I want to watch them like movies
I remember we were sitting at a little table at a sidewalk café. There was lots and lots of sun and everything was blue and gold. I had coffee and a book but I wasn't reading it. Her dark, bare leg was crossed up over the other and she was flapping her dangling sandal loudly. I noticed that I liked this.
Also at my table was my best friend from childhood. This was odd, but I guess we're still best friends.
Even though it was sunny, a frustrating shadow or possibly her hair was obscuring her face. I can rarely really see her face, but it didn't spoil my mood. Her shoulders were bare and one long arm was stretched out across the table where she leisurely held my forearm.
I wasn't hungry or thirsty or tired or bored. I was in want of nothing else but this. We talked for what could have been hours. I have no idea. The nature of reality. Ultimate truth. Perception of beauty. Aging and death. Love and our future. Connections between words and unspoken signals came easily and comfortably. Life was just like that. I turn 28 next month and this was exactly how I planned it to be by now. Everything turned out perfectly, and this didn't strike me as odd at all.
Then it was nighttime, but it may have been even warmer.
Heavier.
Fuzzier.
My other friend was gone now and she was ready to go home. To our home.
She gave the waitress a kiss goodbye and I was suddenly shocked that the waitress was Carla. I realized that Carla had passed away some years ago and that she couldn't be here in front of me, but I ignored all that. I gave her my love and then we were home.
Strangely, home was the home of my youth where I grew up, but it was mine now.
Ours.
And our daughter's.
I tucked my little girl into bed with the dog so that both had their heads on a pillow and the covers pulled up tight. She laughed and laughed at this, with her tiny little voice and with her bright blue eyes. I couldn't think of her name, but she didn't seem to notice. She called me "daddy" and she said it with love. I don't think I could have left that spot if my life depended on it.
But the scene suddenly changed and my head felt dizzy. It may have been foggy out; there was no more detail. I smelled the beach even though I couldn't see any water, but there were trees and sand and darkness and me and the woman. I thought to myself that any second I'm going to realize this is a dream and it will all be over.
The woman looked at me and I saw her eyes this time. I knew what they meant. I knew this was a dream now. But it wasn't over. The dream got better from there.
That was the one I'd pick.
If you could pick a night's dream to relive and re-watch, which would you pick? Because, you know what? Very soon, it will be possible.
Scientists can now read your mind!
(Article)
I don't see this as a problem at all. I mean, sure there are terrible, crazy things in there that would make you run away from me screaming, but there's a lot of beautiful and happy pictures in my head as well. I want to be able to see it all again. And I want to show it you.
Right now, the MRI can only predict still pictures we're seeing in our mind... but in a few years, technology will advance. We'll be able to record and replay movies of our dreams, memories, and imagination. We'll hear each others thoughts. We'll be connected at a level about which science fiction can only dream.
Most people balk at the idea of intrusion or invasion of privacy. Currently there is absolutely no regulation on things like this. We picture shady organizations stealing and implanting brainwaves. Governments incriminating us for thought crimes. But I'm never scared about what technology can bring us. Along with the ugliness, this could promote understanding and at the very least, a chance to relive something as beautiful and fleeting as our very dreams themselves.
What dream would you show me?
Posted by heydomsar
2008-04-17
go back | random brainstorm | go forth
Rachel Ray - 2009-05-03
The cold wind was the reason - 2009-03-02
The Collected Wisdom of Angela Chase - 2009-02-15
All's well that ends well. - 2009-01-07
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - 2008-10-04
