasons to think that a person isn't actually a singular thing, but is instead a collection of many processes that are only more or less coordinated and cooperating.

different person, also have aphantasia. My dreams are completely devoid of sensory content except sometimes the entire dream is music.

aix1 5y ago
Your comment really caught my eye. Would you mind saying a few words about what a dream that's devoid of sensory content is like (i.e. what is it that remains that makes it a dream)?
jay3ss 5y ago
> sometimes the entire dream is music What does this mean?
Groxx 5y ago
I sound pretty far down a different path - my dreams are nearly always entirely audio-free in any form, but I can read just fine in them, which I've heard described as "impossible" many, many times.

scruple 5y ago

I wouldn't know... I have aphantasia and sometimes I'm not even convinced that I even dream (I'm being facetious but at the same time I'm really not). Many others with aphantasia report similarly that they do not have recollections of their dreams. I think that I know that I dream, deep down, because of things that former roommates and my wife have told me, but... I am trusting them at their word. And I know they're not lying to me, because why would they, but... I don't know it myself because I haven't experienced it.

bobsmooth 5y ago
Dreams are different from imagining things. When I dream, I'm seeing the dream out of my 'eyes', but its more floaty and out of body. But when I wake up, I'm remembering what I experienced and it's like a fuzzy movie playing in my head. Imagining things, I think, is very closely tied to remembering and manipulating visual input.

314 5y ago

I have aphantasia (when I'm awake) and visual imagery in my dreams that is sharper and more detailed than real life. I'm also able to lucidly dream although I try not to as it messes with my long term memory. I would say that we can dream about most things but there are a few obvious limits as there are types of thoughts that will make you wake up: * Reading is difficult and typically books in dreams don't have words in them. * "Pushing" (there is no good word for this) the direction of a dream in a particular way too hard will wake you up. It has to be done very gently. * Abstract reasoning / logic is difficult in dreams, it causes you to concentrate too hard and then you wake up. In general the limits are to do with the two dominant modes of thought: spontaneous unquestioning creation of ideas is very compatible with dreaming and you can float easily between multiple "perspectives" or versions without any problem. Analytical / questioning / critical thinking is incompatible with dreaming and causes you to wake up. Lucid dreaming is typically learning how to float in the sweet spot between the two modes.

FPGAhacker 5y ago
> I have aphantasia (when I'm awake) and visual imagery in my dreams that is sharper and more detailed than real life. I'm not being snarky, but... how do you know? I mean, if you can't visualize when you are awake, how do you even know what you see/saw when you were dreaming?
- mikelevins 5y ago
  I'm guessing they can remember having seen things in the dream in the same way that they can remember having seen things in waking life, but cannot voluntarily conjure arbitrary images while awake. I think the range of abilities and experiences around visualization, perceptual memory, and so forth, suggests that seeing and remembering are pretty complicated collections of multiple simultaneous processes that are a little differently expressed in different people, and that are not necessarily perfectly coordinated. More generally, I think we tend to think of ourselves as singular, but we have pretty good reasons to think that a person isn't actually a singular thing, but is instead a collection of many processes that are only more or less coordinated and cooperating.