How did I dream this bus crash?

[DangerQuakeRhinoSnake]

Woke up from a dream where I was on a bus with my mum and we were going down a busy street and not going fast but too fast for the conditions and our bus hit another one and slid around a bit, hit a building too (heard the broken glass), everyone seemed OK but shook up afterwards.

How does my brain know which way it's going to go, where it comes to rest etc. I know nothing about physics etc, thankfully never seen a crash like this, let alone been in one.

How do I write that story in my head?

Have you seen a similar crash in a film or on TV? Even years ago. Brains are strange and wonderful things.

Maybe seen on TV. Also maybe the physics is from something else you’ve seen (eg car crash), maybe on TV, mixed and matched with the visuals from the bus.

Someone once pointed out to me that dreams of flying, the motion is often similar to either coasting downhill on a bike, or swimming

But what happened in your dream may have been completely wrong for how a bus crash would go. Even though you know nothing about the physics of a crash, you could imagine a crash if you were asked to. It wouldn’t necessarily be right but you could do it. The dream is like that.

This is very possible actually. I would have forgotten but my brain might remember.

This is true!

PP have given good explanations about how your brain can invent something it hasn't experienced.

It might be interesting for you to think about the events of yesterday and find out what triggered the dream - there's often something that sparked off an idea in your subconscious. 'Free association' is a way of doing this backwards - think of the bus crash in your dream and then see what else comes into your head, and see if it ties in with anything that happened the day before.

It could be something very simple, such as reading about a car crash in the news, but sometimes pinning down the inspiration for a dream can throw up something more complicated and revealing, such as you being worried about something at a subconscious level, or reminded of an event in the past which is relevant to your present (and might offer lessons in how to handle something).