Dreaming of Video iPods and Man-Machines
Posted by Stuart at 04:12 PM on October 08, 2005Why is it that some people dream a lot, and others don't seem to dream at all? I am in the former camp. Almost every morning I wake up with the emotions of my dreams from the night before fresh in my head. And my dreams are all over the map. Sometimes I wake up sad, sometimes scared, sometimes laughing. Is that strange?
For example this week I had a dream about the new Video iPod that is rumored to be released next week by Apple. I've been reading news articles about people guessing what Apple will actually release. I guess it made such an impression on me that it ended up in my dreams, and believe me, I was very excited to be the proud owner of such a cool new toy.
Not all dreams are that benign, however. A few nights before that, I dreamed that my bones and muscles in my right hand and in both legs had been replaced by machines. I don't know if it was more along the lines of Luke Skywalker's hand, or the Six Million Dollar Man. Or if I was just thinking about Ray Kurzweil's theory that man and machine will be converging soon.
In any case, it wasn't a very pleasant experience. At first I thought that being part-machine was kind of cool, but then I started freaking out when I realized that someone could remotely control my actions through my machine legs and hand. And then it got worse. Something started to malfunction and I started feeling a light, but continuous zapping shock in my hand. It started getting worse and worse. It was as if I was sticking my finger in a low-power electrical outlet.
I was ready for this little experiment to be over, and I demanded that the machine be taken out. Unfortuately though, I was told that it was too late. The nerves had already been cut and the change was now permenent. No solution to my electrical malfunction was given.
And then I woke up, still quite upset.
(Any dream interpreters out there? I'm sure you can have a field day with that one!)
Could it be that remembering dreams is genetic? All my growing up years, we as a family would share our dreams at the breakfast table. Although I have had very strange dreams, pleasant dreams, violent dreams, etc, etc, I've never dreamed that I was part machine and part human. It seems that the more rested I am, the fewer dreams I remember, and the ones I do remember are of a pleasant nature. I wrote a term paper in high schools on dreams. It is my opinion that if one thinks about what one has seen, what one has heard, what one has done, and what one has been thinking about, one can usually figure out why certain elements are in a dream. For years I have had dreams in which I am flying. Finally, I figured out that the flying was directly related to my not being able to come to terms with something that was bothering me, something I couldn't figure out. The flying dreams stop with I come to some resolution about whatever it was that caused me to be in that state of mind. So, when I start having dreams about flying, I just figure out what I am concerned about, work on finding the solution or at least peace, and then, the flying dreams stop.
I think that it's probably from your subconscious trying to figure out what it would be like, or how you would percieve being half human half machine ... and then the fear of this happening in our life-time here on earth.
I agree with mom, that the more that is on my mind with work, personal, pleasure, creative, logical, analytical, etc., the more whacked out my dreams are. They may be pleasant, but highly creative, and extremely active, with a plot that has twists and turns. Or they maybe disturbing, and dark, and fearful or apprehensive, or "what would I do if ....".
The more I exercise, and the healthier I am .... the less tension and stress in my life. All which leads to either knocked out sleep, where I don't remembr any dreams, or dreams with more color that are pleasant and happy.
Love you!!
Yeah...catching a "virus" will definitely acquire a more layered meaning when we are cyborgs!