Messed up dream time to real time ratio

Crankinz · April 7, 2003, 10:25pm

I’ve heard lots of things about people sleeping for only a few hours, and having dreams that last for a whole day, a week, or even a couple of years. I know this may sound far-fetched, but i’m wondering if anyone on this board has had an experience like this. I, personally, have not.

DDaudio19 · April 7, 2003, 10:40pm

Well I have dreams where it felt like I knew a guy for a year or so and I could think back to all the events that would have happened between me and him, and then I would wake up and I would be thinking I know this guy, but when I really think of it, I have no idea who it was and why it felt like I met him over a year ago and that we did lots of things.

CCHawk · April 7, 2003, 10:48pm

yes i have, this morning actually. i woke up this morning, checked my clock, and noticed that i had 10 minutes till my alarm would go off. i dozed back asleep knowing i only had a few minutes left of sleep, but i had a dream in which i went through two school class periods. i woke up and was very surprised, it really felt like 2 whole hours in my dream. only ten minutes real time though.

i’ve heard many people say that the dream time isn’t really that long, it’s just you feel like it has been because of changes in the environment etc. for instance, if it goes from day to night in your dream it might just feel like you’ve spent a whole day in your dream. or, like in my case, since i went from one class to another it might have felt like 2 classes. but it was just 10 minutes actually, but i just tricked myself into thinking it was so long.

Real_Turin · April 8, 2003, 2:00pm

Hola, yeah this morning i had an hour and half to sleep (Delay for school) and i went through two days and woke up three times before i was actually back in the real world, it was crazy.

Tomas · April 8, 2003, 4:01pm

I have had a few non lucid dreams that lasted for a couple of days upto 2 weeks. It really feelt like days-weeks but i didnt really recall days-weeks worth of memories. I guess it works more like scenes in movies.

meisekiyume · April 9, 2003, 8:23pm

It seems as though many people have had experiences like the one Crankinz described. Apparently, it is not uncommon for someone to have a dream that seems to last longer than it really does in real time. As I have said before Crankinz, it is not actually real time passing or a “time warp” , but maybe what is already in our minds being played back in what seems to be a longer duration of time. Of course, there are those more unusual times when we pick up something from our environment, and it materializes in our dreams.

Has anyone had a lucid dream that seemed to last longer than it did in real time? I just wonder if it is at all possible.

Lucian · April 10, 2003, 1:00am

well, im not too god at tryign to explain things but… our minds can think extraordanarily fast, so basicly, when you dream and you get that “time warp” blah blah stuff, basicly my theory is that your mind creats intense vivedness in your dreams and lets it last for a while, but your mind doesnt reall “take time” to do something, so it can go threw like 500 things in a split sec, so it makes it last a while, because in your mind, “there is no time”, you can expand things to make it seem longer though… i hope you understand what i mean … im sure i coulda put it into better words, i hope i didnt say the wrong thing in there… somone correct me if im wrong plz

lazysleeper · April 10, 2003, 2:09pm

tupid: because i had a very long not ld yesterday and it lasted like an entire day and i remember every single dream-minute and everything it didnt skipt scenes like you said

sage · April 10, 2003, 8:11pm

Most people, it seems, are of the opinion that dream time and “real” time correspond or are somehow in sync. However, I see no reason to believe this. First of all, as Einstein demonstrated, time isn’t the constant that we believe it is. Relative to one’s state, time can speed up or slow down. Also, our perception of time can change. Time can drag or time can fly. It is said that to god a day is like a thousand years. Since, in our dreams, we are almost like god, it is at least conceivable that we could experience a large amount of dream time during an afternoon nap.

I came across a rather interesting dream/story recently, and I would like your opinions on it. It is paraphrased below…

I find myself in Europe in the middle ages. I am dressed in a simple peasant’s garb and on a dirt road that leads into a city. I look around me and it seems that I have just left a dense forest. I decide to head into the city to see what I can find. I can hear the noise of many voices and animals and head in that direction. Eventually, I am in a market area. I walk by a butcher’s booth; he has ducks, chickens, and some small game skinned and hanging. I keep walking. I catch a glint of something shiny a few booths down and make for it. The object turns out to be a beautiful sword. I pick it up and admire the detail and intricacies of the hilt. I look around: no one is watching so I take it and continue on my way. I haven’t taken but a few steps when a hand grabs my shoulder from behind. I look back and see a guard gripping me. I try to run but another one has come. They lead me away and take me into a damp, underground dungeon. I’m left alone there in a small stone room. It’s cold and I can see the sun going down from the one small window in the cell. I’m left here all night. In the morning, a guard takes me out and brings me before a judge. I try to explain that I was just admiring the sword, not stealing it. He doesn’t listen and tells me I am to be executed that very morning. The guards lead me out. My hands are tied behind my back. They lead me out into the streets. A crowd has gathered to see the event. I look at their faces - they are all jeering at me. The guards lead me onto a platform and force me to kneel. My neck is extended and locked in the guillotine. I’m very scared now. A guard reads my crime and sentencing aloud to the crowd. A few seconds pass and he gives the command. A rope is pulled and the blade comes down…

and just as the blade is about to hit my neck, the bedroom curtainrod falls across my neck, waking me up. I realize it had all been a dream.

So now the question is - was it just a big coincidence that just as the blade was about to hit his neck, the curtainrod did; or did his mind somehow know the rod was going to fall and created a whole dream around the event; or was it that in the instant that the rod fell, he dreamed the entire story? Any ideas?