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Weird dreams train us for the unexpected, says new theory

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Post by eddie Sun May 16, 2021 12:10 am

Artificial Intelligence inspires hypothesis that sleeping human brain might try to break its overfamiliarity with daily data

Dreams can be bafflingly bizarre, but according to a new theory of why we dream, that’s the whole point. By injecting some random weirdness into our humdrum existence, dreams leave us better equipped to cope with the unexpected.

The question of why we dream has long divided scientists. Dreams’ subjective nature, and the lack of any means of recording them, makes it fiendishly difficult to prove why they occur, or even how they differ between individuals.

“While various hypotheses have been put forward, many of these are contradicted by the sparse, hallucinatory, and narrative nature of dreams, a nature that seems to lack any particular function,” said Erik Hoel, a research assistant professor of neuroscience at Tufts University in Massachusetts, US.

Inspired by recent insights into how machine “neural networks” learn, Hoel has proposed an alternative theory: the overfitted brain hypothesis.

A common problem when it comes to training artificial intelligence (AI) is that it becomes too familiar with the data it’s trained on, because it assumes that this training set is a perfect representation of anything it might encounter. Scientists try to fix this “overfitting” by introducing some chaos into the data, in the form of noisy or corrupted inputs.

Hoel suggests that our brains do something similar when we dream. Particularly as we get older, our days become statistically pretty similar to one another, meaning our “training set” is limited. But we still need to be able to generalise our abilities to new and unexpected circumstances – whether it’s our physical movements and reactions, or our mental processes and understanding. We can’t inject random noise into our brains while we’re awake, because we need to concentrate on the tasks at hand, and perform them as accurately as possible. But sleep is a different matter.

By creating a weirded version of the world, dreams may make our understanding of it less simplistic and more well-rounded. “It is the very strangeness of dreams in their divergence from waking experience that gives them their biological function,” Hoel said.


Other theories for why we dream:

Freudian theory: Sigmund Freud believed that dreams represent “disguised fulfilments of repressed wishes”, and are composed of manifest and latent content. Manifest content refers to the sights, sounds and storyline of the dream, while latent content is the symbolic meaning behind the dream, representing the unconscious wishes of the dreamer.

Memory consolidation theory: Perhaps dreams are just replays of past events. We consolidate our memories during sleep, and according to this theory, dreams are the reflection of that. Certainly, there is some evidence that specific sequences of neural firing observed while we are awake are sometimes “replayed” during sleep.

Threat simulation theory: This posits that dreams are an ancient biological defence mechanism, which enable us to practice overcoming threats. Essentially, they provide the dreamer with a virtual reality environment in which to practice important survival skills.

Activation synthesis theory: Maybe dreams are just a random string of memories thrown together. If so, they may provoke us to make new connections, or trigger creative epiphanies while we sleep.

Empathy theory: Dreams may not have evolved with a function, but gain one when we share them with other people. Similar to sharing of stories, dreams may serve to build empathy between people.

Emotion regulation theory: This proposes that dreams are constructed from our emotional history, and may serve to help us process and regulate our emotions.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/14/weird-dreams-train-us-for-the-unexpected-says-new-theory
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Post by HoratioTarr Sun May 16, 2021 12:24 am

I have dreams where I'm someone else...and that's not a fantasy, it's just being someone else.   I have dreams of going places that I've never seen on this earth, so God knows how I conjure them up as there is nothing like it that I've ever seen here.  I've had dreams about people I've never met on this earth, and yet I know them.

Freud can stick that in his pipe and smoke it.   If he were still here, that is.   No doubt he'd say I'm sexually repressed with an Elektra complex.   That kind of shit said more about him, to be honest.
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Post by eddie Sun May 16, 2021 12:38 am

Horatio, I hear you! I have dreams like those you have mentioned. I’ve also dreamt about people and then found out they died. I’ve had recurring dreams about a certain house that fills me with absolute, pure fear, like there’s an evil presence there. It used to terrify me.
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Post by Ben Reilly Sun May 16, 2021 12:49 am

The weirdest thing I ever had dream-wise was a series of dreams that started when I was around 5 and finally ended when I was about 23.

They started as a vague dream of falling, like we all get from time to time, but they became more detailed over the years until I was a person who threw herself off a cliff into the sea or ocean. The strangest part was that after I had the most detailed version of the dream, I never had it again.
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Post by eddie Sun May 16, 2021 2:15 am

Ben Reilly wrote:The weirdest thing I ever had dream-wise was a series of dreams that started when I was around 5 and finally ended when I was about 23.

