| [Return to Home Page] (February 2003) Feedback on 'Is There Meaning in Dreams?'Lucy Schmeidler (June 1999) LUCY SCHMEIDLER writes (June 1999): You ask: "Does irrationality exist in the brain? Does nonsense?" I think it is necessary here to specify what you mean by these terms. If by irrationality and nonsense you mean things with no clear connection to what we know of the real world, the answer is obviously yes. If you mean things with no connection whatsoever to what we know of the real world, keeping in mind that our own minds and mental functions are part of what we experience of the real world, then the answer is just as obviously no. I reply (August 1999): You write regarding my essay "Is There Meaning In Dreams?" (RM9). "You ask: "Does Irrationality exist in the brain? Does nonsense?"
I think it is necessary here to specify what you mean by these terms.
If by irrationality and nonsense you mean things with no clear connection
to what we know of the real world, the answer is obviously yes. If you
mean things with no connection whatsoever to what we know of the real
world, keeping in mind that our own minds and mental functions are part
of what we experience of the real world, then the answer is just as obviously
no." In the context of the essay: Nonsense (re: neural nets) = Devoid of meaningful connections and associations. Random = Unrelated to what has gone before. (ie. random firing of neurons). This relates to the issue of the possibility of some level of chaotic behaviour in the brain. (These ideas are associated by the concept of irrationality - explored elsewhere.) I'm writing these words first - but I hope to have resolved your query in "Is There Meaning in Dreams? Part 2." GERALD SMITH writes (June 1999): I now realise that my earlier comments about dream interpretation were perhaps a bit too sweeping. There are dreams which CAN be interpreted. For example, a new mother who dreams of an evil, unseen presence around her child is probably expressing her own inner fears of being unable to protect and bring up the child properly. And there can be dreams where a problem that has been going around in our mind can be resolved. Where I have difficulty with dream interpretation is where it takes the "symbols" in dreams to mean something and draws an interpretation from that. For instance, most dream interpretors will tell you that a house in a dream is actually you and that whatever happens in that dream has something to do with you. To me this is akin to astrology, clairvoyance and reading bumps on the head. BILL WRIGHT writes (June 1999): Your analysis of dreams as the waste disposal unit of the human mind is not new, but the idea is far from the mind set which most people have on a day-to-day basis. Agree that everyone carries around with them in their head a working model of the universe. Just what it is that the model is doing below the level of consciousness is a puzzle. The mystics say 'It is keeping the universe in existence', as if the whole shebang depends on collective agreements amongst ourselves for its continued creation moment by moment. If you are correct in defining consciousness as a waking dream which colours our perception of reality, then what is the difference between man and beast? Can a beast be aware of being aware? In all your speculations about Man and God, is there room for Man and Dog? Say yes to all of the above. Copyright © 2003 by Michael F. Green and others. All rights reserved. Last Updated: 2 March 2003 |