Dreams: More Notes

Dreaming is such a vast subject that second, third, and fourth-order reflections occur at regular intervals. Here are three notes that I want to append to what has been written so far.

Not Telepathy. Shared Memory. When I labeled some dreams “telepathic,” I noted a dislike of the term. I don’t regret the naming because approximate definitions are steps toward better ones. Telepathic captures the sense that we are hearing or seeing something we ordinarily wouldn’t. It occurs to me this morning that dreams of this type might be explained by something analogous to Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious. There may be fields, as Rupert Sheldrake suggests, that holds all memories. We normally have access only to our own. In sleep, however, the precise linkages between our brain and these banks of memories may be sloppier; it may therefore be possible to touch other’s experiences too. In the great majority of cases, we wouldn’t notice any strangeness. My memory of going to Costco is pretty much the same as another’s trip to Sam’s Club. A dream therefore seems “telepathic” only in cases where (1) the subject matter is noticeably strange, (2) the personality who had those experiences is very differently structured, and (3) we would decidedly not, repeat not, act in that situation as this other person—with whom we are temporarily identified in the dream—acts. In this view, telepathic dreams, so-called, are simply dreaming others’ experiences. We may do that frequently but don’t notice it because the behavior we see more or less fits our own range of reactions.

The Dream-Self is Passive. The more I think about it the more it seems to me that the Self in a dream resembles someone watching a television drama. The couch potato is passive but identified, sometimes strongly, sometimes not. It all depends on how well we like the characters. In dreams the identification is stronger. We’re not merely watching the character drive a car, we drive the car. That aspect of dreams which has to do with choices is very murky. Do we actually make choices or is it something that we seem to do. In dreams I never reflect. When reflection kicks in, good-bye dream. If I acted from my own considered reflection, I would not do stupid things in dreams, thinking in the dream itself, “That’s utterly stupid. I wouldn’t do that.” Such thoughts, of course, come just before I wake up.

Active Elements in Dreams. Contrary to what I just said are instances where we seem to be actively shaping the dream. In a dream I wanted to cut a clipping from a sheet of paper. I needed scissors. Sure enough, scissors appeared on a desk surface where they were definitely absent a moment ago. Quite often when I dream of falling, I slow the fall down before I land on my feet. These are quite possibly cases where the real Self is just about to return to consciousness and therefore becomes a real agent in the dream. After the scissors came, and I “noticed” their miraculous appearance—and after those cases of “slowing down the fall,” awakening is rapid.