I had a dream about a book I read years ago. My dream was very much like I had been transplanted into the fictional world it was based in.
The book was set in a more modern yet very-near future. Americans had devolved due to technology. Their technology enabled them to some significant experiences through proxy. Fighting wars and such. It served to distance themselves from their morals. The news media exerted so much spin that almost all of the population was disinterested in the truth. If they were even aware of what the news told them, they certainly were much less interested in what had actually happened. They believed the media carte blanche.
Anyway, it becomes known that the central figure is in the military and uses some of this technology in his personal life. He has a port in the back of his head (this came out before The Matrix) that allows him to control his proxy soldier-machine on the other side of the planet. Well his girlfriend is a psychologist in the military. She has one to, in order to work with these soliders.
One day they hook theirs together, knowing the seriousness of the consequences if they were caught or found out. They are shocked to find that because of their intimacy with one another they can experience all senses and thoughts as one shared, combined experience. The ultimate empathy. Once they disconnect they feel as if part of their selves has been lost. This inspires the closest kind of bond any human could (possibly) ever feel. The book spends a fair amount of time describing this time they spend together. Literally, together. Because of this bond they develop an overwhelming new insight into the value of every life. They had developed an empathy for other humans that transcended the differentiation between those they cared for and those they did not. The idea of death of any kind made them feel the most painful sympathy for the person dying.
I don't need to get into the details so much
I preferred to describe the book rather than retell my rather intimate dream that followed along similar lines. Suffice it to say that I woke up abruptly and I felt some form of combined sadness+lucidity+pleasure. The feeling was real and tangible. The mind is a powerful thing.
The book was set in a more modern yet very-near future. Americans had devolved due to technology. Their technology enabled them to some significant experiences through proxy. Fighting wars and such. It served to distance themselves from their morals. The news media exerted so much spin that almost all of the population was disinterested in the truth. If they were even aware of what the news told them, they certainly were much less interested in what had actually happened. They believed the media carte blanche.
Anyway, it becomes known that the central figure is in the military and uses some of this technology in his personal life. He has a port in the back of his head (this came out before The Matrix) that allows him to control his proxy soldier-machine on the other side of the planet. Well his girlfriend is a psychologist in the military. She has one to, in order to work with these soliders.
One day they hook theirs together, knowing the seriousness of the consequences if they were caught or found out. They are shocked to find that because of their intimacy with one another they can experience all senses and thoughts as one shared, combined experience. The ultimate empathy. Once they disconnect they feel as if part of their selves has been lost. This inspires the closest kind of bond any human could (possibly) ever feel. The book spends a fair amount of time describing this time they spend together. Literally, together. Because of this bond they develop an overwhelming new insight into the value of every life. They had developed an empathy for other humans that transcended the differentiation between those they cared for and those they did not. The idea of death of any kind made them feel the most painful sympathy for the person dying.
I don't need to get into the details so much
I preferred to describe the book rather than retell my rather intimate dream that followed along similar lines. Suffice it to say that I woke up abruptly and I felt some form of combined sadness+lucidity+pleasure. The feeling was real and tangible. The mind is a powerful thing.
But yeah. What you described gave me that. It sucked in that way. Makes me want to read and not read whatever book it was, because those things always make me realign my perspective on my actual relationships and .. they never stand up.
Gotta love those dreams, though. The tingle.
Anyway. Partially, I blame this need to each new entry to the light on SG's blogging format, and for it not being more like Livejournal [or Deadjournal, or Blurty, which all = same], lending itself much more easily to the occasional rant or impulse-blog or "DEAR FUCKING JOURNAL WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF OKAY BYE" without that being the one single representation of you in that moment. Until you shove it down and come up with something new [but what if it still applies? What if you want two things up at once, which are separate ideas entirely or written on separate days?].
I hate this format. System. Whatever. It means I bottle my thoughts for several days so that I don't tear my hair out an hour later when my mood shifts ten degrees and the page no longer reflects me in the least. I do what I can to cover my general trend.
But anyway. What I'm saying is .. don't worry too much about polish. Type things. I was kidding before. ;] But if you must .. then. As long as you don't restrict too tightly.
Or I will hold it against you.