CAN WE SEPARATE BETWEEN DREAM AND REALITY?

by Gustave Doré

Are you dreaming or awake right now?

If you come up with an assertive answer-I’m awake- immediately, how do you know that you are not dreaming while reading this piece of writing? Though it seems intuitional to assert that “I’m definitely awake while reading,” I would like to pose a few doubts about why we may be dreaming right now and ultimately, discuss the question “Can we separate between dream and reality?”

To begin with, why we might be dreaming right now? Our consideration of the potential that we are currently engaged in a dream will be approached from two distinct perspectives. Firstly, various images come into sight, and diverse events are experienced. Within these fanciful, unrestrained, or even absurd dreams, we may witness skyscrapers collapsing and dinosaurs reviving; we may also experience the panic of missing a flight and the fear of being taken to a strange place. The sensory perceptions—encompassing sight, auditory stimuli, emotional responses, and tactile sensations—can be simulated within the framework of a dream. This same feature, referring to our senses, complicates our ability to judge whether we are in dreams or reality, as our intuitive feelings arise from our sensory experiences. Given the senses’ “deceptive” characteristics in dreams, it can be hard to identify a dream through sensory input. Another aspect worth considering is that we may not recognize that we are dreaming when immersed in a dream. The situation in which we clearly know that we are dreaming almost exclusively occurs in lucid dreams, a type of dream that was formally studied in the nineteenth century. Not until the last few decades have researchers utilized objective scientific methods to study what occurs during lucid dreams. As a point supported by scientific studies and shared experience, most of the time when we are dreaming, we can’t realize that we are dreaming. It's obvious to know that we not dreaming when we are physically awake, while it’s hard to know we are dreaming when we are indeed dreaming. Therefore, elucidating the demarcating boundary between the realm of dreams and that of reality is seemingly feasible only when we are in a state of wakefulness. Descartes’ skepticism of dream and reality also states that:

“If I know that I am sitting dressed by the fire, then there are no genuine grounds for doubting that I am really sitting dressed by the fire. If I were now dreaming, this would be a genuine ground for doubting that I am sitting dressed by the fire: in dreams, I have often had the realistic experience of sitting dressed by the fire when I was actually lying undressed in bed! Therefore, I do not know that I am now sitting dressed by the fire.”

When addressing the fundamental question “Can we distinguish between dream and reality,” I would like to offer my insights and encourage you to reflect on and share your valuable opinions. To clarify what is “not dreaming” in this context, it refers to our state of wakefulness in the objective world, which can be perceived by others. Since we see, taste, move, smell, touch, and most essentially, think and judge in the real world, it’s easy to always be aware of our sobriety when we are truly awake. The crux then shifts to whether we can consciously identify the dream state during sleep.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “dream” is defined as a series of events or images that happen in our mind when we sleep. Upon examining the impersonal, objective definition of "dream," it becomes evident that the true "dream" necessitates a process of cognition. The dream we experience is only recognized as such after cognitive engagement, which creates a distinction between the objective reality we inhabit and our subjective interpretation. Notably, the “reality” that we sense shares a similar nature as the “dream” (just discussed above), which also undergoes our cognition and finally becomes the “reality” that we think. As a result, the defined reality and dream are unbiased and shared among individuals, while the perceived “reality” and “dream” are subjective and individualized. Distinguishing between dream and reality is a cognitive process that occurs within the mind and is fundamentally subjective. The subjectivity complicates the establishment of clear criteria for differentiation and poses significant challenges in applying such criteria effectively.

Another perspective draws on neuroscience and psychology field. Over the years, neurologists and psychologists investigated people’s dreams via technical methods. Scientists carried out the “electroencephalogram (EEG) and neuroimaging studies”, where they “contrasted brain activity during quiet wakefulness with that observed during REM sleep” to examine the similarities between sleeping and waking. The results showed that the EEG looks similar in active waking and REM sleep. These studies prove the similarity of brain activities between sleeping and waking, blurring the boundary between dreams and reality from a scientific perspective.

To sum up, “whether we can distinguish between dream and reality” can be regarded as a neuroscientific question needing further research, as well as a philosophical issue doubted by many skepticisms. The continuing interplay between scientific inquiry and philosophical consideration will provide deeper insights into this complex question.

references:

• https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-lucid-dream-5077887

• https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dreams-dreaming/

• https://medcraveonline.com/SMDIJ/oneirophrenia-in-dementia-when-the-difference-between-dream-and-reality-becomes-clouded.html