dreams lived backwards, retold forwards.

I remember some stuff I read in the 80s; how true it is, I don’t know anymore, but interesting just the same. Dream studies.

They got ppl in dream state (I’m not going to get tech with the terms ’cause it’s silly in this case) and dropped a penny on their stomachs. They woke them up and asked what they dreamed about.

All different dreams, but the ending was similar: shot to the stomach, punch in the stomach by a guy with a ring, falling on ice (cold penny), etc.

All linked up to the penny drop.

Yet the experience of the dream was told forward, which leads to the possible conclusion:

We dream backwards, but rationalize forwards.

The dream began at the ending, and the brain quickly rationalized “What just happened?” and put it together in the form of a story.

Dream backwards, retell forwards.

Is that really true? I don’t know. I just remember reading it in a few places. But as there’s no need for the clunkiness of body, the brain is free to move more quickly than is possible in “real life” and it has at its disposal a seemingly unlimited source material, with no new input required.

Like a bees trapped in a small box or something.

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