Thread: Realer than real...

Same. Remember the scene in Inception where the main character draws a circle, showing how the brain is simultaneously creating the world and experiencing it in a feedback loop? I think that creates the "realer than real" feeling. In waking reality, there's a lot going on. We only perceive a fraction of what's happening around us. But in a lucid dream, you are creating the whole experience and then consuming 100% of it. When you touch something, the experience of texture isn't just a few nerve cells in your hand. It's your whole mind generating the experience of texture and feeding it back into itself. So everything feels immersive.

Originally Posted by sisyphus

Same. Remember the scene in Inception where the main character draws a circle, showing how the brain is simultaneously creating the world and experiencing it in a feedback loop? I think that creates the "realer than real" feeling. In waking reality, there's a lot going on. We only perceive a fraction of what's happening around us. But in a lucid dream, you are creating the whole experience and then consuming 100% of it. When you touch something, the experience of texture isn't just a few nerve cells in your hand. It's your whole mind generating the experience of texture and feeding it back into itself. So everything feels immersive.

That may be it, though I usually refrain from taking any of my science from movies hehe.
I wonder if this enhanced feeling extends beyond our senses and also affects our emotional states, as I have heard many people state that, while dreaming, their very emotions are much more sensitive and impactful than they usually experience in real life. And while one may not truly believe this to be the case, I believe one emotion that we can all agree on that is especially "enhanced" in dreams is fear.