“I have a dream that one day I will stand bare-naked in front of a laughing crowd not able to escape because my legs wouldn’t let me run.” – MLKjr.
Presenting this version of an ‘I have a dream’ speech wouldn’t be nearly as effective in starting a civil rights movement as the original. On the other hand, it's much more likely that MLK literally had this dream. Nakedness in a public place and immobility are two examples of the most common dreams we have. Other common dreams include: the sensation of falling, failing a test in school, being late for something, losing teeth, inability to speak, and flying.
We often think that our dreams are wacky thoughts so obscure they must exist uniquely in our minds. As special as we may think our dreams are, many people experience the same exact dreams. Because these recurring dreams have an intercultural presence, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that evolution is partially responsible.
Most of us forget our dreams or don’t let it affect our waking life. Natural selection has favored some recurring dreams over others so maybe dreams have more significance in our lives than we think. What could be the evolutionary explanation for these dreams? Maybe those hippie dream interpreters are on to something... or maybe not.
In my opinion, the different interpretations of these dreams are useless. Our ancient ancestors didn’t rely on dream interpreters to aid their survival. The only significance that can be extracted from a dream is dependent on the dreamer’s own experience and interpretation of the dream. Different people extract different meanings for the same dream, but in each one of these universal dreams the dreamer is having a similar negative experience.
The Hypotheses:
1) Dreaming up one of these universal dreams can expose you to the emotional consequences of experiencing these things in reality. It is easy to see how an increased fear of falling or losing teeth would increase your survival.
2) Following a frightening dream you may wake up in a panicked/alert state. Back in the hunter-gatherer days, these dreams could serve as the pre-historic coffee in the morning. When danger is more eminent, a natural ‘pick-me-up’ could mean the difference between life and death.
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3 comments:
There's no particularly good reason to believe that common dreams are the result of natural selection. Cultural context is a much more plausible explanation.
topher,
I agree, but what about dreams common amongst different cultures?
Dreams common amongst different cultures are much like myths common across different cultures. Surely they have some evolutionary significance as well as maybe being a part of what Jung called collective unconscious.
And btw It's kinda obvious why so many dream of falling considering our ape monkey like nature. We surely lived a long time in trees in our distant past. Long enough that certain fears run rather deep inside our feeble little monkey brains and maybe even our DNA.
Of course Cultural context also plays a big role as who would dream of being nude in public and embarrassed and afraid because of it in a culture where nudity is accepted and or common. Like amongst us Hippies we don't care. lmao
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