Dreams: The Nightly Reveries of Slumber

Dreams

The Nighttime Reveries of Slumber

A lot has been written about dreams. The purpose of this particular essay is to touch upon some aspects of the oneiric world that deal less with interpretation and more with the historical, if not prehistorical nature of the subject. Scientists likely know more about what dreams mean, than what they are in actuality. We also know that dreaming is not unique to human beings as any dog or cat lover will readily testify.

So other than neurons and synapses firing inside animal and human brains on the so-called subconscious level -- in much the same way as when fully conscious -- what are these sub-realities we call dreams?

One can't help but wonder how prehistoric peoples interpreted their dreams. Even earlier, how proto-humans dealt with theirs. How do modern gorillas, chimpanzees and other primates respond to the dreams they surely experience? How far down the food-chain of creatures -- and their corresponding brain structures -- do we descend until the ability to dream ceases?

In all probability, there are some lower groups of animals which represent the final boundary between those who dream and those who do not. Even this suggestion is fraught with degrees of subtlety that beg a definition of the term itself. Among those animals for whom the meaning of sleep itself comes into question -- namely whales, porpoises, and other aquatic aristocrats such as octopuses, how different or similar are their dreams compared to other ocean dwellers -- or other land inhabitants?

Certainly no question exists that homo sapiens experience dreams of such a nature that they are largely indistinguishable from a normal state of consciousness. It is this quality that may well separate humans from all other animals on Earth -- as relates to dreams.

While many people have changed the way they live because of one or more powerful dreams that affected them in an extraordinary manner, it is doubtful that dogs and cats ponder the significance of their deeper reveries. Perhaps thirst or inordinate hunger might be felt upon awakening, the result of a dream associated with food or water. We don't really know the answer to these questions, especially as they relate to lower animals. Or how significant or unimportant dreams might be to the creatures who experience them.

Do dreams possess any added survival value? Does nature select for animals whose survivability is somehow enhanced because they dream? Perhaps dreams allow for deeper sleep periods with more energy and alertness once awake. This is certainly the case for humans. In addition, so-called "REM" sleep (rapid-eye-movement) is known to play a vital role in both animals and humans.

I am extremely interested in the role dreams have played with particular respect to human development. From our prehistoric roots to the present. And while we might speculate further as to the significance of dreams in the lives of animals, such a pursuit is almost purely academic in nature.

Whereas in the case of human evolution, the relevance of dreams as a cultural influence, and their impact upon societal structures in general, seem specifically important in how civilizations function, both internally and externally. Given that religion has historically (and prehistorically) existed as a major factor in human affairs -- often the single, most important component within a society i.e. ancient Egypt, modern Catholicism -- the relationship between dreams and religion cannot be underestimated.

One can't help but wonder how dreams were interpreted by early Man. A hunter whose friend was killed the previous day, or even years earlier, suddenly reappears, fully animated, in some nether world place accessible only during sleep. How long was it before people realized that dreams were private, and not something others shared in? The speculations are endless as to what ramifications were wrought by both the best of dreams -- and the worst.

I picture a Neanderthal or some other within whose dream they were attacked by a known member of their tribe. And once awake, retaliated with lethal consequences. How often did this and similar incidents occur before people wised-up to the idea that dreams were completely separate from the "real" world?

It is known that several branches of proto-humans went extinct and that homo sapiens themselves are thought to have come precariously close to the same fate. We don't know what role dreams may have played in the scheme-of-things, but unless groups of early hominids learned to incorporate dreams into everyday life, they may have been doomed via their own nightmares.

As an in interesting aside, this scenario is eerily akin to the plots of both Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the Hollywood film, Forbidden Planet. In each case, illusions and dreams lay at the very heart of the stories, and the tragedies involved.

Because primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees, appear to dismiss their dreams as being of little consequence, not unlike dogs and cats, the inestimable effect of oneiric delusions seems to be an exclusively human phenomenon. As such, there can be no doubt that at some point in our evolutionary development, dreams took on a benign relevance that permitted the human species to survive in spite of our dreams. Regardless of the persistent denials and contradictions found amid two distinctly different realities.

Similarly, an argument might also be made that dreams led to the extinction of one or more pre-human species which may have otherwise thrived and continued to evolve. Evolution would certainly have favored those groups for whom dreams posed few or no problems. It's an interesting idea to consider. I've read where some scientists believe that not only do we possess a genetic predisposition to follow leaders, but also to embrace mysticism. That would answer a lot of questions we might ask about why people behave in the ways they do. It would go far in explaining why we so desperately seek answers to the meaning of life, and so often find those answers in the form of a multitude of religious faiths -- or beliefs in the existence of other supernatural forces.

