(April 21, 2014 at 9:37 am)rasetsu Wrote: Dreams lack persistence, otherwise we would assume the dream world was just another world. Since persistence is a trait of objects in this world, people in dreams don't display the same properties as people in this world. But it's a good objection. Why don't we treat the dream world as real?
Honestly, I think it's only because we've learned it's temporary, and therefore not worth investing in. That being said, I've had dreams in which sensory experience seemed much more vivid than normal life, and I've also had dreams in which the emotional content was greater. In the context of the dream, I certainly did treat the actors and dramatic elements as real.
There may be another element. Maybe, on some level, without knowing it we have an instinct that dreams are of the self, and that the external world isn't.
