Nightmares are just your brain doing combat readiness drills

I love that the brain still relies on real-life data on the world it creates, and when it gets you into shit you’ve never experienced even remotely, and thus doesn’t know how to handle, the simulation just kinda freezes.

Oh, you were just thrown a few hundred {yards,meters} by a trebuchet, but don’t know how it feels to be squished to death? Ok, happy walking away with a strange feeling.

36

I love that the brain still, relies on real-life data on the world It creates

Yeah me too, totally, you fucking psycho. That's the best part of nightmares...

15
I love that the brain still relies on real-life data on the world it creates

I've heard that the brain isn't really capable of creating unique faces, so when you see people in a dream - even if they seem random to you, they're probably just someone you saw in passing (on the streets, online, etc) which is interesting!

Realistically there isn't a way to reliably test that theory, but it definitely makes sense to me at least.

7

When I fall from a great height I am well versed in what I should do to have no effect on the outcome.

18

😂👍

1

If they are, I'm pretty sure my combat skills are non existent

17

I am so totally prepared to be told “this isn’t your room” in a house with seemingly endless rooms.

14

Great, next time a demon uses psionic powers to pin me to a chair and then levitate that chair in the air and spin it around while screaming at me, "You're going to hell! You're going to hell! You're never going to get out of this, God won't save you now! hahaha! I'll know exactly what to do.

Thanks brain

14

I'm a pro at spitting out so many frickin teeth

12

They just slow you down.

When theconds madda, yet theef are minuth a chewin

7

Mine are from PTSD so what exactly is mine preparing for?

Thanks military btw.

12

For WW3? (hope not tough....)

4

When am I ever going to need to know how to fight a pudding monster?

12

Tomorrow.

6

Under extreme circumstances too. A place you have never seen, while your running is slower than your real life walking, your punches barely do anything, and If you fall from your height, then it's game over. Also color? what's that?

12

My dreams definitely have color. That's how I can tell where the blood is.

12
If you want to "fix" those dreams. Just check your back pocket, you'll likely find whatever weapon would most deal with the "problem" behind you.

You can run or punch, because the body's motion is being suppressed. You are fine to operate guns or heavy ordnance (up too as past an anime grade mecha suit. And yes, in a dream world, it will fit in your back pocket or other hammerspace equivalent!)

7
- I often can "will" myself telekinetic powers, but only if I've noticed it's a dream, which means I will quickly wake up.
  
  Dream monsters too pussy to fight me with powers.
  
  6
- That's if I even realize that it's a dream. I rarely get dreams, and when it happens I just cannot tell, no matter how wacky it gets.
  
  The one time it happened, I just decided to walk into a mirror that wasn't showing anything.
  
  2
It’s to train you to fly

2

I'm not so sure about what my brain considers "combat readiness drills".

I've had nightmares where I was woefully unprepared for an exam that I went to school, running late, without any pants nor underwear on. And as I sat for the exam, I felt so nervous I wanted to pee. And so I did, right in my seat. Thankfully, I was able to wake up before I peed in my bed.

And then I've had a recurring nightmare where I was exploring an endless staircase, with a team of like-minded people. We kept going down and down, as some of our teammates eventually succumbed to fatigue, and then thirst as our supplies dwindled. In some versions, we ended up in the same place we began. In another version, we ended up at some large underground facility, totally dark except for the staircase where we came from.

The only nightmare I could ever consider "combat readiness drill" is a nightmare where I found myself to be a civilian caught in a crossfire inside an abandoned factory, much like what you'd see in action films. How I ended up there, I have no idea, but I eventually got shot as I was trying to escape, and died.

11

Those seem like pretty good combat readiness drills for modern life!

Coming late to an exam and pissing yourself is likely the socially worst thing that could happen to a teenager in modern days. Likewise, losing yourself in the unnatural environment of confusing building staircases has happened to people, so it doesn't seem too far-fetched.

