Inside Out Psychology Lesson: 4--Dreams

Text | Quarter Millet

There are several plots related to dreams in "Inside Out". The most informative passage is the way Lele wants to dream. Wake up Riley and come to the Dream Factory. The place where dreams are made in the movie looks like a Hollywood studio, and the dreams are depicted as movies with different themes, including blockbusters with multiple sequels, and movies that will only be released once. In fact, the process of dreaming is indeed very close to film creation. Most dreams are presented to the brain in the form of pictures with rich plots. Scientists have found that the state of people's brains when watching movies is almost exactly the same as when they are dreaming.

After falling asleep, our body's motor functions relax and are in a state of rest. But the brain still maintains a certain degree of alertness, periodically entering a state of easy arousal - deep sleep - easy to arouse. During this cycle, if the cranial nerves responsible for limb movement continue to work, we may toss and turn during sleep, or even fall under the bed. In more serious cases, we may sleepwalk. If our brains wake up faster and the neural awakening responsible for movement lags behind, people will be horrified to find that they cannot move. This is the so-called "ghost pressing the bed" phenomenon.

During deep sleep, those motion-related stimuli will be transferred to perception. If the brain recalls the feeling of high-speed movement, falling, and lifting, it will interpret this feeling in dreams as flying or falling from a high place. Many people will dream of running, fighting, and the like. Because the parts of the brain responsible for modifying information and controlling emotions are also resting, this experience will undergo many distortions, making the dream as vivid as a movie. In "Inside Out", this dream deformation is compared to a filter used during filming. The lack of emotional restraint will make the dream seem particularly realistic and seem to contain some special meaning. Therefore, many people have strong experiences such as crying in their dreams and soaking their pillowcases, waking up laughing from their dreams, or having particularly pleasurable erotic dreams.

If the sleep quality is good, a person will have several dreams in one night, and the total dreaming time can last for 1-2 hours. Although we generally cannot remember them, people dream every day. Some scientists believe that dreaming is a process by which the brain clears and organizes memories. It puts useless memories in a corner to be cleared, and it also puts important content where it can be easily recalled.

Dreams also have the function of regulating emotions and self-repairing. Just like many people say, "It will be fine when you wake up" or "You will forget it after you sleep." When we encounter something unhappy, we often feel sleepy and want to have a good sleep. If you can not be disturbed, the sleep will often be particularly sweet and long, and you will indeed feel relaxed and your mood will be improved after you wake up.

In addition, dreams may also serve as reminders and warnings and to balance physiological conditions. For example, when we feel cold when sleeping, we will dream of ice and snow, reminding ourselves to wrap the quilt more tightly. Some people who have been under the pressure of work and study for a long time may also become aware of their physical discomfort through dreams. If you are hungry, you will dream of a big meal. If you are too happy, you will dream of some bad things. On the other hand, if you are in a bad mood, you will also dream of happy dreams. In these situations, the brain adjusts and restores various functions for you while you sleep. a feeling of balance.

Like artistic creation, dreams also come from real life. In the story of "Inside Out", Riley had two dreams. When Lele was on duty in the dream world, she saw Riley dreaming about a new home that looked like a haunted house, dead rats, and a bear delivering broccoli pizza. So he cut off the transmission of dreams and chose a memory ball of happy emotions for Riley. In her dream, Riley recalled her wonderful experience of dancing on the ice. After Lele, Youyou and Bingbao came to the Dream Factory, the film explained in more detail how dreams are "produced". There are directors, actors, assigned plots and lines, plus a little special effects, and it becomes a dream every night. Dreams do not arise out of thin air. All dreams come from personal memories of certain events, emotions and feelings. A child who has never learned about the ocean will definitely not dream of marine animals such as coelacanths and lionfish. Although dreams can trigger our feelings and emotions, it is impossible for us to gain new knowledge through dreams that we have not learned or been exposed to. So if you put the book under your pillow, you won't dream about the content of the text, and even if you dream about it, you won't be able to remember it. In this case, the most likely scenario is that you will regret that you seemed to have dreamed about the text when you wake up.

