It doesn't need goosing, just inviting. And, yes, what we're watching is both real and not-real. He works by crosscutting and parallel action, by implication and suggestion. One of his distinctive camera techniques is to move the cameras and have them zoom at the same time. Cameras in motion add depth to an image.
Zooms flatten the image out.
The way Altman combines the two cuts us loose from our lock on the conventional subject, and frees us to rove through the entire image at our own rate. When he does zoom to pick something out, it's usually a character trying to decide what response is appropriate. He's drawn to moments when you can't figure out how to take things. Altman has his actors reacting to more than they can keep track of. Part of the fun is in watching them try to puzzle their way through a moment.