How can wake experiences be direct reflections of the sensory world at that moment while comparable dream experiences are created by the brain based on novel combinations of fragments of memories from the past? The answer must be that our experiences are always constructed by the brain; the very same processing that gives us dreams gives us waking experiences of reality.
for - key insight - similarity of waking and dream state - How can - wake experiences be direct reflections of the sensory world at that moment while - comparable dream experiences are created by the brain based on novel combinations of fragments of memories from the past? - The answer must be that our experiences are always constructed by the brain; the very same processing that - gives us dreams - gives us waking experiences of reality. - In other words, our brains do not need incoming sensory input to produce realistic experiences. - Our waking experiences are the way that they are - not because of sensory input but - because of the functional capabilities of the human brain. -The MToC argues that the functional capability that produces our experience of reality, whether - we are awake - or asleep, - is the explicit memory system. - During sleep, we speculate that our brains are simply carrying on with functioning - akin to what happens when we are awake. - The typical modes of action of the human brain persist across wake and sleep. - While we are awake, our brains are producing a stream of experiences of being in the world, punctuated by thoughts. - While we are asleep, without the tremendous barrage of sensory input to constrain experience, perhaps our brains tend to return to these waking habits, - producing a stream of experiences in the world punctuated by thoughts.