Game Dreams
- Thread starter Mark J Kline
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I realize this may be a bit off topic from the article, but since you did mention it I have to ask. Can what we eat really affect our dreams? (You mentioned them being the result of a bad taco) The fact that indigestion could affect my sleep isn't to hard for me to grasp, but I don't see how it could manifest itself in dreams; affecting my subconscious directly instead of merely waking me from my sleep.
Interesting article. Games already are, in a sense, dreams. Out of body experiences where we exist in a different time and place, and often don't necessarily exist as we do in the real world. Beyond that, of course, is the fact that we can actually control games but must do it under the rules set out by an often invisible and unassailable force. Lots of parallels there so it's easy to understand why they would bleed into one another so easily.
It's called REM sleep that you can control your dreams sub-unsubconsicously (or something) but I do know that it takes practice.firemark said:
Sometimes a new game or one I haven't played in ages dominates my mind for a night and makes me unable to sleep, my thoughts entragnled by the mechanics or mistakes I made. Such was the case of my first time playing Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2, Battlefield Heroes, Blazing Angels 2, KoTOR and my revisit and first time to Star Wars Battlefront.
(Battlefront was the worst. Mostly cause my mind got stuck staring for hours at the map.)
No REM stands for "Rapid Eye Movement" and is a stage of sleep [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep]. Lucid dreams [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream] are dreams your have conscious control over. It's supposed to be possible, but i can't say i've done it myself.Anarchemitis said:
Another great article. Interesting for me that it came up today, too, because last night I had a dream that Tails had found his father... and it was Anderson Cooper.
I don't want to know what that may mean.
I don't want to know what that may mean.
If there is a game I am playing constantly, I end up thinking about it when I am not playing it and it can affect my dreams!
As for the person who sent the letter though, it might be they have someone in their life who is making them feel bad about themselves, but they feel that if they spoke back they would get into trouble for it.
Does anyone else feel that?
As for the person who sent the letter though, it might be they have someone in their life who is making them feel bad about themselves, but they feel that if they spoke back they would get into trouble for it.
Does anyone else feel that?
It's not just games.
Ask anyone whose worked in retail over Christmas. You serve in your sleep.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Yahtzee criticises in his sleep as well.
Ask anyone whose worked in retail over Christmas. You serve in your sleep.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Yahtzee criticises in his sleep as well.
I took a break from certain games when I would look around and see polygons and texture layers in everyday things. Particularly natural things for some reason, like leaves, clouds and the clear sky was an easy one because it pretty much always looks like a digital gradient to me.
No REM stands for "Rapid Eye Movement" and is a stage of sleep [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep]. Lucid dreams [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream] are dreams your have conscious control over. It's supposed to be possible, but i can't say i've done it myself.[/quote]Wieke said:
No, I've had lucid dreams before. All it takes is practice. Not that I'm claiming to be some monk or something, I just got bored and over months of what I call "practice" I was able to notice when I was dreaming and then control things while still asleep. The bad thing is that you walk a fine line between being cognizant that you are dreaming and waking up, which means that if you try to control too much of the dream your focus will actually wake you from the dream.
I'm basically going to go out on a limb and from my own experience say that eating a food that may disagree with your digestive system may cause you discomfort that will manifest itself in your subconscious by creating uncomfortable dreams or nightmares.
Those are the worst! I still twitch when I think about it...AAAUUGHH...sorry flashback.The_root_of_all_evil said:
When I was playing Dead Rising a few years ago I dreamed I was throwing plates at zombies. I took that dream to mean it was time to lend the game to a friend.
I think generally dreams have no actual meaning(its what my psychology professor says and he'd be one to know)... but I've noticed that what is forefront in my mind is occasionally featured in my dreams.
On the topic of food: I've noticed that when my sleep is less deep, I tend to dream more/remember my dreams better; So I would suggest that having food that didn't agree with you could cause your sleep to be less deep, potentially making your dreams more vivid or memorable; I dunno about it affecting the actual content though.
On the topic of food: I've noticed that when my sleep is less deep, I tend to dream more/remember my dreams better; So I would suggest that having food that didn't agree with you could cause your sleep to be less deep, potentially making your dreams more vivid or memorable; I dunno about it affecting the actual content though.
Since "dreams" and "sleep" in general is the one big mystery i haven't solved yet, i don't really have a clear cut statement ready about their "meaning" - but what i do know yet, plus some logics, lets me say what i currently consider "probable":
My impression about dreams is - to put it simple - that they result from things that are on our mind, plus some ridiculous randomness. The "interpretation" usually happens after the puzzle pieces are already on the table. What i mean with this, is that i noticed, that in my and others dreams (dream logs), when a new "scene" is created, the scene usually is there first, and THEN the dreamer tries to make sense of it (and while doing so, adjusting it, and adding more things).
