I Built a Magical Floating Castle in The End

[00:00:00]Over the last 15 years, Minecraft has gone through a lot of changes, but the End dimension, besides adding the one elytra update, has remained quite unchanged. So, what if we brought a little more magic into it? And I think we will definitely achieve this goal by the end of the video. A little while ago, I started transforming this place by getting rid of the obsidian pillars, all of the end stone, and placing in a magical planet in the middle. To build up on this established theme, we're designing a floating dream castle out in the void with towers around and spires of raising into the skies. So, let's start from the beginning.

[00:00:43]The easiest way to construct this floating island is to start from the bottom up. As the end seems to have a very little blocks to place something on, from there begins the construction of the floating island, which in its shape and form will be somewhat like an upside-down mountain, otherwise also known as a cavern. Of course, I will make it empty inside as it would be quite ridiculous to fill it all in. For this build, I got inspired by a Dutch theme park ride situated in the Efteling. There is a dark ride called Dream Flight, and this one has a scene where there are floating castles through space, which I always thought looked absolutely magical. And when I said I wanted to recreate this in Minecraft, my wife couldn't agree more, which is always a good reason to do something. Of course, I made some adaptations to fit it in with Minecraft, and in my version, I added a floating island below it with waterfalls streaming down it to fit in better with the planet next to it. And I think this castle really translates well into the game. Building this island is a variation between complete randomness of placing blocks and keeping an overall structure to it as it should go from a few very thin middle points to support the massive weight of the island up above. Of course, not too much in the realistic sense, as this should be a dream-like castle. And dreams, of course, don't have to make too much sense. But why do we even dream >> [music] >> at all? Now, today in this video, we'll explore that topic. And well, it gets quite interesting. Of course, if you assume that I will give you the direct answer of why do we dream, I don't think that's going to happen, as we don't really know exactly. But research points to a few major theories. The most prevailing explanations are that dreaming helps your brain consolidate memories, process complex emotions, rehearse potential real-world [music] threats, and keep your visual system active in the dark. Dreams are thought to serve vital mental, emotional, and biological functions while we sleep. As for memory consolidation, while you are sleeping, your brain is working to transfer information from short-term memory to long-term storage. Kind of like cleaning up all the files that gather on the ground of your brain while awake, putting it in nice filing cabinets to later use or to later struggle entirely recounting that information, which has a byproduct that it might actually become impossible to recount that information later. Another theory is emotional processing. Dreams allow your mind to process and cope with strong emotions and difficult memories in a safe, quiet environment, because your brain just keeps replaying over and over all these emotional scenarios, so it can just [music] take away the edge from it. You've already thought of the experience, so they tend to feel more manageable the next day. There's also threat simulation. This evolutionary theory suggests that dreams act as virtual reality. So, you can see it's not an invention at all. Our brains have done it forever, pretty much. Where your brain runs simulations of dangerous or stressful situations. In the wilds, this would have helped early humans practice fight or flight responses. Today, it's not about fighting lions, but more about rehearsing for upcoming meetings, which is far less exciting, but still necessary. The last main theory is brain activation and visual defense. The brain remains highly metabolic and active while asleep. Some neuroscientists propose that dreaming is just a brain's way of making sense of random electrical signals. Another unique theory argues that dreams keep the visual cortex active during the night, defending it from being taken over, "quote unquote", or being repurposed by your other senses in the dark. As otherwise, your eyes would kind of shut down a bit for 8 hours a day, and this might, in theory, damage its capabilities.

[00:05:11]So, the waterfalls do look good and are in the right spots, but they're so dark they don't stand out against the background. I think there might be a way to make them even more magical by adding a lot of light sources around. And I think the end rods are perfect fit for that. So, let's quickly grab a few from some fortress, maybe even an elytra in the process as well, and place them in all around the waterfalls. Oh, yes, that looks a lot better. This actually fits in perfectly. The one thing that does stand out to me, though, is that all of the waterfalls reach to the bottom of the world, which looks kind of strangely. You would imagine them tapering off a bit at some point. Even though it doesn't feel more realistic, the idea that water tapers off at different heights, it does make it look more realistic. As realistic as a floating island in a void could look.

[00:06:07]Now, with the waterfalls perfectly sorted, the only thing left to finish the base island layer is to fix up all of these holes. These are the places where all the buildings up top will go.