3
- Good points! I forgot to say though, I graduated from high school a decade ago and I still sometimes have those school exam nightmares for some reason. I'm guessing it's because the trauma is real, lol! The pain of dying socially in high school stays with you.
  
  2

Well not long ago I tried to punch a ghost in one of them. As expected, the result was... limited.

9

You obviously didn’t pay any attention in basic. You have to use silver against that.

3
- I wonder how it would look to punch a ghost with silver knuckles. Just imagine his surprised face (if he has one) when said punch lands 😂.
  
  1

Brilliant take! Been noticing this for years.

There's rarely any sort of violence in my dreams, but I can tell my brain is trying to predict a given situation that I've been exposed to or am worried about.

The rare times that violence is on the table, it's always me struggling to respond. Same old story for all of us. Can't punch, kick or run because our brain has us literally paralyzed.

I'm being shot at and I've got my Colt 1911 in hand. Seriously it didn't go bang?! OK, charge it. And now the slide is stuck. OK, take it off safe. Still stuck. Clear the malfunction and "click". Oh fuck me.

9

Thanks to this thread, my brain has located a long-suppressed nightmare from childhood and put it up on the big screen.

That 200 ft monster, of which I've only actually seen the bottom half of it's legs (couldn't look upwards?), will resume chasing me through my hometown at exactly the same speed at which I'm running away. Endlessly. Worse than Michael Myers' random appearances.

8

What the fuck are my nightmares trying to get me ready for?! 😨

8

It’s training against dream extractors. There is 0 chance somebody is implanting the idea of dissolving my family’s multibillion dollar energy empire

7

If unspeakably NSFL stuff ever happens to me IRL, my mind will be adequately prepared to handle it. Probably still won’t make it out alive, because I never practiced that. Given all the practice I do have, I shouldn’t freak out at all. I’ll just be like: “Oh no, not again.”

7

Oh so you've been a bowl of petunias I see

9
- Oh no, not again
  
  3
- Well, at least there are worse things that could happen.
  
  2

I had a super fucked up nightmare. Fucking terrified me going back to sleep for 20 minutes.

Read at your own peril. https://pastebin.com/nu435FU6

6

Maybe we should check your basement.

1
- You'll only find mlp plushies that are rather cute, at least for me.
  
  Which makes it even more like where the actual fuck does actual pure nightmare fuel come from.
  
  I really don't want a repeat of that shit. I don't care if it's being chased by a monster, getting caught doing tax fraud or falling off a cliff. At least it isn't psychological trauma in a dream.
  
  2
Why not paste that message in your comment but pastebin?

1
- Not only serves as a inherent spoiler it also makes it easier to send on other places.
  
  1
Did you read too many SCP articles before bed? Because that's exactly what this story reads like lol

1
- I don't do scp, friend knows a tiny bit but I'm not interested at all
  
  1

Scientists speculate that this is likely true

3

I haven't got nightmares for years maybe a decade.

I am fucked.

3

Don't worry, people's brains only do combat readiness drills if necessary. Your life is clearly peaceful and worry-free with no impending disasters.

2

Mine last night was being bombed, kept having to get down to avoid them as I tried to find cover.

2

I didn't have nightmares until I started work as an aircraft repairman.

I used to dream about exploring places. I remember one where I was swimming through this large building, I could breathe underwater but it was underwater, and it was just "let's see what else is here."

Now I dream of inevitable threat. One I remember pretty vividly was being trapped in this cave, there was no way in or out of this 30x30 foot room, and in the middle of it stood a gallows dangling a noose over the head of a ...man? Who turned and started slowly stomping toward me, and the gallows shifted around to keep the noose over his head, making a repetitive clanking sound. Weird imagery on the typical "thing slowly chasing you" dream.

1

how do i do combat drills if i can't move

1

I wish my nightmares were this.

1

Kissing people that have bad breath isn't combat tho

1