[General Battuta]

On death being horrifying: I try not to dwell on it, and suggest you don't either, Hader.

I try not to, but I think it's because I'm more a present and future kind of guy, I guess. I don't let the past chain me down like most humans seem to.

teenager declares superhumanity

[Mongoose]

Film at 11.

[IceFire]

Why do we sleep, and why do we dream?

Our bodies need sleep to rest, repair damage, recharge and our brains need the same thing to do the computer equivalent of a good defrag and file storage optimization. Dreaming is a result of that as well. The way I understand it... our brain runs simulations all night of various scenarios. Some are pretty mundane and others are totally outlandish. I read somewhere that if we have dreams about certain situations we're usually faster to respond if elements of that actual situation happens to us.

On a slightly odd note... I'm fairly certain that hamsters have dreams as well. We used to have them and on rare occasion we'd hear them cry out as if they were being attacked. You'd check on them and they would be fast asleep. If only hamsters could talk. Pretty sure most mammals work similarly.

[watsisname]

I think my kitty has dreams.  It's adorable because he'll start chittering and twitch his whiskers. :3

I'm curious about the different theories for how/why we dream because this has implications for what happens when we induce lucid dreams.  If dreams are simply the brain processing or defragmenting memories, then one might imagine that LD's could have a negative impact on that process by "breaking the intended routine".  On the other hand, if dreams are a way for us to simulate and learn/prepare for future events, then I'd think LD's are an incredibly useful tool to assist with that effort.  Indeed I like to try to use them for this purpose already, although they usually just end up becoming a HOLY **** I CAN FLY, THIS IS AWESOME dream in the end anyways.

[Polpolion]

Why do we sleep, and why do we dream?

Our bodies need sleep to rest, repair damage, recharge and our brains need the same thing to do the computer equivalent of a good defrag and file storage optimization. Dreaming is a result of that as well. The way I understand it... our brain runs simulations all night of various scenarios. Some are pretty mundane and others are totally outlandish. I read somewhere that if we have dreams about certain situations we're usually faster to respond if elements of that actual situation happens to us.

On a slightly odd note... I'm fairly certain that hamsters have dreams as well. We used to have them and on rare occasion we'd hear them cry out as if they were being attacked. You'd check on them and they would be fast asleep. If only hamsters could talk. Pretty sure most mammals work similarly.

The two theories I've heard are IIRC the psychodynamic theory and some other random thing theory. The former basically says that dreams are a mental safeguard to help protect your conscious from your subconscious while sleeping or something silly like that, and that dreams are like an outlet for repressed desires (or really any kind of desire that involves the subconscious, repressed or not). The problem with this theory is nightmares and things like that. The latter theory is where there are electrical impulses or some **** generated randomly in the Pons, and dreams are an attempt to attach a meaningful story to them. The problem with this theory would be recurring dreams/themes in dreams. There may have been a third that was discussed in my psych class, but I forget what it was. Either way, I'm pretty sure that neither of these theories are entirely true.

[General Battuta]

I really don't want to sound like a tool here, but your psychology classes are not teaching the science of psychology. Neither of those theories sound like rigorous, data-driven science.  

So yes, you're right to be skeptical. Dream theories I've been taught tend to be much more utilitarian, with a lot of talk about rehearsing motor programs and cognitive schema, or stress relief by something called pattern expectation fulfillment. They may be methods of simulation to help prepare the brain, or rehearsals of lessons learned.

[Polpolion]

I really don't want to sound like a tool here, but your psychology classes are not teaching the science of psychology. Neither of those theories sound like rigorous, data-driven science. 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Intro to Psychology isn't a science class, and only tried to be one for the first two lectures.

(but to be fair, my description doesn't do what was presented justice, either )

EDIT: Here's a link to the latter theory I mentioned on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activation-synthesis_hypothesis

[Thaeris]

Psychology, I feel (if the entire spectrum of the field is considered), can be devided into a scientific element and a philosophical element. Introductory classes are more focused on the philosophy element, in my opinion. Not that there's anything wrong with philosophy, as it lays the groundwork for scientific development in a sense. However, most of us don't step beyond Phyc 101. That said, most of us can't match Battuta's training with regards to actual scientific psycology.

[General Battuta]

Activation synthesis actually did have some good scientific foundations, in some respects. I'm not up on my dream theory so I don't know how the field views it right now.

[Pred the Penguin]

I don't have recurring dreams, but I do have similarly themed dreams more often than not.
It's like I'm logging on to watch the next episode in a soap every other night.
 
On death: I've contemplated suicide before. Obviously I've gotten past it but one of the lasting benefits is that I'm not really scared of death anymore. If I died... well I wouldn't be around to care anymore would I? But I'm not stuck in past either...
On a more on-topic note though, I do have those weird dreams where I die. Anyone else have similar experiences?

PS Fish don't dream... apparently they don't even have something like sleep. O_o

[ssmit132]

The only dream in a while in which I remember "dying" was one where I was buried in a collapsing building and ended up in some form of limbo. It was a bit disconcerting, although I found it slightly amusing for the fact that it was Kevin Rudd who pulled the roof down (no idea why I dreamt that ).