If you remove the weird special effects, the theme of the dream is very similar. Even people from different countries have similar dreams. If you dream about similar situations with others, it does not mean that you are destined to be together. But being willing to share each other's dreams probably shows that you are closer and trust each other. The vast majority of dreams that can be remembered by us have plots that would cause us anxiety in reality.

For example, health problems of relatives, complex interpersonal relationships, and things that you want to do but haven’t done yet. For example, exams are something that most people have dreamed about. The remaining small number of dreams that are remembered may be because they are so strange that you start thinking about the dream when you first wake up, and then tell other people about it, so that it forms in your mind. memory.

For a long time, people have believed that dreams are of great significance. The ancients believed that dreams could predict the future, provide inspiration to the dreamer, or provide long-distance communication. In the Bible, Joseph interpreted a dream for Pharaoh that symbolized seven years of plenty and seven years of famine (Genesis 41:25). It is probably the most famous prophecy related to dreams. The German chemist Kekule's realization of the ring structure of benzene in his dream is probably one of the most famous dreams in the history of science. It is said that one day while he was dozing off, he saw a snake biting his tail and spinning around in front of his eyes. This picture inspired him to discover the molecular structure of the benzene ring. In this regard, Kekulé said: "We should be able to dream!... Then we can discover the truth... but do not declare our dreams before the examination of waking reason."

Until 100 years ago, in the age of psychoanalysis, Freud believed that dreams came from personal repressed sexual instincts. Jung believed that dreams come from myths, legends, and literary works as "ancient human heritage." Influenced by psychoanalytic theory, in the following decades, the cultural and artistic fields became increasingly interested in dreams. Although most people no longer believe that dreams have the function of prophecy and divine revelation, they still record and analyze their dreams, trying to find the meaning of life and their true self. In fact, these theories have such a profound impact on people's lives that the more strongly a person identifies with psychoanalytic theories, the more severe the anxiety caused by dreams.

Scientists have also done a lot of research related to dreams, but as people understand more and more about the brain, modern scientists are more inclined to believe that dreams themselves have no meaning. They are just random retrievals of memories of past emotions and events, but humans have a natural instinct to attach special meaning to things that trigger emotions. And you can neither predict the next double color ball number through dreams, nor can you learn any superb skills in dreams. If someone solves a major problem that troubles him because of a dream, he must have devoted himself to it before and accumulated a lot of knowledge. Newton's apple and Kekule's dream were enlightening only to them. For others, being hit on the head by an apple and dreaming of a snake did not make them scientists.

Although the dream itself may have little meaning, the description and analysis of dreams is still a commonly used method in psychotherapy. Because therapists can improve their understanding of clients through these content. Especially knowing what the other person is anxious about, because most people are more relaxed when describing their dreams than when they describe the real-life situations that get them into trouble.

This is particularly important for patients suffering from severe traumatic sequelae. Nightmares with the same content will reoccur, causing re-traumatization to the patient. Psychotherapists can help these patients reconstruct their dreams by understanding their dreams. Through this method, we can help them get rid of nightmares and regain a sense of security in real life and sleep.

Limited to the current level of science and technology, people’s research on the brain, consciousness, and dreams is still lagging behind. Scientists hope to visualize dreams, that is, projecting the images you see when you dream onto a monitor. But if you get to that stage, others can monitor all your thoughts. At present, it seems that we may still have a technological gap of decades or even hundreds of years from this goal. What can be achieved now is to infer your emotions when you dream based on the areas of your brain that are activated. But it’s already amazing, isn’t it?

If you really want to explore your dreams, there is absolutely no harm in it, but it may not be much different from a book club or movie viewing sharing activity. As long as you are not overly devoted to dreams, you may turn to the pursuit of hallucinations, which will have an adverse effect on people. It doesn't actually matter whether dreams have meaning or not. Meanings come from people themselves. Your realistic abilities, thinking and choices are what truly determine the meaning of your life. Dreamland, just think of it as watching a movie starring a character who looks very much like yourself.