I don't think the subconscious mind needs to perform background calculations to stimulate physics. I think it's so used to creating reality from the stimuli we get when we're awake, that it can easily recreate it the same way without the stimuli, when we're asleep. It may just be expectation based on memory. If it's not entirely accurate, who would know?
Expectation seems to play a big role in how things behave in dreams. I had a lucid dream once where I tried to walk through walls and couldn't. I knew it was a dream. I knew the walls weren't real. But I just kept bumping into them. I couldn't shake my belief in the solidity of walls. Eventually, with a lot of concentration and effort, I was able to poke my finger through one. It felt like a great victory, but really, why should there be any difficulty moving an imaginary body through an imaginary wall?
I sometimes have dreams, like you do, where the unreality of the situation starts to bleed through. I think that's what's up with the cardboard props. I'm becoming aware that something isn't right here, that this may not actually be happening. I think the failing telekinesis may be similar -- a little consciousness coming in and going, "Wait. I'm not a vampire. I can't move things with my mind." And then I can't. But I really don't know. I wish we could nail down dreams too.
Thank you for reading and commenting! I love that you're as curious about these things as I am.
I've had the "bumping into walls" thing in lucid dreams. Not necessarily walls. Haven't figured out how to deal with it yet. It may simply be that "you" don't have control over every aspect of your brain.
Interesting dream. I don't think I've ever had a vampire one. Though I have had some pretty dark ones, like finding a corpse and bringing it back to life. And a really weird Halloween themed one the other night, with this bizarre background music with repeating lyrics going "Krishna is dead."
I definitely don't have control over every aspect of my brain. I often have lucid dreams that seem to be a power struggle between "me" and "my subconscious." My dream characters will sometimes roll their eyes at me as if I have no idea how to properly behave in their realm. I can't argue with that, but it does get weird and slippery when I try to identify what is "me," what is "my subconscious," and what is a "dream character."
Your dreams sound fascinating. I've had corpses in dreams but never brought one to life. Did you post some of your dreams a long time ago? I seem to remember reading a few and thinking they were pretty mind-blowing.
Just goes to show the power of mental barriers in our lives. They are nothing to sneeze at. We must believe before we can do.
Likewise. Maybe by comparing notes, we can make some sense of all this.
It makes me wonder what kinds of walls I'm bumping against in my waking life that don't really exist.
And yes, let's compare notes and see what we can figure out.