Forever in a dream that'll never come true or a very long nightmare with an end?

[Floppy Snow 279]

But what if we're all dreaming right now in fact? *INCEPTION HORN* 

Definitely choose the first option!

[SparklingSwirls 21,373]

Stuck in a dream forever. Not only would the nightmare be terrifying, but waking up after 10 years would be... difficult. You’d probably be presumed dead and it would be very hard to get your life back on track.

Edited July 26, 2019 by SparklingCaps

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

Probably "To forever be stuck in a dream that will never come true". As long as it's a lucid dream!

[Tacodidra 61,520]

Several people already expressed my first thought – an eternal dream would pretty much feel the same as reality. If it was a pleasant one, I'd gladly choose that one. The other option sounds awful – I'd essentially waste ten years anyway, and not enjoy a moment of it. The dream would at least be an enjoyable delusion if nothing else.

[Hat988 108]

I would choose the dream. There are some other factors to consider though. The first is nightmare tolerance. Somehow I have grown almost immune to nightmares, partially because I can often sense that I'm in one and cannot be hurt by anything that happens. What is unknown is if there are levels of nightmares I could not learn to tolerate. The second question is lucid dreaming. If I could organise my dream-reality however I wanted with no deadline to wake up, that would have huge potential. The third is the question of the nature of awakeness. I generally experience dreams as more profound than waking life. It may be easier to learn in this state especially if one has control of the dream. If so, one might awake on a level above the regular waking state!

[TBD 17,262]

My life is already a nightmare and forever in a dream technically mean I’m dead.. so I”ll take that. 

[TheRockARooster 52,878]

I would stay in a dream because I have enough nightmares, as it is.

[Castle Bleck 19,394]

Dream, natch.

To quote Cypher from The Matrix:

"You know, I know this steak doesn't exist; I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After 9 years, you know what I realize? ...Ignorance is bliss."

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

Being in a nightmare for that long makes me think if it doesnt kill me ill just be that much stronger. Also im not that privy in superheroes, but i feel like that would be a good origin story for a hero with telekinetic powers. 

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

For one, depends on the reality. Just because the nightmare ends doesn't mean the reality you wake up to will be... good.

"Forever in a dream that will never come true" is sort of an oxymoron. If the dream is forever, then there's no outside stimuli you can compare it to, to determine that it's not real. Therefore, as far as your brain is concerned, the dream IS real.

On 8/14/2019 at 12:43 PM, Anti-Villain said:

To quote Cypher from The Matrix: "You know, I know this steak doesn't exist; I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After 9 years, you know what I realize? ...Ignorance is bliss."

“What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” - Morpheus

Come to think of it now, as far as films I've seen that delve into this kind of thing, I'm pretty sure characters in the Matrix are the only ones who in the long run, didn't give up on worrying about whether or not they were in the "real world." In other similar stories, the character usually stops asking and instead just enjoys it.

[Clawdeen 15,978]

I’d rather be stuck in a nice dream that won’t ever happen irl than be stuck in a nightmare for 10 years. That sounds terrible. 

[ExplosionMare 18,106]

I'd rather not be fooled by a fake dream forever. Eventually, I'd want to come back to reality

[Splashee 28,581]

Same here. A dream should end. Dreams are not supposed to last forever.

[Clawdeen 15,978]

I'll still take the forever dream over a long term nightmare

[Snoopy Fan 4,088]

Definitely a good dream

[ZiggWheelsManning 11,910]

Very long nightmares with an end, they seem to barely end  

[Clawdeen 15,978]

Nah both these choices are wrong. I’ll take one ticket for forever in a nightmare thank you. 

Then I can finally be the true edge lord my teenage self always knew I could be.

[Starlight Serenade 3,844]

On 2019-07-26 at 2:30 PM, SparklingSquirrels said:

Stuck in a dream forever. Not only would the nightmare be terrifying, but waking up after 10 years would be... difficult. You’d probably be presumed dead and it would be very hard to get your life back on track.

This. I'm glad someone else thought of this too. I would be interested in being stuck in a dream forever that would never happen, but I would try to influence how events would transpire.

[Iforgotmybrain 6,003]

I’ll take the dream. If you’re stuck in a dream forever, I don’t think that’s a dream anymore. That’s just your new reality. 

[Raskolnikov 154]

10 hours ago, Clawdeen said:

Nah both these choices are wrong. I’ll take one ticket for forever in a nightmare thank you. 

Then I can finally be the true edge lord my teenage self always knew I could be.

Can we lock this thread? This post wins. There is nothing that will top it.

 

"forever stuck in a dream" for me. I agree that it would become a sort of reality in itself... but I also get strangely attached to some of my dream worlds anyway so I'm weird about that. I swear I have recurring 'fantasy' versions of places I know from memories that grow their own character even if some of their details change that almost feel nostalgic in themselves independent of the nostalgia for their real world equivalent due to how vivid they feel. I end up remembering snapshots of made up locations and it feels like I've been there - very strange because I have aphantasia to a degree so I don't know where this extremely vivid creativity in my dreams comes from?!?

[Dawnshine Wonder 1,767]

This one is a toughie, because some people have had so many negative experiences in their own lives that they want to escape it, and I get that, to exist in a world that is seemingly impossible to fix, does feel nerve wrecking or soul destroying.

This thread kind of makes me want to make a thread asking if people would like to exist in a computer generated dream world like The Matrix, even if they could exist there eternally although that is not guaranteed due to things like glitches, power outs and all sorts of other problems.

But as Morpheus points out in that movie, you either take the blue or red pill, and whichever you go with, there are consequences. There are consequences for living a lie, but waking up to a dystopian world is not great either.

I would be very tempted to take the dream world option, especially after both of my parents had died in the future. But the world you leave behind, you do still have positive memories of and that would be hard to let go of.