If we imagine some early form of ourselves looking up at a nighttime sky and making the mental leap that a connection existed between what was experienced during sleep, and the visual marvels seen among the heavens, then it's not difficult to see how belief in a real Heaven wasn't far behind.

Among those peoples who shared a genetic propensity to distinguish between dreams and a waking state, the chances of their survival was greater than for those who lacked such a tendency. Translated over a period of eons, is it any wonder that humans possess such an intense proclivity for rituals and mysticism in all their myriad forms?

Fast forward to the modern-day science of computing. Work progresses with respect not only to dream analysis, but to transcribing those dreams into tangible electronic signals which can be recorded and viewed as visual movies of a sort. Still in its infancy, the ability to observe -- to eavesdrop -- on dreams would create an entirely new branch of science. Not only would psychoanalysis itself be forever changed, but certain patterns, both similar and dissimilar, are sure to reveal themselves with respect to sociopathic, even criminal "identifiers".

In terms of predictable tendencies, dream visualizations may be the ultimate lie-detector test. They would betray our innermost desires and fears, and completely redefine our present concepts of personal liberty and freedom.

Dream lucidity, the conscious recognition within a sleep state that we are in fact, dreaming, is already something that can be taught and learned with practice. Imagine what a new and important role would be the ability to not only experience more lucid dreams, but how we could then alter them in ways both for good and for bad. It would mean that dreams might never be trusted to reveal authentic truths, but only the personality traits and the inherent levels of knowledge a person possesses.

In terms of mental illness, repressed memories and the like, how significant might be the ability to make a visual record of the activities of the so-called subconscious mind? As with all such recordings, the imagery itself is sure to be highly surrealistic in nature.

As an artist, I've taught myself to be especially attentive to details within the context of my own lucid dreams. Though few in number, such dreams have shown me how little visual information is actually contained in any -- if not all -- our dreams. Each is more like an abstract painting, often with color, where only certain objects or people are recognizable. All else within the frame or field-of-view of our dream is fuzzy at best, and little more than shapeless blobs at worst.

Science is always a two-way street, so to speak. What can come out, can also go in. If we can output visual images from a brain, then we should, in theory, be able to input them. Blindness will no doubt be a thing of the past, and sooner than we might imagine. In addition, the very technology that is used to restore sight to the blind, would also possess the inherent power to create realistic, but wholly illusory experiences within anyone's brain -- regardless of whether that person was asleep or awake. Obviously a close relationship exists between synthetic dreams and so-called virtual realities.

So many of the technologies set to come online in the near future, let alone the more distant variety, will change everything. We just don't realize it yet. Well, some of us do. Not unrelated to this discussion of dreams and the recordable visualizations of same, is the topic of memories in general.

The greatest and most remarkable advancements in the fields of brain research will be the recording and ultimate duplication of every synaptic connection within individual brains. A backup of sorts, which can read the brain as a map of networked, interlaced, neural roadways -- each of which represents a piece of a thought or picture -- and then transcribe all of it into a storage device of one form or another. And as mentioned earlier, what comes out, can go back in.

Instead of brain transplants where we might replace a damaged brain with its perfect-condition, mirror duplicate, transferring the total of someone's stored information into an "empty" brain already attached to a body -- a different body -- may be a far easier task. All of which is a whole other topic for discussion. Which I've done elsewhere. I forget where, exactly.

One of the more interesting aspects I've discovered while writing many of these essays is how often they start out in one direction and then, almost with a mind of their own, move into other areas I hadn't previously considered. The process is similar to writing both fiction and nonfiction, and has demonstrated to me how so many, if not all of these different ideas and examinations of seemingly disparate topics, invariably, inevitably want to link up and form previously unexpected, unsuspected connections.

The following excerpt is from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2:

"...it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;"

In the sense that we attribute different names to everything, ignoring how physical differences are superficial, and intrinsic qualities are virtually identical, the bard may have been as much a Buddhist as a playwright. Residing within a rose is the energy of a hydrogen bomb, while likewise, contained in every nuclear warhead is a subatomic packet of seeds from which a thousand forests and a million gardens might be grown. An entire new Earth, or the destruction of an old one.

Perhaps all of us, plus a million-billion galaxies, are little more than the single dream of a sleeping God.

Awaken Amighty!
Hear the calls of those who hail Thee.
Rise from your restless slumber,
O, Creator of all.
We beseech Thee for answers,
That Thou might know our plea,
So stir from your sleep O, God,
And save us from our Fall.
Arouse and be among us, O, Lord,
Or forever set us free.