Yes, Kriston good point. I was thinking more along the lines of Camus:
"Camus' ideas on the Absurd
In his essays Camus presented the reader with dualisms: happiness and sadness, dark and light, life and death, etc. His aim was to emphasize the fact that happiness is fleeting and that the human condition is one of mortality. He did this not to be morbid, but to reflect a greater appreciation for life and happiness. In Le Mythe, this dualism becomes a paradox: We value our lives and existence so greatly, but at the same time we know we will eventually die, and ultimately our endeavours are meaningless. While we can live with a dualism (I can accept periods of unhappiness, because I know I will also experience happiness to come), we cannot live with the paradox (I think my life is of great importance, but I also think it is meaningless). In Le Mythe, Camus was interested in how we experience the Absurd and how we live with it. Our life must have meaning for us to value it. If we accept that life has no meaning and therefore no value, should we kill ourselves?"
HOWEVER,
"What still had meaning for Camus is that despite humans being subjects in an indifferent and "absurd" universe, in which meaning is challenged by the fact that we all die, meaning can be created, however provisionally and unstably, by our own decisions and interpretations."
-Wikipedia
Camus is considered within the realm of existentialist, although he had stated that he is not. The connection lies within the idea of reality as perception that is fluid and everchanging-Dreamlike, if you will!
So maybe what I saw was some complex existential anxiety coming through the questioning of -is the dream the life or is the life the dream- of course I'm paraphrasing what the young man said, I could be way off.
In any event, it's pretty clear that I need to get a life!
And I wouldn't recommend existentialism or nihilism to that age group!