They started as a vague dream of falling, like we all get from time to time, but they became more detailed over the years until I was a person who threw herself off a cliff into the sea or ocean. The strangest part was that after I had the most detailed version of the dream, I never had it again.

Sounds like a past life dream....
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Post by Maddog Sun May 16, 2021 3:41 am

I almost never dream anymore, so I'm ill prepared.
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Post by HoratioTarr Sun May 16, 2021 11:33 am

eddie wrote:Horatio, I hear you! I have dreams like those you have mentioned. I’ve also dreamt about people and then found out they died. I’ve had recurring dreams about a certain house that fills me with absolute, pure fear, like there’s an evil presence there. It used to terrify me.

Oddly, I've had that as a recurring dream. There's always a house, and always one room that holds something dreadful, some kind of presence. I get really angry with it too when it attacks me. I always confront it, as though it's up to me to get rid of it and move it on once and for all. I'm sure Freud would have a field day with me. I have a friend who has even weirder dreams...she's very psychic. My husband, on the other hand, barely dreams at all. Sometimes, I wake up and feel as though I've not slept at all.
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Post by Syl Sun May 16, 2021 11:51 am

I dream every night...last nights dream was so frustrating, I couldn't get this certain thing right, I was under immense pressure to get it right, and just when I thought I had, something else went wrong, I woke up knackered.

I have a better dream, a recurring dream, when I am with someone. I don't know who it is, I can't even see them, but I feel so loved and contented when they are near me, I fight not to wake up from it, because I don't want to tear myself away from being so close to the person.
I somehow think that when people talk about dying, and they experience an intense feeling of love, so much so they dont want to return to the real world....it reminds me of how that would feel.

I also have a dream about 'The Googly girl'....she would do well in a Stephen King horror story.
I actually think she is unconsciously based on my sister.
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Post by Maddog Sun May 16, 2021 3:14 pm

I actually had some weird dreams last night. It's almost like thinking about how I never dream, triggered me into dreaming.

I also woke up numerous times with cramps last night...
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Post by Original Quill Sun May 16, 2021 3:42 pm

Maddog wrote:I actually had some weird dreams last night. It's almost like thinking about how I never dream, triggered me into dreaming.

I also woke up numerous times with cramps last night...

How wonderful! Twisted Evil Now try thinking.

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Post by Maddog Sun May 16, 2021 3:44 pm

Original Quill wrote:
Maddog wrote:I actually had some weird dreams last night. It's almost like thinking about how I never dream, triggered me into dreaming.

I also woke up numerous times with cramps last night...

How wonderful! Twisted Evil  Now try thinking.

Rolling Eyes
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Post by Syl Sun May 16, 2021 5:36 pm

Maddog wrote:I actually had some weird dreams last night. It's almost like thinking about how I never dream, triggered me into dreaming.

I also woke up numerous times with cramps last night...

Probably if you read and write on forums before you go to sleep it's fresh in your mind.

I took Quinine for night cramps for years, the same stuff that treats malaria, it did work, but taking any medication for years isn't good. I weaned myself off it, and now scarcely get them, they are horrible.
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Post by Maddog Sun May 16, 2021 6:21 pm

Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:I actually had some weird dreams last night. It's almost like thinking about how I never dream, triggered me into dreaming.

I also woke up numerous times with cramps last night...

Probably if you read and write on forums before you go to sleep it's fresh in your mind.

I took Quinine for night cramps for years, the same stuff that treats malaria, it did work, but taking any medication for years isn't good. I weaned myself off it, and now scarcely get them, they are horrible.

Night cramps aren't a huge issue for me. I rode 40 miles yesterday, didn't drink enough water, had zero electrolytes and didn't snack along the way. I'm on a diuretic for BP which further dehydrates me. My cramps usually start about an hour after a ride and continue for several hours after.

It's one of the downsides of a hot climate.
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Post by Syl Sun May 16, 2021 7:34 pm

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

Probably if you read and write on forums before you go to sleep it's fresh in your mind.

I took Quinine for night cramps for years, the same stuff that treats malaria, it did work, but taking any medication for years isn't good. I weaned myself off it, and now scarcely get them, they are horrible.

Night cramps aren't a huge issue for me. I rode 40 miles yesterday, didn't drink enough water, had zero electrolytes and didn't snack along the way.  I'm on a diuretic for BP which further dehydrates me. My cramps usually start about an hour after a ride and continue for several hours after.

It's one of the downsides of a hot climate.  

Just drink more water....

