Waking Life

Waking Life was a good movie and I really enjoyed the conversations within, but I disagree with the basis of the story. I always know when I am dreaming because pain doesn't cloud your thought and permeate your conciousness like a serious injury in real life does. But once I am asleep, I can't control my dreams any more than I can control my heartbeat.
I realised that I was dreaming one time that I can remember. I was standingon top of a parking deck and an alien threatened me. I said "you can't do anything to me this is a dream" and grabbed him by the head, swung him around and threw him off. Then I got back into the car and my mom drove me back down.
When I was at Camp Arrowhead two years ago, there was a counselor who was a senior at Rice and he explained his thesis. He called it the "Relative Happiness Theory" It stated that all people die at essentially the same level of happiness. This was because you become accustomed to your life, whether that of a millinaire or a homeless person.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind made me really consider bad experiences. If you have no reference point you have no idea how good or bad your situation is. For example, I have never been homeless so that would be a new low for me, but if I had then removing that would alter my index and very likely alter my life view.