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4yo: Is this real life or a dream? me: Real life 4yo: Why? me: Because youāre awake 4yo: Butā¦ in my dream I dream that Iām awake me: Thereās an asymmetry: believing youāre awake while dreaming isnāt the same as believing youāre awake while awake 4yo: Daddy it *is* the same
Previous episode of 4yo as philosopher https://t.co/ZWE4k7e1kT
no one: 4yo: How did we start our life like this? What am I even saying? Iām so confused! What is wrong with me?! What am I saying?? Itās been a long time since we have been made. How did the whole earth start like this? Who invented it? Who made the world of earth? https://t.co/mZO25Qcgjt
@mbateman I think the problem is that it's not an asymmetry you can properly perceive from one half of it, so it effectively looks like a symmetry. Like, when you're awake, you can know you're awake, but when you're dreaming you can also know you're awake.
@DRMacIver low iq: dreams are easily distinguishable from waking life midwit [half of the popular philosophical canon across cultures]: dreams are indistinguishable from waking life high iq: dreams are easily distinguishable from waking life
@mbateman That being said, for me I'm not sure I'm even able to ask the question "Am I dreaming?" when I'm dreaming, and on further reflection I might even answer "Yes" if I did ask it. That's how lucid dreaming works after all.
@DRMacIver Iāve had one experience like this (I rarely remember dreams) In this dream I had killed someone and I was dreading telling Gena that I had Then i thought āwell, why did I kill this person, Iāll just explain itā Then I realized I didnāt kill anyone and was dreaming nonsense
@mbateman Thinking about personal experiences a bit more: I think one difficulty with the asymmetry is that it can be legitimately difficult to distinguish dream memories from real memories. I run into this occasionally, and usually I have to use contextual clues to do it.
@mbateman "hm, it seems to me that I'm awake, because [...]. and if I'm awake and we're interacting, I conclude you're awake! but maybe dream me would also say that to you! so how could you know?" (idk if it'd work for your 4yo, but that's the kind of perspectival thing I'd try here)