Dreams - what do they mean?

[Gucumatz]

My dreams always feel quite surreal, but I typically forget all about them within 10-15 minutes of being awake. This morning I remember dreaming about sabotaging a french family's car somehow, but I remember nothing beyond that or what I was doing in the dream.

I never concern myself over dreams, but I remember my mother used to always obsess about her dreams. Personally I think they are relatively useless for us, beyond allowing us to think creatively/have fun while we are asleep

 

[Seraiel]

Dreams are not useless. You get insane if being deprived from dreams. It's a common method of torture in some countries.

 

[Lohrenswald]

Isn't that just being deprived of sleep, Seraiel?

 

[Seraiel]

No. You got 3 phases of sleep deep sleep, rem and motorical phase. If someone always wakes you in the deep sleep phase, you only get extremely tired. What I learned at university, one must be wakened continuosly between deep sleep and motorical phase for insanity. The exact timing can be measured by an EEG for example.

It's btw. extremly nice to be awakened in the motorical phase, because then, one gets up easily and feels refreshed, reason why there exist special alarm Clocks already, that record when one moves and adjust the alarm to that.

 

[Borachio]

Dreams are certainly important to have - all animals have them - but I don't believe anyone knows what their function is.

"Motorical phase" eh? That's a new one on me.

 

[Seraiel]

"Motorical phase" eh? That's a new one on me.

It's the phase in which the sleeper changes his position. Happens about every 1.5h usually.

 

[Borachio]

Yes. So I've gathered. It makes sense. But google doesn't recognize it.

 

[Lohrenswald]

No. You got 3 phases of sleep deep sleep, rem and motorical phase. If someone always wakes you in the deep sleep phase, you only get extremely tired. What I learned at university, one must be wakened continuosly between deep sleep and motorical phase for insanity. The exact timing can be measured by an EEG for example.

It's btw. extremly nice to be awakened in the motorical phase, because then, one gets up easily and feels refreshed, reason why there exist special alarm Clocks already, that record when one moves and adjust the alarm to that.

Alright, it makes sense. Is it really dream deprivation that's the problem, though? Or just being disturbed in a sensitive portion of the sleep?

I don't think I ever dream. I occasionally have some "vivid fantasies" when I'm half awake, but I am aware of my surroundings then, and that I'm basically making stuff up.

So for those who do dream, maybe dreams only are a kind of "side effect" of the peculiar sleep state they're in (it's rem, right?)?

If I'm right and rem is the dreaming phase, there are actually some animals we know don't dream. Like banana flies.

 

[Narz]

I think everyone dreams, just not everyone remembers it.

 

[Borachio]

If I'm right and rem is the dreaming phase, there are actually some animals we know don't dream. Like banana flies.

Well, if rem determines dream phases, plainly earthworms never dream either since they don't have eyes.

I'd be willing to wager there's something about central nervous systems that require something agin to dreaming, though. So, if you've got a brain it seems reasonable to surmise you dream with it. But of course, I don't know this for sure.

 

[warpus]

Resurrecting this thread because of this stupid dream

For what seemed like hours I was writing an exam for some class that my old/ex boss was the instructor for. He was always for some reason nearby and peeking over to see what I was writing, and every question seemed answerable, but it was incredibly hard to write or concentrate on what the question was even asking or what I was even writing down.. Looking back at previous paragraphs my writing looked like random lines and doodles, but it was like I was looking at it through a haze, so I kept going hoping to get as many marks as possible, stress levels increasing with every question.. And this lasted for what felt like hours and hours.

I don't know why my old boss was the instructor, he's never been in that position in real life, just a boss I had almost 10 years ago now.

I don't remember any of the exam questions except one, but I do remember that they were from all sorts of disciplines, mainly ones I was at least a bit familiar with.

The last question I got a chance to answer, right after the instructor/ex-boss started telling me that time is almost up, was to draw the international space station. And I was like "I can sort of do this!", but it was so incredibly hard to draw, I clearly remember trying to draw the solar panels, but my attempts all turned into something a 3 year old might draw, it was hard to move the pencil, everything was hard, like walking through mud, so frustrating, and then I woke up