Thursday, March 15, 2012

Is it possible for my brain to do this?

My brain did something really disturbing last night. Something I wouldn't have thought possible. Something so flabergasting to me that I am blogging it now in the hopes someone might understand how the brain can work in this marvelous but terrifying way.

The first thing you should know is that I sometimes dream entire original movies. These movies are often long, graphic, densely plotted horror movies. I wake up feeling like I watched a very sick, very scary piece of underground cinema.

Last night I had one of these dreams. And I noticed some elements early on in my dream-film that seemed out of place. A misplaced seam on a jacket, for instance. At the end of the movie, there was a huge twist. (He was the killer all along! Here's how he killed his victims! Here's why!) The end of my dream-film explained the misplaced seam and other elements from early in the dream.

Think about that for a second. Some part of my brain composed the entire script of a dream in advance, including seeding it with clues and foreshadowing. That means my composer-brain must have known how the dream would end all along. Then, somehow, my composer-brain was able to keep all these elements secret from my audience-brain so that it could be surprised (and disgusted) by the big twist.

I only have one brain, don't I? Don't I?

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