Dreams

 Dreams are interesting enough that they merit their own section. Dreams reflect our internal mental state, and give us a taste of situations not experienced before. I remember reading once that one purpose of dreams are to give our mind a chance to prepare for such situations, so that we are able to respond more effectively in the event that they arise.

Dreams are often memorable when they are associated with a strong emotion, such as anger, love, excitement, ecstasy, lust, hatred, violence, or fear. The emotion and loose theme that accompanies the context and events of the dream, in my opinion, matters more than the substance of the dream.

To explain myself better, I’ll take an example involving two dreams, both of which concern very different matters, but hold the same basic emotion.

In one such dream, I am sprinting down the sidewalk of my neighborhood away from a criminal who is chasing me. In another, I am hastening to complete a test at university as time runs out, and just barely finish in time; shortly after the test, when discussing with friends, I learn that there was a back side to the test, about which I was not aware until this moment.

In both situations, I’m quite sure my brain would be supplying me with the same basic emotion—that of fear. Just as I fear being caught by my chaser, I fear the result of my test, or rather, coming to terms with my poor performance on the exam.

So, why are these dreams useful to me? What is important about the dream? Practically, I think that the most valuable aspect of coming to terms with a strong emotion, such as grief or, in this case, fear. Perhaps both dreams would be valuable because they would make me be wary of the potential fear-inducing consequences of my actions, which would therefore keep me safer in my surroundings.

If the topic at hand is guilt, then a dream in which I repent severely upon the consequences of my actions would subconsciously influence my decisions to stay away from actions which I feel would cause me guilt, such as procrastinating upon my day’s work.

The very idea of a dream is elusive, because it implies that our brains not only process what is given to them, but also ponder upon the idea of perception, and proactively seek new perceptions and ideas. Perhaps the existence of dreams is indicative of the idea that we seek new experiences, and place a high value upon novel experiences, and the emotions that come with them.

Dreams can also be a source of motivation, wherein the prospect of the outcome of achieving a particular goal becomes apparent. In such a case, the experiences we encounter in the dream train our mind in such a way that we come to value or seek out a particular emotion, of which our dream has given us a taste.

Thus, I feel that dreams play a vital role in goal-formation, as well as in teaching us to follow some paths, and avoid others.