venta: (Default)
venta ([personal profile] venta) wrote2002-11-29 01:52 pm

To sleep, perchance...

This morning I overslept horribly. I woke up reasonably early, decided that my neck hurt a bit and I'd stay lying down for another half an hour - but didn't reset my alarm. Doomed.



Now, I'm not too dim, and I can learn from experience. I know that when I think "I'll just stay in bed for another 10 minutes" that I will actually doze back off, and wake up anything up to a few hours later.

But when I'm actually in that half awake state, I don't know this. It's not (despite numerous accusations from others) that I'm just too damn lazy to get up. I genuinely believe that I will be getting up in a few minutes - not because today I'll somehow manage not to doze off, but because I've forgotten that that's a problem.

I've observed on a number of occasions that when half awake I lose the ability to make rational decisions (yes, yes, insert "What ability?" joke here if you must), and I can forget really quite important facts.

It doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that when you're half asleep, your brain isn't working properly. But that's not quite how it feels - I appear actually to become a much more unreasonable and obstinate person, without the same memories I usually have.

[livejournal.com profile] floralaetifica, if you're reading this - am I right in thinking that Dan's BA thesis was into something along these lines, about whether people retain their personalities when asleep ? Do you know what he concluded, or if he'd let me read it ? I'm interested...


Whenever I go back to sleep of a morning, I always end up having odd dreams. I firmly believe that recounting your dreams is the height of egotism, but you're reading LJ, you should be used to it :)

This morning I dreamt I'd gone to a wedding with [livejournal.com profile] shekhmet and Samantha. It turned out that they knew all the same people, but knew them by different names, and I had to match the names to the people for them. The only one I can remember now was that Samantha knew [livejournal.com profile] moomintroll as 'The Black Snowman'.

I don't think my subconscious should be allowed to make up my dreams for me, it clearly doesn't know what it's doing...

Similar...

[identity profile] keris.livejournal.com 2002-11-29 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
This morning (between waking up once, and waking up with the alarm clock) I dreamt you were showing my your LJ.

Most odd...

Height of egotism?

[identity profile] davefish.livejournal.com 2002-11-29 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
I'm curious as to why you think that its egotistic to recount dreams? I think that when I recount dreams its as a good story that didn't actually happen but just showed up in my head.

I just don't see where the egotism comes in. Then again, I am pretty stupid.

And I meant to add

[identity profile] davefish.livejournal.com 2002-11-29 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
That it does sound like a fun dream.

Re: Height of egotism?

[identity profile] venta.livejournal.com 2002-11-30 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think there's anything wrong with recounting the occasional, interesting dream. Just like there's nothing wrong with telling the occasional interesting roleplaying anecdote :)

I just object to the assumption that everyone else will (of course!) be interested in things which take place completely within one's own head...

Re: Height of egotism?

[identity profile] davefish.livejournal.com 2002-12-06 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
Oh dear, my entire life mostly takes place in its own little world in my head.

[identity profile] metame.livejournal.com 2002-11-29 07:17 am (UTC)(link)
I've often been interested in the waking up process.

Usually seems to end up with something resembling me, but the thing that first gains self-awareness is often decidedly different. Could do with a consistent theory of how self is built out of the lies of sleeping dogs. Have yet to see one, though.