[00:06:18]So, I will be putting in some birch planks to form the flooring. And from there, we can go upwards.

[00:06:27]So, sleep appears to be very important.

[00:06:30]So, why do we struggle with it so very much? I myself experience this pretty much every night. This condition is called insomnia, and it doesn't seem to be very rare at all. As roughly one in three adults worldwide have insomnia symptoms, and about 10% of adults have chronic, long-term insomnia, which lasts at least 3 months. Your body needs quality sleep for many reasons. And when you don't sleep enough, it can cause sleep deprivation. This can keep you from functioning at your best. It may be caused by several different factors.

[00:07:09]That being family history, so your genetics, brain differences, you may have a more active brain, or your brain chemistry differences that could affect your ability to sleep. It might be due to medical conditions, hormone changes, mental health conditions, life circumstances, etc. The problem is quite often defined by the 3-3-3 rule. This is a medical guideline used to determine whether poor sleep is just a temporary lifestyle issue or a lasting condition like insomnia. It evaluates your sleep pattern based on these three distinct criteria. That being frequency, do you experience poor or disrupted sleep for at least three nights a week?

[00:07:56]The duration, have you struggled with these poor sleeping patterns for at least three months? And the daytime impact, does your poor sleep affect at least three aspects of your daily life?

[00:08:08]For example, sleep fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, or poor concentration. To change this pattern of insomnia, it can be tackled by cognitive behavioral therapy, differences in lifestyle, and even medications. Of course, never self-medicate, except when it's melatonin, which is a pretty safe way to go if you never take too much. I personally always also imagined it to be due to all the constant noise and busyness around you. As it does not really make so much sense that mainly humans have this massive problem, and it's so widespread. As for animals, this does not seem to be the case. Although that said, it does happen in animals, very specific ones. That being our pets, and really not at all in the wild, which suggests that one of the things we are pushing onto our pets is our insomnia.

[00:09:08]But there is probably no way nature intended for sleep to be so vital, yet so difficult. But that's just my thoughts on that.

[00:09:18]To add a little bit more detail to the build, I also decided to extend this part with an extra tower and an onion domed roof up top, as they will perfectly match the fantasy aesthetic.

[00:09:30]Now, the next change that definitely needs to be made is to not make this building stand alone. That's why on the right side of the build, we'll create a magical tower next to it. This tower will be more curved in shape to give it a slightly more random appearance rather than only straight lines.

[00:09:49]Now, listening to my voice in this video might be sleep-worthy [snorts] enough to finally fall asleep. And you could just rest your head and let your dream take you on for the ride. But, there is another way to control your dreams, which is called lucid dreaming.

[00:10:05][music] It is a state of being aware that you're dreaming while you are dreaming. So, how do people go about this? Well, first thing you have to record your dreams as you cannot lucid dream if you don't remember your dreams.

[00:10:21]So, when you wake up in the morning or in the middle of the night, you could keep a journal next to your bed. And the moment you wake up, lie completely still and write down every detail you can remember. Recurring themes, strange objects, or illogical scenarios, like the very common ones of flying and missing teeth, which I both personally have never had. The second step is to practice reality checks. This is something you do during the day. A very common one is the palm check. Try to push your index finger through the palm of your opposite hand. If you do this daily, it becomes one of your patterns.

[00:11:00]And you will probably start doing it in your dream as well. And when you're dreaming, that your finger won't stop at your hand, but go right through it, confirming you are at that moment in a dream. There's another big clue to see that you're dreaming. When you're in your dream, look at some text or a clock, look away, and look back. In your dreams, text and numbers and even time often change shape or appear jumbled. It doesn't make any sense at all, and so confirming you are indeed dreaming.

[00:11:33]There's also a third option, which is to use the wake back to bed method. This technique maximizes your chance of catching a dream mid-cycle. This method is done by setting an alarm to wake you up about 4 to 6 hours after you fall asleep. Then you stay awake for 15 to 30 minutes. Do something quiet and low stimulation. Read or meditate with not looking at your phone. As you go back to sleep, practice the mild method. Now, what is the mild method? It is the mnemonic introduction of lucid dreams.

[00:12:08]This method relies heavily on prospective memory, which is setting an intention to do something later. As you drift back to sleep, especially after the break, you recall a recent dream.

