Yours is more spooky, but I had a similar experience.
In high school I had to get up early to be on time. In winter it meant waking up when there was still pitch black outside. Also, one teacher was exceptionally strict and would be angry at you for months if you were late or missed his class. So, when one day I woke up when there was fully bright outside I freaked out and jumped out of bed with a loud “F...F...F...”. And then I woke up and it was pitch black outside. And then the alarm clock rang. I laid there for a while trying to figure out how the hell am I supposed to figure out whether I am awake or still dreaming. I didn’t so I carried on … maybe I’m still asleep, but at least I wasn’t late.
Man, I hatefalse awakenings. I would not infrequently have them in middle school and high school: I would dream about waking up ridiculously early, going to school, doing all the tests, suffering through the classes I didn’t like, spending literally hours on the bus going to and from, and then I would wake up shortly before the bus came at 6:30AM and think to myself oh come onnnn...
A few months back, I was half asleep and thinking about a certain person. For a moment I wondered whether the NSA now knew who I was thinking about, since thinking about someone obviously requires going online and retrieving the concept of that person from a central server.
Reminds me of Epicurus’s idea that we think about things by perceiving radiation emitted by them. I wonder, if that were how we think about things, then what would the NSA be able to glean by deploying sensors that detect this radiation?
When I stay up too late I am often bewildered by my alarm clock when it wakes me up, unable to figure out what the numbers mean for a while. Nonetheless there must be a part of me that knows what’s going on because I always end up setting it again so I have enough time to get ready after sleeping some more.
One of the few times I have doubted my sanity and/or memory: http://www.gwern.net/Notes#true-dreams
Yours is more spooky, but I had a similar experience.
In high school I had to get up early to be on time. In winter it meant waking up when there was still pitch black outside. Also, one teacher was exceptionally strict and would be angry at you for months if you were late or missed his class. So, when one day I woke up when there was fully bright outside I freaked out and jumped out of bed with a loud “F...F...F...”. And then I woke up and it was pitch black outside. And then the alarm clock rang. I laid there for a while trying to figure out how the hell am I supposed to figure out whether I am awake or still dreaming. I didn’t so I carried on … maybe I’m still asleep, but at least I wasn’t late.
Man, I hate false awakenings. I would not infrequently have them in middle school and high school: I would dream about waking up ridiculously early, going to school, doing all the tests, suffering through the classes I didn’t like, spending literally hours on the bus going to and from, and then I would wake up shortly before the bus came at 6:30AM and think to myself oh come onnnn...
Yvain has a pretty good story on his blog, too.
How about this one?
Or http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/03/asches-to-asches/
When I’m sleepy enough, I usually think that my brain has Internet access.
A few months back, I was half asleep and thinking about a certain person. For a moment I wondered whether the NSA now knew who I was thinking about, since thinking about someone obviously requires going online and retrieving the concept of that person from a central server.
Reminds me of Epicurus’s idea that we think about things by perceiving radiation emitted by them. I wonder, if that were how we think about things, then what would the NSA be able to glean by deploying sensors that detect this radiation?
When I stay up too late I am often bewildered by my alarm clock when it wakes me up, unable to figure out what the numbers mean for a while. Nonetheless there must be a part of me that knows what’s going on because I always end up setting it again so I have enough time to get ready after sleeping some more.