When I was reading about lucid dreaming, especially along with Einstein's Dreams, I could not stop thinking about the movie 'Inception' and how it related to this idea of the untapped potential of the dream world.
The idea of stealing ideas, as presented in the movie seems quite unlikely, given how the brain develops ideas. However, given further reading, it appears that researchers are actually a great deal closer to creating images of the "dreamscape" than I, at least, had imagined.
There is a very interesting article on the science behind the movie (http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/29/inception-science-dreams-technology-brain.html) that is worth checking out if you have time or continued interest.
Along with our other reading, I also found an awesome article about the Yoga Vasishtha view of 'Inception' (http://www.that-first.com/show/article/yoga-vasishtha-and-the-philosophy-of-the-film-inception/). It addresses interesting links between the ideas of a yoga mantra and unique items the characters in the movie use to discern whether or not they are dreaming. While a yogi uses a mantra to bring the waking and dreaming states together to understand them as two parts of a whole, the characters in the film use special items to separate the dream state from reality.
Given Alec's discussion of the potential dangers of virtual reality, the excerpt from Lucid Dreaming, the excerpt from Tibetan Dreaming and 'Inception' (if you have seen it), do you think it is more advantageous to view the dream world and reality as two parts to a whole, or two entirely different entities? How do you think our view of the "dreamworld" has changed and may continue to change?
Instinctually I answer that our waking reality is the true reality. But it nags at me. I like many of the ideas from Indian philosophy, especially that everything on earth is maya, projections and reflections of the truth, not the actual truth of the thing. This is calming to me because if everything we observe only matters because of the meaning we put to it then we are free to define purpose and happiness for ourselves and live a life that accomplishes them. This ability to change reality by changing perspective makes life sound like a lucid dream. Thus, I do question what is reality and what is not quite a bit, but I try to not let it bother me too much.
ReplyDeleteI think the western view of the dream world has shifted dramatically in the last century. Until the end of the 19th century dreams with purpose and meaning were generally viewed as something of religious lore. People were undoubtedly fascinated by certain dreams they had, but those who took them seriously were probably viewed as crazy. However, Freud was able to approach dreams in a scientific way, and argue that dreams did reveal truths about the dreamer. Freud had many critics but by making dreams a scientific topic, trying to read meanings from them became culturally acceptable. When east asian ideas about dreams were brought to west in the mid 20th century continuing to present the writings began to be viewed not as mysticism but as pre-scientific-method studies of the mind, and have been taken seriously as well. Though again, not without critics
I think our view of the importance of the dream world will continue to grow. The very interesting Forbes article indicates that we are getting closer to being able to observe the dreams of dreamers directly. Just as the microscope allowed us to observe the previously unseen world of cells and microbes and then discover how crucial they are to our existence, if technology allows us to observe dreams then doubtless we will find importance we could not have imagined.
Richard, Freud built his ideas upon well-accepted ideas in the Jewish/Yiddish community. Actually Interpretation of Dreams has as a direct foundation on a number of previous texts. I think what Freud did was to bring such ideas into the realm of science, in particular early psychology. See e.g. Artemidorus' book Oneirocritica or Rabbi Shelomo Almoli, 1515.
DeleteI think in answering your question, should we separate the two worlds or link them together, it is first important to question the role of the two worlds. What are the benefits from linking them, and what are the benefits from keeping them separate? I think Alec poses an interesting concept for keeping them separate, although I don't personally think dreaming and virtual reality are the same thing. Close, but they have important distinctions that keeps them different.
ReplyDeleteIn pondering the answer to these questions, it becomes clear that dreaming is an inherently personal interaction with reality. Your dreams are your own, and even if close friends or enemies are in your dreams they are not experiencing them with you. (Some people might have experienced a tangible connection with someone during a dream, but I'm not quite sold on the physical explanation between such a connection.) Assuming our dreams are personal, I'm not sure there is a need to define a strict pattern for how dreams interact with our lives. For some, dreams might have a huge impact on the way their live is lived in the physical world, and for others it may have zero impact.
And this is okay. In last week's readings it was clear that there are definite benefits to lucid dreaming. This interaction in the dream world has strong implications for the physical world. However, I don't think there should be any negative stigma associated with those who choose to ignore the dream world. We may spend about as much time in the dream world as the physical world, but the lack of connections between parties makes the dream world uniquely different than the physical. Combining the two in any sense larger than a personal level will prove incredibly difficult.
A world where decisions are based on the collective dream state is an interesting thought experiment however...