/sci/ - Science & Math

I just woke up from a sort of pseudo-nightmare in which I underwent the following situation:

I was informed, through narration, that a woman had been murdered in a courtroom by the defendant who had assaulted her previously. She (the soon to be victim) was now testifying in court. I entered the scene, without questioning it, funnily enough, as the witness. It was at this point that I knew something bad was about to happen. Somehow I managed to know that without making the connection that this was probably a dream but hey, that’s how it works. Regardless, after some time spent answering questions I wasn’t sure how I knew the answers to, the defendant starts standing up (she was laying down in a bed for some reason, dream logic, also I think we were having the trial in my bedroom. Why I don’t know).

“Oh fuck, Oh shit” I thought to myself as she revealed some kind of knife in her hand. It was at this point that I reached a pillow nearby (can’t remember how I got it) and brandished it at her. She ignored it and quite easily stabbed me in the side, upper chest, probably puncturing a lung.

I then woke up. Funnily enough however, I still had a pain in my chest, right where “i” had been stabbed in my dream. It felt sort of like how a cramp might, if a cramp could be concentrated into one point on your chest. It lasted for about 10-20 seconds.

So, my question is, how is this possible? How real are our dreams to our body? After all, they must be doing something to my nervous system if I can feel their effects in the waking world. I know I’ve felt this kind of thing before, and it makes me question just how much my dreams affect me. Sorry for so much reading.