We still don’t fully understand the purpose of our dreams, but that doesn’t stop our brain from creating beautiful but strange concepts in alternate worlds that leave us stunned in the morning.
But for whatever reason, certain common objects and actions never seem to appear in our dreams, while flying elephants, battles with aliens, or riding a motorcycle may be part of our normal dream repertoire.
However, things like smartphones, mirrors, and food are rare guests in our dreams.
We are curious as to why we couldn’t see or do some things in our dreams that we are perfectly capable of in waking life, and we came across some unexpected explanations.
As a bonus, Internet users shared common things that they cannot do in their dreams.
Things You Can’t Do in Dreams
5. Seeing Smartphones
According to the survey, only about 3.55% of women and 2.69% of men see smartphones in their dreams. It may be related to the fact that smartphones and other modern devices have appeared in our lives very recently, and our brain is not very used to them.
There is a theory that we dream that our brain processes our anxieties and fears, and helps us deal with stressful events.
So dreaming acts as a kind of evolved defense mechanism, and the things we dream about often come from older parts of the human mind.
They are more connected to problems that our ancestors could relate to, such as fighting and surviving.
However, some circumstances can trigger the appearance of smartphones in our dreams. Alice Robb, author of a dream book, shares that people are more likely to see smartphones in their dreams when going through intense life events, such as bereavement or the loss of a loved one.
4. Write, Read, Or Actually Speak
The regions of our brain that are responsible for interpreting language are much less active while we sleep. That is why forming and expressing language can become quite a task.
For example, some people find that they are not sure whether they or others are really speaking in their dreams, and communication between them is more like telepathy.
So, we can understand concepts and ideas while we sleep and we can express ourselves, but we don’t hear the sound or see someone actually speaking.
The same goes for reading, writing, or telling time. We can have a general idea, but rarely can we distinguish separate words or tell the exact time.
However, people who use language a lot in their daily life, such as writers or poets, may be able to understand the language in their dreams and think of new ideas that may still be useful after waking up.
3. Meeting Complete Strangers
There is a theory that our brain cannot “invent” new people, and all the strangers we see in our dreams are people we have already met somewhere or their faces are a combination of characteristics that we have already seen.
Although the researchers note that, as of now, there is no way to test this theory due to the nature of our dreams, they say that this hypothesis may still be true.
Most of our dreams are probably based on mundane elements in our lives, which is why we have probably seen strangers in our dreams.
We may not remember them because the interaction was brief and meaningless, such as if we see a person in a crowd or in a television commercial and we do not consciously remember them.
However, there is probably nothing that can stop our brain from creating new faces, but it is likely based on facial features that we have already seen.
2. Doing Physical Activities
We’ve probably all been through this – you try to run, fight, or jump high, but it feels like you’re doing everything in slow motion, no matter how hard you try.
The researchers suggest that we can perceive time differently during sleep, both faster and slower.
Also, we see dreams during our REM sleep and our muscles are immobilized and relaxed during this period.
In this way, our brain guarantees that we will not act according to what we dream of. Therefore, this slow-motion sensation can occur due to a lack of muscle feedback or slower neural processing during this stage of sleep.
1. Looking At Ourselves In The Mirror
Mirrors and reflections are curious concepts when it comes to dreams. The point is, in the real world, reflexes obey the laws of physics, but dreams are driven by our subconscious expectations and memories, and the rules of “real life” don’t really apply there.
Therefore, we will usually see something blurry or not really distinguishable in the mirror, or we can see our faces that have been transformed in a strange way.
Some people believe that since dreams may be helping us to process our waking life in some way, seeing your reflection in the mirror may mean looking at yourself from a psychological rather than a realistic point of view.
Therefore, the things you see in a mirror may have some correlations with events in your daily life, your self-esteem, and the struggles you may be going through.
Reddit Users Shared What Things They Couldn’t Do In Their Dreams
I was never able to walk on my feet. I was always levitating in a strange way, it was like someone was always holding me up. @AttackParty / reddit
I can’t run without tripping or using logic to hide. My hiding skills are legendary in my family, but in dreams, it’s like I’m walking with a giant balloon that says, “I’m here!” @AnneAuthor / reddit
I can’t turn on the lights, drive any land vehicle, swim, or even float. @tangyradar / reddit
I don’t remember names or numbers from dreams. Even if they are shown to me several times in the dream. @Phantomdust84 / reddit
What everyday things can you no longer do in your dreams? Or maybe you can perform some of the actions mentioned in our article! Tell us below.
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