Here's the problem - Reality

I believe we have two people in our heads: the conscious, which acts like a manager, and the subconscious, which acts like a worker. The conscious cannot make a decision without making the subconscious actually implement it. This allows the conscious to see things at a much higher level and so is better equipped to deal with abstract ideas. I also believe the things that make up who we are such as our morality and our spirituality reside in the subconscious although we can only question these beliefs with the help of our conscious. The abstract idea of reality and dreams seems to only concern the conscious. It is also something that the subconscious cannot understand so it will inevitably disregard the idea.

The subconscious is very powerful force. It is rash, fast and very confident in its actions. The conscious understands that it could be wrong and takes its time in coming to a conclusion. Animals seem to have a fully developed subconscious but lack a powerful consciousness. For me, this is proven when an animal cannot recognise themselves in a mirror. If they cannot recognise themselves, then it is their conscious which has not developed the abstract idea of identity. It is obvious from philosophy to mathematics that humans have a very developed conscious.

I have seen movies such as The Matrix and Inception which play on the idea of dreams and reality. However, in these movies there is usually an obvious difference between reality and dreams, whether this is people transforming into agents or spinning tops that never fall over. The point is if your in a dream or your in reality, you will fight with just the same vigour as before. However, if there is no advantage in knowing you are in a dream, then the stress of not knowing is pointless. This, of course, is mostly not true in the movies. The advantages of knowing you are in a dream are great. Neo in the Matrix knew it was a dream which gave him the ability to stop bullets etc. No matter how absurd our dreams are at night, we are always fooled by them which makes most dream related movies, ironically, unrealistic in my opinion.

In conclusion, if your conscious cannot tell the difference between a dream and reality then why worry about it. It should be able to understand the concept but it should only care once it has to make a decision. The subconscious cannot tell the difference and it will be just the same in dreams as in reality. I do however think that when we sleep, the conscious plays little or no part in our dreams. I believe dreams are just little games that the subconscious plays with itself to sharpen its instincts and our dreams are only as powerful as our subconscious. So next time you do not know whether you are in a dream or reality, realise that you are in reality because only your conscious would ask that question.