Although a few days ago I had a weird one where I was dodging these black and gold cleavers being thrown by a crazy and irate Asian chef... that was rather scary because I was expecting to feel the next cleaver becoming imbedded in me...

[Klaustrophobia]

i rarely dream.  when i do, about half the time all i can remember is that i was dreaming and if it was generally good.  the other half of the time....

no comment.

'that moment' varies widely.  if i'm passing out in class or while doing work or otherwise trying to stay awake, **** gets weird.  (this got pretty much epicly ****ed up when it happened during the origins of the universe lecture in astrophysics class).  going to sleep "normally" (ha!) i'm pretty much straight out. when i have insomnia i contemplate things or listen to music.  this typically morphs into the weird **** again.

[achtung]

I've had many dying dreams, strangely, I didn't care in the dream or when I woke up. The only time I "felt" it a bit was getting shot in the face with a shotgun. That one woke me up, and stuck around in my thoughts all day, it actually hurt.

I have a few recurring themes:

#1 "OH GOD I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I HAD THIS CLASS"
I start out sitting in class, and I realize I totally forgot about another class and I had never went, or I'm sitting in the one I never went to and I have no idea what's going on.

#2 "Wild Weather"
For some reason, I frequently witness some insane weather from a mountaintop or building. Frequently it involves numerous tornadoes tearing cities all to hell, less frequently involves floods. I always watch calmly from a distance with or without other people, then enter the fray. I always wake up shortly before I actually reach the epicentre of any storm.

#3 "Exploration"
I frequently have dreams that involve me and a group of people I know exploring mountainous areas. We always find pretty amazing stuff. I enjoy these dreams. The mountains are always the type you find in the Appalachians, a side effect of growing up there. Great adventures.

[General Battuta]

Once I had this dream where my room was an organ and the wallpaper was skin and there was muscle underneath it and clammy sweat on the walls and the shelf over my bed was a row of teeth and the sheets around me were a tongue and I woke up but the dream was still there overlaid on reality and I tried to pry the damn wet wriggling tongue off me but it squeezed tighter so I rolled off the bed and it pulled me underneath it like it was going to

[T-LoW]

You sure you drank water and not a bottle of LSD before going to sleep?

[el_magnifico]

Nah', I just can't sleep. I keep rolling in bed, cursing my luck, thinking about all kinds of things, until I just can't stay awake anymore. 4 hours later, the clock rings.

#1 "OH GOD I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I HAD THIS CLASS"
I start out sitting in class, and I realize I totally forgot about another class and I had never went, or I'm sitting in the one I never went to and I have no idea what's going on.

That, and forgetting an exam/expo/lab/whatever, are my usual nightmares nowadays. Extra points when they combine.


Dying dreams? I've had plenty of them. I swear I could actually feel some of them for a second. I actually think it's cool to be able to "feel like dying" while being out of danger.

I also remember, a few years ago, I had this dream about holding my grandmother in my arms. She had died a few days back. When I saw her face, I saw a deteriorating, rotting face. I didn't liked that one.

When I was a child, I had this terrifying and childish nightmares about monsters, aliens, the devil, etc. The thing is, I was always almost paralized. This nightmares always advanced a few more seconds each night, for months, until they finally reached an ironic, twisted end.

I also suffer sleep paralysis, though I eventually learned how to deal with it and how to avoid suffering hallucinations.

[rscaper1070]

I think my kitty has dreams.

I recall a program on sleep research where they deactivated the mechanism that causes paralysis in some cat's brains. When they fell asleep and entered REM sleep they would get up and start running around chasing things that weren't there.

[Polpolion]

Once I had this dream where my room was an organ and the wallpaper was skin and there was muscle underneath it and clammy sweat on the walls and the shelf over my bed was a row of teeth and the sheets around me were a tongue and I woke up but the dream was still there overlaid on reality and I tried to pry the damn wet wriggling tongue off me but it squeezed tighter so I rolled off the bed and it pulled me underneath it like it was going to

Body of the Many?

[watsisname]

Once I had this dream where my room was an organ and the wallpaper was skin and there was muscle underneath it and clammy sweat on the walls and the shelf over my bed was a row of teeth and the sheets around me were a tongue and I woke up but the dream was still there overlaid on reality and I tried to pry the damn wet wriggling tongue off me but it squeezed tighter so I rolled off the bed and it pulled me underneath it like it was going to

OH YEAH!?  Well in MY dream I was standing by a warm and inviting ocean, watching the tide roll in.  I savored the salty air and the cries of circling seagulls, while little sandpipers flitted nervously to and fro as the waves endlessly caressed the smooth-sanded beach.  My eyes drank their fill of the surroundings, then I sprinted to the shoreline, leaped wildly into the air, and dived headfirst to the bottom of the sandbar.  My muffled screams struggled to find the surface as the course grains of shattered rock scoured my throat, cutting short my last gasp

[Thaeris]

Once I had this dream where my room was an organ and the wallpaper was skin and there was muscle underneath it and clammy sweat on the walls and the shelf over my bed was a row of teeth and the sheets around me were a tongue and I woke up but the dream was still there overlaid on reality and I tried to pry the damn wet wriggling tongue off me but it squeezed tighter so I rolled off the bed and it pulled me underneath it like it was going to

You Sir, play too much StarCraft.