Cycles are the basis for everything we see and experience. The forces that drive the swing of the pendulum, the ripples in the pond, night and day, and the seasons of the year also define life.
The cycle of day and night leads to just a handful of daylight use strategies for animals (and even plants), and a corresponding sleep pattern. The period of rest and repair of damaged tissues seems necessary to every creature.
One of the more mysterious cycles is the day/night wake/sleep cycle of many animals. As far as I know, every other mammal sleeps and also dreams. Anyone with dogs know they dream. There are videos on YouTube of other mammals in an apparent dream state, like horses. Mammals, at least, must have a similar inner world to humans. I can't tell if our ducks dream or not. Ducks rest half their brain at a time. They sleep with one eye open, so any time I've seen them sleeping, they're very still and in a relaxed pose, but are also semi-alert.
The loss of consciousness and the periodic dream state is part of that cycle of rest and repair. I have had a number of waking life vivid dreams, and even a handful of "lucid" dreams where I was conscious while in the dream state, which is one of the weirder experiences a person can have. The rules of that world are strange and pliable, but still retain some cartoonish version of physics.
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