events into existing memory systems, all within the “safety” of sleep. Dreams, according to Hartmann, accomplish this function by creating connections between new and old memories that are broader and looser than connections made during wakefulness.
Another recalled “just hearing the music” that played in the background while they had been exploring the maze. This is not a trivial task. Our brains store immense amounts of information in an unbelievably complex collection of interlocking neural networks. Related memories are physically connected so that activation of any memory in the network will tend to activate others in that network. How the brain decides to file new information—into exactly which networks it will link a new memory—determines whether and when this new information will come to mind during subsequent wakefulness.
From our perspective, the bizarreness of many dreams is simply a predictable consequence of weak, and hence unexpected, associations being incorporated into the dream narrative. Waking from the dream, Bob told his wife about it, and she suggested that the dog lab had clearly aroused his fears of mortality. And where were these fears greatest? For his child Jessie, of course. But Bob disagreed. That’s not what it felt like to him. To him, the dream seemed to ask the question, “If it’s okay to do this to a dog, why isn’t it okay to do it to Jessie?” Of course, both explanations were reasonable.
Of course, not all dreams are straightforward. It’s often a real stretch to identify any connections between our dream content and what happened that day or at any point in the past.
Great article. Thankyou for free access.
Good article. I often take my dreams too seriously. Particularly when they are ominous or frightening.
Obviously not written by a psychoanalyst. There are so many ways to look at the communicative value and meaning of dreams. To say ONLY that they are predictive or wish-fulfillment emblems is narrow and simplistic. Can you be more broad minded?
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