So, what does that tell about the "meaning of dreams"? That they are probably just that: Stuff that we think about, plus randomness (including random old memories), plus creative interpretation. The results do obviously tell us something about ourselves. After all, if you dream often about something, then it apparently is someway important to you. Or if you randomly embed an old memory, then you apparently still remember it (else, it couldn't be part of the dream). Etc. etc.
The key aspect which i'm trying to explain here is: Dreams are not some "prophecy" or "judgement" created by some "god", who makes a statement about us. When people talk about the meaning of dreams, they often talk about it, as if it were some judgement made by SOMEONE/SOMETHING ELSE. Crap like "if you dream xyz, then this always symbolizes abc." - as if there were some cosmic being, that sends us secret messages, but encrypted of course because that being is a meanie. That's not what dreams are.
Rather, what i'm trying to explain, is something much more mundane: When you think about something, then you obviously think about it Same for feelings: If you feel some way about something, then you apparently are capable of feeling that way about it So, i think a better way to deal with dreams, is to not treat them like something else, but instead treat them as how you experienced them.
Like, you watch a movie, and at some point feel a certain way - and then afterwards wonder why you felt that way? Same thing. The only things "special" to dreams, is the increased randomness, and that infobits may be used, that aren't right now important to you anymore - those aspects may be confusing.
P.S.: Another thing that may be confusing about dreams, is that you may be thinking, imaginating or saying things how you actually mean them, instead of how you learned to interprete them. Let me give you an example: A few weeks ago, i had a dream that ended with me saying a sentence. That sentence began with the words "A highly low...". After i woke up, i at first was amused about what crap i said there - "Highly low" wtf? Contradiction much?
But then after a while, i noticed that someway this wasn't really so dumb. It actually was very clever, because i expressed this part of the sentence, as what it is, rather than "prettyfied": You know, we have this concept of "intensity", and we may say things like "super low" or "very low", etc., but emotionally and structurally, there isn't really much difference between "high" and "very". It's just different words for the same thing, and in everyday sentences, we just routinely arrange those synonyms in a way, so that they won't LOOK contradictory. So, what i in this dream actually meant, was just "very low", but in a moment of honesty, i expressed it as how i actually feel about it: "highly low".
My impression about dreams is - to put it simple - that they result from things that are on our mind, plus some ridiculous randomness. The "interpretation" usually happens after the puzzle pieces are already on the table. What i mean with this, is that i noticed, that in my and others dreams (dream logs), when a new "scene" is created, the scene usually is there first, and THEN the dreamer tries to make sense of it (and while doing so, adjusting it, and adding more things).
So, what does that tell about the "meaning of dreams"? That they are probably just that: Stuff that we think about, plus randomness (including random old memories), plus creative interpretation. The results do obviously tell us something about ourselves. After all, if you dream often about something, then it apparently is someway important to you. Or if you randomly embed an old memory, then you apparently still remember it (else, it couldn't be part of the dream). Etc. etc.
The key aspect which i'm trying to explain here is: Dreams are not some "prophecy" or "judgement" created by some "god", who makes a statement about us. When people talk about the meaning of dreams, they often talk about it, as if it were some judgement made by SOMEONE/SOMETHING ELSE. Crap like "if you dream xyz, then this always symbolizes abc." - as if there were some cosmic being, that sends us secret messages, but encrypted of course because that being is a meanie. That's not what dreams are.
Rather, what i'm trying to explain, is something much more mundane: When you think about something, then you obviously think about it
Same for feelings: If you feel some way about something, then you apparently are capable of feeling that way about it So, i think a better way to deal with dreams, is to not treat them like something else, but instead treat them as how you experienced them.Like, you watch a movie, and at some point feel a certain way - and then afterwards wonder why you felt that way? Same thing. The only things "special" to dreams, is the increased randomness, and that infobits may be used, that aren't right now important to you anymore - those aspects may be confusing.
P.S.: Another thing that may be confusing about dreams, is that you may be thinking, imaginating or saying things how you actually mean them, instead of how you learned to interprete them. Let me give you an example: A few weeks ago, i had a dream that ended with me saying a sentence. That sentence began with the words "A highly low...". After i woke up, i at first was amused about what crap i said there - "Highly low" wtf? Contradiction much?
But then after a while, i noticed that someway this wasn't really so dumb. It actually was very clever, because i expressed this part of the sentence, as what it is, rather than "prettyfied": You know, we have this concept of "intensity", and we may say things like "super low" or "very low", etc., but emotionally and structurally, there isn't really much difference between "high" and "very". It's just different words for the same thing, and in everyday sentences, we just routinely arrange those synonyms in a way, so that they won't LOOK contradictory. So, what i in this dream actually meant, was just "very low", but in a moment of honesty, i expressed it as how i actually feel about it: "highly low".
I'm surprised the Tetris effect didn't get a look-in. Probably my favourite gaming-induced psychosis ever.
