Learning through Dreaming

I find dreams to be quite useful. When I read that dreams have the possible purpose of making you understand events that have taken place, I was not surprised. There are several theories on the purpose of dreams. The ones that resonate with me are the ones that propose that dreams strengthen learning and reinforce memory.

I’m usually disappointed by how mundane my dreams are. I don’t dream of dragons or fantastic places. There was a time when my dreams had a sci-fi bent when I was way younger but age and utility seemed to override whatever precious bits of imagination I had left and my habit of watching too many R-rated movies at an early age. Usually dreams start in my home as if it’s a normal day. In most cases the dreams are an alternative way of experiencing how the day went. Sometimes, it simulates the future. What I find interesting is the slight changes in my personality during my dreams. I might be more emotional than I usually am or I have entirely different interests in example. The purpose of the personality change is most likely a way of compelling me to explore other possibilities of my actions.

The results naturally explain themselves and motivate me to emulate those unused aspects of my personality. A positive reinforcement example would be a better job interview turnout if I had spoken more and appeared more affable. A negative reinforcement incident would be one of the dreams where I knocked out someone I really didn’t like and had to run from obvious retaliation. If my dreams really are supposed to help me then it usually asks, “How could I have done this better?” or “This is what could have happened if you decided to do this.” It must be a mechanism of positive and negative reinforcement on my behavior, given that it allows me to explore alternative solutions or possible routes of failure. It’s sure to be flawed, being a subjective method based on no evidence, but I’m sure my subconscious tries its best. The way I interpret my dreams is that the reason that they don’t really go off the rails of reality is that the dreams are more like very deep meditations on how I could more efficiently suit my self-interests rather than sheer fantasy.

As ordinary as the dreams look from the general surroundings, I still find Jung and his archetypes are useful in describing dreams. I find the shadow is usually very relevant most of the time. I once mentioned to my friends about the time I dreamt I was at a mall and I ate an eight legged lizard in a soup. One of my friends ran it through a psychology plug-in; one using Freud’s interpretation and Jung’s interpretation regarding elements of the dream. There are many elements in a dream and much of it is considered, including the shape of the lizard, the number of its legs, the flavor of the soup, and the familiarity of the surroundings. The Freud plug-in was extremely annoying, not surprisingly relating it to sexual frustration somehow, and the Jung interpretation was more realistic. Actually I have the results here but if someone can help me find how my friend found this thing that would be nice.

Freudian Interpretation:
Eating - Fantasizing about an erotic sexual position that you have yet to try.
Lizard - You believe that you are getting too old to have sex or your partner isn't giving you the same satisfaction anymore.
Restaurant - ...A place of pleasure that you are lacking.
Legs - Personal Fetish that you wish to come in contact with.
Eight - A certain position in sex you are currently not attempting but subconsciously want to attempt.

Freudian Verdict: You are sexually unsatisfied.

Jungian Interpretation:
Eating - If eating alone, you are feeling lonely. If eating with friends, then you are enjoying your free time. If eating with family, then you wish to spend more time with your family.
Lizard - Subconscious recognition of a fear you don't want to recognize.
Restaurant - A Socially relaxing place, often related to friendship and sociability.
Legs - Multiple Legs are significance of how much load you are carrying, including work and stress. The more legs the more stressful it is.
Eight - The number 8 is a symbol of a fresh start, freedom, self validity, and responsibility.

Jungian Verdict: You are comfortable with your life, but a certain fear of responsibility looms over you that you wish to ignore but know you can't.

I thought it was hilarious how different the thing turned out. Personally I don’t feel dreams are always trying to tell you something that your unconscious feels is really important, rather, it feels more like a memory cleanup session, rather than digging up deep thoughts. Most of the time I’m just repeating events that happened during the day, and I learn to refine what I do.

The Hottest Place in Hell

Topic Seven is an interesting challenge on apathy. Absolute neutrality seems like the best of both worlds most people would probably think. I can present myself as a friendly face to both sides. Why they fight I have no idea but I probably don’t care. The only problem is that in this world, you most likely live on territory that is owned. Your feet, (if off the ground who made the plane or mined the metals for that plane?) is on tribal territory, gang territory, or government land permanently. They demand taxes or a toll. If you work and you use the land for your self-interest, someone will eventually come along and demand a share because you have just grown your food or slept on land that the owner’s constituents have most likely fought and died for. When you pay your fair share or get arrested and work for them, you have taken their side whether you like it or not. This hypothesis reasons that right now on Earth that you cannot maintain complete neutrality at all. This is an extreme reasoning, embraced by some and this is why civilians are not safe in any conflict. Such is the reasoning of some terrorists, who feel that civilians are fair game due to the fact that they are the ones that pay taxes to their enemies.

There are no actual consequences of true apathy, which would be internalized and more focus, while on the surface the individual looks like a functioning member of society. The consequences are the result of behavioral apathy, or acting out on it. People who claim they are completely neutral might be mistaken, possibly unwittingly having already chosen a side as explained previously. Within the protective community it is social suicide to declare oneself a true neutral individual, apathetic to all other beings. This is a misquotation from Dante but the true reasoning is very long, mostly about the angels who neither supported nor rebelled against God and thrown into hell anyway. “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality,” is the popular saying attributed to Dante. By withdrawing from both sides of an argument, or committing something as heinous as double-dealing, both sides of an opposition are usually quick to eliminate the third party. Often times one would be considered to be experiencing anti-social behavior. One would then be considered pariah and while not removed from society, they would instead be made an example of what is harmful to society. That is why the remedy for anti-social behavior usually is imprisonment over rehabilitation.

Is true neutrality attainable? For the individual it does not seem possible. A group with enough focus on its own self interest and beliefs has been demonstrated with is as we all know, Switzerland. Geographical qualities and the unpopular Helvetic Republic being ousted (and their overrated font) has made what Switzerland is today. It’s one of the few examples I can summon up and I doubt another similar country can be summoned up in one individual.

Given the conditions above, it would then be clear that living in apathy to others is just not practical in the least sense. Humans are social animals and they should live as such. Society at times seems like a faceless machine that we’re all plugged into but it does reciprocate. Otherwise how to we get our food, and shelter usually? Someone else has already grown the food and built the houses for us and we have to work to get the things we want. Most people can’t live in the wilderness themselves. Sure, I’m stating what consumerism is but apparently with our spending habits and how we voted; it’s what got us into the system today. We do have a choice on whether or not we want to be involved with our communities. To be labeled pariah one would have to make the foolish choice of fighting society but most people whether they think they are involved or not, are helping society in some way. Society has made safeguards so we are all potentially productive, rather than destructive.