The dream — it would not be wrong to call it a mysterious business for human beings. People have been dreaming since ancient times. Because science had not advanced far in those days, nobody could learn anything about the inner workings of a dream. Today, though, a great deal about dreams has become knowable.
What is a dream?
A dream is a kind of mental state, influenced and directed by the subconscious mind. In sleep the subconscious mind witnesses certain imaginary events, and that is what we call a dream. While it is being dreamt, though, it seems entirely real to the dreamer. Religion, science and philosophy each have their own explanations of dreams. Today we will look only at the scientific explanation. The science of dreams is called oneirology.
When do we dream?
Science has not yet been able to get very far with dreams. Sleep has two stages. They are:
1. The rapid eye movement (REM) phase 2. The non-rapid eye movement (Non-REM) phase
According to some dream scientists, people dream in the phase of sleep in which only the eyeballs move rapidly while the rest of the body relaxes (temporarily almost paralysed) — that is, in the REM phase. Since many dream scientists do not accept this, however, it is disputed.
How long do we dream?
Some dream scientists used to think we dream for only a very short time, of the order of 2 to 3 minutes. It is now known, though, that we dream all night. There is no fixed measure for it: a person may dream for a few seconds, for about an hour, or for the whole night. We dream only briefly in the first part of the night; it is on reaching the REM phase that we dream at length.
The speed of the brain
There is a common belief that when we dream the brain works fast, so that a short dream becomes very long to us and it feels as though a great deal of time has passed. But the belief is wrong. It used to be assumed back when a dream was thought to last only a few minutes. It was later found that the passage of time in a dream is much like the passage of time in reality.
Remembering a dream
Dreams can be remembered, but people forget 90% of them. To remember a dream, being woken suddenly has to be avoided. Suppose sleep breaks abruptly in the morning at the harsh sound of an alarm — in that case you will forget the dream. But if you wake by yourself, you will remember it. Even then there are a few things to do. You must not get up abruptly the moment you wake. You have to give the brain a little time. During that time, though, you must not try to recall the dream. Sit quietly for a while and it will come back to you gradually.
The colour of dreams
It used to be thought that dreams are seen only in black and white — and that is indeed what was found by testing a great many people. But after 1960 the tests were repeated and a different result was found. Now most people were seen to dream in colour. Many claim the invention of colour television as an important reason for this.
People's faces
The interesting thing is that even when you see people you know in a dream, you will not see anyone's face. The face stays blank. Everything else, from conversation onwards, will happen quite normally.
Dying in a dream
Since a dream is created out of the ideas of the real world, what happens after death is not something our brain holds. So if you die in a dream, the brain cannot work out what to show in the next part, and you will wake up. That is the scientific prediction so far of what happens when you see your own death in a dream.
That is all for today. Keep learning 😀
