Dreams!! How do we dream?

What are dreams? Nobody knows for sure! A lot of research has yielded little insight into this complex process (if I may call it that).

And Conscience… where does it lie? Which part of the brain lodges it? (That is if we presume that one of the brain’s physical areas lodges it!)

As I pondered upon these two separate mysteries of the human mind, I realized there may be a common string – an invisible link. So here’s what my brain consciously dreamed up!!

When we are awake, the conscious part of our brain controls us. It analyses… breaking up every piece of information logically. The input to our brain (I refer to the conscious part as BRAIN) and the output of the processing done by the brain are both stored in our memory unit, oops memory (Well.. the computer is but a primitive reproduction of our super super brain, right!!).

But alas, not everything can be boiled down to logic. There are intangible aspects to knowledge. These are absorbed and stored by our sub-conscious self.(I refer to it here as Conscience, not to be confused with the universal meaning of conscience.)

But as a single system- a human being, there cannot be two completely separate departments with no inter connectivity. Therefore it may be construed that the conscious BRAIN interacts with the subconscious self, the CONSCIENCE at a moment when the human being is shut out and cut off from external influence, the only time when an individual can interact with himself, i.e., during sleep. A kind of maintenance operation…. These are dreams.

If I may venture further based on this concept, dreams can be categorized into two… those we are unaware of and those we remember during our conscious interludes. The reason behind this…

As a regular and routine administrative task, the conscience conveys all the information it has gathered to the brain and most of these match what the brain has deduced analytically. These are the first classification of dreams.. those we remain unaware of. These are just a means to review and confirm that the two departments do not end up heading in opposite directions.

Well now trouble arises when there is a conflict. The brain refuses to part with logic in order to look at the subtle realities and similarly the conscience keeps its stand and denies the brain’s logic. That is the time when a human being as a whole has to exercise his will and take a decision either guided by logic or by intuition. When he is unable to resolve such problems, the two conflicting departments have a tussle and bring it to his notice. Thus dreams (or rather nightmares) come into play.

Think about it. We most often dream about things we hate to discuss, things we avoid, that we keep aside to be dealt with later. Same is the case with our fears, things we are afraid of and do not face.

But people have sweet dreams too, don’t they? Those are the issues given utmost importance by the person and consequently by both departments. These issues are highlighted. Sweet dreams are about obsessions, pleasant experiences, hopes, wishes, etc. Most often than not, after these dreams, don’t we think about whether these dreams will come true or not? The conscience has conveyed that it hopes and wishes, either for wishes to be fulfilled or pleasant situations to recur. The chances of them coming true and a realistic evaluation of the possibilities of it happening are given by the brain. There is no tussle here. There is a wish and it is evaluated. The being has now just to wait with hopes.

Hey! I do not know if all this that I have dreamed up is true or not. And I know there may be no source to verify it too. So all I can do is hope! You too! Sweet dream, wasn’t it!!