I got my blood pressure down to 120/70, I bought my own monitor and it's been fine everytime I take it.
I thought yours was OK without taking medication.
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Post by Maddog Sun May 16, 2021 8:41 pm

Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:

Night cramps aren't a huge issue for me. I rode 40 miles yesterday, didn't drink enough water, had zero electrolytes and didn't snack along the way.  I'm on a diuretic for BP which further dehydrates me. My cramps usually start about an hour after a ride and continue for several hours after.

It's one of the downsides of a hot climate.  

Just drink more water....

I got my blood pressure down to 120/70, I bought my own monitor and it's been fine everytime I take it.
I thought yours was OK without taking medication.

Just drinking more water really wont do it. You can't get potassium, sodium and magnesium from water, and those are the elements that you lose after hours of pedaling in the heat.

In the winter, water alone does the trick.

I wish mine was fine without meds.
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Post by Syl Sun May 16, 2021 11:07 pm

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

Just drink more water....

I got my blood pressure down to 120/70, I bought my own monitor and it's been fine everytime I take it.
I thought yours was OK without taking medication.

Just drinking more water really wont do it.  You can't get potassium, sodium and magnesium from water, and those are the elements that you lose after hours of pedaling in the heat.

In the winter, water alone does the trick.

I wish mine was fine without meds.  

Watermelon juice is good, or mix those ingredients into your water.......or cycle when it's cooler. Wink
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Post by Maddog Mon May 17, 2021 12:59 am

Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:

Just drinking more water really wont do it.  You can't get potassium, sodium and magnesium from water, and those are the elements that you lose after hours of pedaling in the heat.

In the winter, water alone does the trick.

I wish mine was fine without meds.  

Watermelon juice is good, or mix those ingredients into your water.......or cycle when it's cooler. Wink

Cooler and Texas are kind of difficult.

There are a lot of products a avaliable. I just need to stock up and take them.
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Post by Syl Mon May 17, 2021 12:12 pm

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

Watermelon juice is good, or mix those ingredients into your water.......or cycle when it's cooler. Wink

Cooler and Texas are kind of difficult.  

There are a lot of products a avaliable.  I just need to stock up and take them.

You should live here for a summer....you may appreciate your hot weather more.
It's hardly stopped raining in Manchester for 2 weeks, flooding in some areas, and we were getting hard frosts till a few nights ago....it's supposed to be spring. Rolling Eyes
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Post by Maddog Mon May 17, 2021 4:43 pm

Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:

Cooler and Texas are kind of difficult.  

There are a lot of products a avaliable.  I just need to stock up and take them.

You should live here for a summer....you may appreciate your hot weather more.
It's hardly stopped raining in Manchester for 2 weeks, flooding in some areas, and we were getting hard frosts till a few nights ago....it's supposed to be  spring. Rolling Eyes

We actually have about a week of rain forcast. I'll take it because I know whats around the corner..
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Post by Syl Tue May 18, 2021 12:07 pm

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

You should live here for a summer....you may appreciate your hot weather more.
It's hardly stopped raining in Manchester for 2 weeks, flooding in some areas, and we were getting hard frosts till a few nights ago....it's supposed to be  spring. Rolling Eyes

We actually have about a week of rain forcast. I'll take it because I know whats around the corner..

Send some sunny over to us then.
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Post by eddie Fri May 21, 2021 10:25 pm

HoratioTarr wrote:
eddie wrote:Horatio, I hear you! I have dreams like those you have mentioned. I’ve also dreamt about people and then found out they died. I’ve had recurring dreams about a certain house that fills me with absolute, pure fear, like there’s an evil presence there. It used to terrify me.

Oddly, I've had that as a recurring dream.   There's always a house, and always one room that holds something dreadful, some kind of presence.  I get really angry with it too when it attacks me.   I always confront it, as though it's up to me to get rid of it and move it on once and for all.   I'm sure Freud would have a field day with me.   I have a friend who has even weirder dreams...she's very psychic.   My husband, on the other hand, barely dreams at all.   Sometimes, I wake up and feel as though I've not slept at all.  

Horatio, that happens to me. I dream so much I feel shattered some mornings.
Weird that we dream the same kind of dream about a house and a room.
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Post by Ben Reilly Fri May 21, 2021 11:06 pm

I think a lot of people have dreams of exploring a house and something unexpected happening. Maybe the house is who we are, and the unexpected things are ways in which we're surprising ourselves. A bad entity could be a negative trait you didn't realise you had. I've had dreams of a house in which I went through an often-overlooked door and found that it led to a vast, unused space, and I think that means I feel I have untapped potential.
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