Can You Prove You’re Not Dreaming Right Now?
“Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”― Zhuangzi, The Butterfly as Companion: Meditations on the First Three Chapters of the Chuang-Tzu
The question might seem stupid/insane to you. But I think the above quote is the inspiration for many movies like “The Matrix”.
I am told by the medicines prescribed to me that I am schizophrenic.
I had quit taking the pills prescribed to me, for 2–3 days. Many people had said I am not insane, so I thought I’d experiment. What’s the worst that could happen, right?
But the experience turned out to be a nightmare. I couldn’t get much sleep, and whenever I closed my eyes trying to sleep, I saw disturbing images which I am sure I haven’t seen in my entire life. I also thought I heard voices laughing at me. I asked my mother (I live with my parents) if she heard the voices that I heard. She said no. She’s a little deaf, so I wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating or if the voices were real. I started panicking. The fear was real.
I eventually started taking my pills again. The doctor I am seeing had prescribed 5 pills before going to bed, and two in the morning. I had to take 32–37 pills before I could fall asleep on that day. And I just slept for 2 hours.
How can a person, especially like me, trust what he’s experiencing is real with 100% certainty?
I am not sure if you hallucinated before, but if you had, I’d bet you’d find it hard to trust “reality”. Who would you trust? You, or the rest of the world who thinks you’re insane/hallucinating?
To accept that I’m insane was hard. But once I accepted that I’m insane, it’s pretty hard to think I’m otherwise.
I trust myself (I think there’s no other “choice”) but not 100%. But I am just a product of what the world has told me I am. And what I should be.
Only a little boy dared to tell the truth: “But the king is naked!”
I’m pretty sure you have heard the story about the quote above, but if you haven’t please click the link.
When I sleep, I have often dreamed, and sometimes, I wake up to find myself in another dream. And then I wake up again for “real”.
I had chatted with a person who I respect, who implied surely we can know if we are dreaming or not.
Is pain in dreams real? This article says it is.
But if every pleasure or pain in our dream feels real to us when we dream, how can we be sure what we are feeling in the moment is real? How can we be sure we are not dreaming?
“I would argue that even ‘actual’ pain is kind of all in your head,” said Erin Wamsley, an assistant professor of psychology at Furman University in South Carolina, to Vice.
If it’s all in our head, how can we be sure that the body we have, the world, the universe, the people we meet, and the journey we go through (I mean life) are real?
Maybe when we die (or wake up for real), we’ll know the “truth”.
Proof By Contradiction seems to me like a valid way to prove or disprove something.
And I believe we can never disprove we are not dreaming. Can you? Although I think it’s best to live like life is real.
Thanks for reading! I’d appreciate your comments.
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