If the simulation argument is valid and dreams are simulations of reality, can we apply the simulation argument to dreams? If not, is this an argument against the simulation argument? If yes, why am I not now in a dream?
If I see something, is it more likely to be dream or reality? Sleeping takes only one-third of my time, and REM takes even less. But:
Some dreams occur even in other phases of sleep
Dreams are much more eventful than normal life. There is always something happening. Also, the distribution of events in dreams is skewed toward expensive, dangerous, adventurous content, full of social interactions.
There is an eraser of dream memory, which cleans memories of dreams after every 15 minutes and also after awakening and during the day. As a result, we underestimate the number of dreams we have had.
As a result, the number of important events in dreams may be several orders of magnitude more than in real life. I think a good estimate is 100 times, but it depends on the types of events. For recurrent dreams—like big waves and war for me—it can be much higher.
So why am I not in a dream now? Because writing coherent dream-conscious (lucid) text is not the dominant type of content in dreams. But if I were chased by a monster or big waves, I should give higher a priori chances that I am actually dreaming.
Conclusion: The simulation argument works for dreams, but selectively, as dream content is different from most normal life content.
If the simulation argument is valid and dreams are simulations of reality, can we apply the simulation argument to dreams? If not, is this an argument against the simulation argument? If yes, why am I not now in a dream?
If I see something, is it more likely to be dream or reality?
Sleeping takes only one-third of my time, and REM takes even less.
But:
Some dreams occur even in other phases of sleep
Dreams are much more eventful than normal life. There is always something happening. Also, the distribution of events in dreams is skewed toward expensive, dangerous, adventurous content, full of social interactions.
There is an eraser of dream memory, which cleans memories of dreams after every 15 minutes and also after awakening and during the day. As a result, we underestimate the number of dreams we have had.
As a result, the number of important events in dreams may be several orders of magnitude more than in real life. I think a good estimate is 100 times, but it depends on the types of events. For recurrent dreams—like big waves and war for me—it can be much higher.
So why am I not in a dream now? Because writing coherent dream-conscious (lucid) text is not the dominant type of content in dreams. But if I were chased by a monster or big waves, I should give higher a priori chances that I am actually dreaming.
Conclusion: The simulation argument works for dreams, but selectively, as dream content is different from most normal life content.