[00:12:21]Mentally visualize the bizarre dream signs you experienced. Where you repeat a firm mantra in your head, like, "The next time I'm dreaming, I will remember that I'm dreaming." If you keep holding on to that specific thought as you fall back asleep, it is quite likely you will start lucid dreaming. Now, this method requires you to interrupt your sleep schedule, and I would heavily not recommend it. Otherwise, lucid dreaming seems to be perfectly safe. Not that it is confirmed to be perfectly safe, but there's also absolutely zero evidence that it might hurt you in any way.

[00:12:58]Except for maybe constantly interrupting your sleep schedule by putting up alarms. Waking up for work is bad enough as it is. Now, even though there aren't any inherent risks to lucid dreaming, what are the advantages of it? Well, naturally, nothing. Nothing at all. It's just a little fun thing to do. As in your dreams, you can do literally anything. Anything you want without any consequences. So, trying to fly is entirely not a problem, unlike in the real world. This means you can do pretty much anything there and have a lot of fun.

[00:13:37]Okay, let's take a quick look.

[00:13:39]Um, I know this looks good, although you can't really tell right now. Let's put some lights up there and look at it again. Yeah, that's looking a lot better now. Now you can definitely see the lower viewing platform, some turrets around the middle belt of it, and another viewing platform up above, definitely forming a tower, but not a very uniform and straight one, exactly as intended. Now, the building does seem to be weighted quite far to the right right now. So, let's fix that by placing in the final two buildings, which will go to the left, balancing this building out very nicely. Now, when you decide to not lose a dream, you run a risk of having nightmares. But, but why do these even happen in the first place? What is wrong with our brains? In the late 1700s, a nightmare was defined as a disease when a man in his sleep supposes he has a great weight laying upon him.

[00:14:41]Despite us describing things as nightmarish a lot, for only an estimated 3 to 7% of the population, nightmares can be a real problem. Although adults can suffer from nightmares, they are more typical in children, especially those between the ages of 3 and 6. It is thought that this may be evolutionary.

[00:15:05]As an assistant clinical professor of psychology at Cambridge has said, "Children are smaller and more vulnerable to many more threats than adults, and nightmares may partially reflect this vulnerability." Dreams are thus far understood to be recent autobiographical episodes that become woven with past memories to create a new memory that can be referenced later. But nightmares are simply dreams that cause a strong but unpleasant emotional response. [music] These nightmares are very vivid, more so than dreams regularly. And these distressing kind of dreams typically occur during REM sleep, which stands for rapid eye movement.

[00:15:52]Where eyes start moving very fast back and forth while you're sleeping. Experts believe that they are primarily the brain's way of processing daytime stress, regulating difficult emotions, and sorting memories rather than serving a harmful purpose. While there is no single explanation for why we experience these bad dreams, they are heavily linked to several common triggers.

[00:16:17]Starting off with a very common culprit, stress and anxiety. Unresolved daily worries often carry over into sleep as your brain attempts to logically sort through emotional turmoil. But in extent, also trauma and mental health can cause nightmares as a common symptom of PTSD, reflecting the brain's struggle to process highly distressing memories and emotions. Sleep disruption, like changes in sleep schedules, insomnia, sleep apnea, or general sleep deprivation can interrupt your natural sleep patterns and trigger an increase in these vivid dreams. That's why I wouldn't advise to waking yourself up in the middle of the night, among other reasons. Also, substances and medications can interfere with the REM cycles and worsen the dream quality.

[00:17:12]Then there's one reason for them that you can control, and that is pre-bedtime habits. Consuming caffeine, alcohol, or eating late nights, as well as and this is quite an open door, watching scary movies or engaging with stressful news can overstimulate your nervous system before bed. Luckily, for most of us, nightmares are just a very rare and irregular occurrence. If they become too common, there's luckily always therapy for this. As almost any reason for these nightmares comes from your waking days and so can be controlled. So, as we have learned today, you can definitely change your empty ends for it into something more magical. And also, dreams are weird, really weird. We don't understand them, only few can somewhat control them, and sometimes we can't even manage to get into them. Sleep is something we all do, roughly 1/3 of each day, and that is quite a large part of the day where we are not in control, totally helpless, and entirely in the dark about. This is something you can find beautiful or rather terrifying, but I suppose that's just something we need [music] to learn to live with. This build was a success in my opinion.

[00:18:37]Please let me know what you think. There are more projects like this one on screen right now. To get more of these videos, you can also subscribe. Thank you for watching and have a great day.