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Fifth step
towards interpreting
of dreams..
After all these essential steps in understanding how evolution has gradually shaped the way different species, including man, communicate and survive, we can now move on to the evolution of communication that has led to mankind's own verbal language.
This evolution, whose hallmark is that it always retains useful adaptations, has enabled all living beings to adapt to and survive the continual transformation of their environment.
So, today, we can consider that the imagery that occurs during REM sleep certainly has a purpose that, despite all its knowledge, mankind has not yet managed to decipher. Could this be because man's evolution has taken a direction that prevents him from taking into account a function that would be obsolete today ?
Has man developed his rationality at the expense of his instinct, his verbal language at the expense of his senses ?
We could take the example of languages that have been transformed over time to the point where we no longer know how to speak the ancient dialects. We know that memory wiping is a useful mechanism which avoids verloading the memory with useless memories[cf: The role of deep sleep in memory.html].
As we have seen (cf : Dreams through the ages), every era and culture has given a meaning to dreams, but the different interpretations often contradict each other, due to a lack of means to explore this function of the brain.
For our part, we will retain just one idea : if dreams have been preserved, it's because they respond to a necessity. Science teaches us that it plays a part in memorization, but given that it involves situations, moments of communication and emotions, couldn't we consider it a form of language ?
But before we can understand it, we need to answer a number of questions :
- At what stage in the evolution of species did REM sleep appear, and why ?
- What does this mean for the species that have preserved it, including us ?
We can consider that all species are capable of exploiting reality to anticipate future events and thus promote life. Man adds to this his capacity for imagination, but the shortcomings of his thinking as well as his excesses, have very often led him to switch from reality to fiction and from truth to lies, directing dream explanations towards a form of magical thinking...
Why, then, are we satisfied with abstract or fanciful explanations of our dreams ? It is unlikely, however, that evolution, shaped by the necessities of life, has favoured esoteric answers over vital requirements.
This is understandable, however, given that our brains interpret reality by analogical reasoning. The influence of culture and old misinterpretations certainly play a part in skewing new interpretations. In this sense, all theories need to be verified and, for this reason, knowledge is always incomplete.
Our work has also enabled us to grasp the duality and complementarity that exist between our unconscious and our rational consciousness. We will thus be able to propose answers to certain physiological behaviours (dreams, yawning), psychological reactions (placebo effect), reassuring ancestral interpretations (karma), but which forget to take into account a rigorous observation of the facts.
The evolution of languages in the light of ancient civilisations : (continued)
This evolution, whose hallmark is that it always retains useful adaptations, has enabled all living beings to adapt to and survive the continual transformation of their environment.
So, today, we can consider that the imagery that occurs during REM sleep certainly has a purpose that, despite all its knowledge, mankind has not yet managed to decipher. Could this be because man's evolution has taken a direction that prevents him from taking into account a function that would be obsolete today ?
Primitive species (reflex responses).
Reptiles (instinctive reactions).
Mammals (instinctive reactions adapted to the pack or herd).
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In humans, there are 2 competing responses: the spontaneous response + the social response).
Throughout the evolution of species, communication initially relied on the senses (vision, hearing, touch...).
In humans, social conditioning and verbal language become predominant.
In humans, social conditioning and verbal language become predominant.
Has man developed his rationality at the expense of his instinct, his verbal language at the expense of his senses ?
We could take the example of languages that have been transformed over time to the point where we no longer know how to speak the ancient dialects. We know that memory wiping is a useful mechanism which avoids verloading the memory with useless memories[cf: The role of deep sleep in memory.html].
As we have seen (cf : Dreams through the ages), every era and culture has given a meaning to dreams, but the different interpretations often contradict each other, due to a lack of means to explore this function of the brain.
For our part, we will retain just one idea : if dreams have been preserved, it's because they respond to a necessity. Science teaches us that it plays a part in memorization, but given that it involves situations, moments of communication and emotions, couldn't we consider it a form of language ?
But before we can understand it, we need to answer a number of questions :
- At what stage in the evolution of species did REM sleep appear, and why ?
- What does this mean for the species that have preserved it, including us ?
We can consider that all species are capable of exploiting reality to anticipate future events and thus promote life. Man adds to this his capacity for imagination, but the shortcomings of his thinking as well as his excesses, have very often led him to switch from reality to fiction and from truth to lies, directing dream explanations towards a form of magical thinking...
Why, then, are we satisfied with abstract or fanciful explanations of our dreams ? It is unlikely, however, that evolution, shaped by the necessities of life, has favoured esoteric answers over vital requirements.
This is understandable, however, given that our brains interpret reality by analogical reasoning. The influence of culture and old misinterpretations certainly play a part in skewing new interpretations. In this sense, all theories need to be verified and, for this reason, knowledge is always incomplete.
Within animal species, all responses complement each other to promote life.
In man, the responses diverge and compete with each other.
Mastery of the instinctive response leads to violent jolts
which encourage imaginary justifications.
Mastery of the instinctive response leads to violent jolts
which encourage imaginary justifications.
Our work has also enabled us to grasp the duality and complementarity that exist between our unconscious and our rational consciousness. We will thus be able to propose answers to certain physiological behaviours (dreams, yawning), psychological reactions (placebo effect), reassuring ancestral interpretations (karma), but which forget to take into account a rigorous observation of the facts.
The evolution of languages in the light of ancient civilisations : (continued)