Dreams and genius

[quickquestion]

Dreams are one of the only things keeping from committing suicide. I cannot go out walk to the park, or go to the shopping mall and feel enjoyment like I used to as a child, because in the back of my mind I know noone will ever love me.

 

In my dreams I think of these amazing, beautiful scenery and amazing songs and modifications of other songs and combining them into other songs. And in my dreams I have friends and am slightly popular. And when I sing I sing my heart out and I dont care if anyone judges me, sometimes in my dreams I yell at the top of my lungs when someone gives me a hard time. In my dreams my songs are a mix of Adagio Dazzle, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and other amazing musicians.

 

But when I wake up, I forget all of these beautiful musics I created. It's weird, it's like another part of me is still inside the dream, in the past, that knows how awesome the dream was, but the conscious part of me cannot really remember the dream, but there is another part of me still experiencing the dream.

 

Also, in some of my dreams I think of beautiful game ideas, and equations, inventions, and solutions to physical problems. But when I wake up, I go back to my normal self, that can't sing and that noone likes, and I forget the equations.

 

I am wondering what the evolutionary reason why the brain forbids access to it's own genius. It doesn't make any sense...if my brain gave me access to my own creative potential, I would be more popular, have more wealth, riches, and health, and greater reproductive access. But my brain would rather let me live a life of wasted potential and deny me access. I don't get it.

Edited April 18, 2017 by quickquestion

[Raider5678]

Dreams are one of the only things keeping from committing suicide. I cannot go out walk to the park, or go to the shopping mall and feel enjoyment like I used to as a child, because in the back of my mind I know noone will ever love me.

 

In my dreams I think of these amazing, beautiful scenery and amazing songs and modifications of other songs and combining them into other songs. And in my dreams I have friends and am slightly popular. And when I sing I sing my heart out and I dont care if anyone judges me, sometimes in my dreams I yell at the top of my lungs when someone gives me a hard time. In my dreams my songs are a mix of Adagio Dazzle, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and other amazing musicians.

 

But when I wake up, I forget all of these beautiful musics I created. It's weird, it's like another part of me is still inside the dream, in the past, that knows how awesome the dream was, but the conscious part of me cannot really remember the dream, but there is another part of me still experiencing the dream.

 

Also, in some of my dreams I think of beautiful game ideas, and equations, inventions, and solutions to physical problems. But when I wake up, I go back to my normal self, that can't sing and that noone likes, and I forget the equations.

 

I am wondering what the evolutionary reason why the brain forbids access to it's own genius. It doesn't make any sense...if my brain gave me access to my own creative potential, I would be more popular, have more wealth, riches, and health, and greater reproductive access. But my brain would rather let me live a life of wasted potential and deny me access. I don't get it.

In dreams, anything is possible.

Those equations could be meaningless nonsense, and you wouldn't know it.

[quickquestion]

In dreams, anything is possible.

Those equations could be meaningless nonsense, and you wouldn't know it.

That may be the case.

However, the music was very good. So why would my brain be limiting my musical potential and damping my social capacity? Humans evolved as social animals, so why would the brain limit my musical ability, which in turn would dampen my social success.

[DrP]

I can play the piano quite well in my dreams... whenever there is a piano in my dreams I can sit down and play away with some cool jazz - it all seems very natural to me until I awake and find a real piano.

 

I once wrote a song in my sleep. I dream't I heard the song coming out of a music shop.. my Dad, who was also in the dream, said 'they are playing your song'.... when I woke up I wrote down the words to it and put the guitar chords to it in the sorta key/feel it had in the dream. Only happened once though, but I still have the song in my songbook as a song I wrote.... I am feeling a little guilty now because I am not sure if I wrote it in my sleep or heard it and remembered it or something... I have never heard the song from anyone else though.

 

 

(PS - I'm talking about quite lucid dreams here - not the random weird ones)

Edited April 18, 2017 by DrP

[quickquestion]

I can play the piano quite well in my dreams... whenever there is a piano in my dreams I can sit down and play away with some cool jazz - it all seems very natural to me until I awake and find a real piano.

 

I once wrote a song in my sleep. I dream't I heard the song coming out of a music shop.. my Dad, who was also in the dream, said 'they are playing your song'.... when I woke up I wrote down the words to it and put the guitar chords to it in the sorta key/feel it had in the dream. Only happened once though, but I still have the song in my songbook as a song I wrote.... I am feeling a little guilty now because I am not sure if I wrote it in my sleep or heard it and remembered it or something... I have never heard the song from anyone else though.

 

 

(PS - I'm talking about quite lucid dreams here - not the random weird ones)

Well the songs in my dreams are variations of other songs. For instance, I sung "Battle of the Bands" but totally changed the notes and harmony and put a Phil Collins moody spin on it. Are your dreams like that? If so, you shouldn't feel guilty about it, they are truly unique masterpieces.

Some of my dream music is totally original though.

They have a video on Savants that says after brain damage, savants can be born. It seems like the brain is purposely limiting it's actual potential for some reason.

[DrP]

No - this song was a real song with lyrics. I'll find them when I get home. The guitar chords carry the tune I heard in the dream. (which being fair are a pretty simple Am to D changes with a break to G and C in the chorus, then back to the chilled out Am to D changes for the main verses). It was called 'Fool Love'.... and as far as I remember it sounds like it did in my dream (apart from I remember there being female backing vocals in the dream).

[dimreepr]

Dreams are one of the only things keeping from committing suicide. I cannot go out walk to the park, or go to the shopping mall and feel enjoyment like I used to as a child, because in the back of my mind I know noone will ever love me.

 

Teenage angst can be overwhelming, but don't worry you'll get better.

No - this song was a real song with lyrics. I'll find them when I get home. The guitar chords carry the tune I heard in the dream. (which being fair are a pretty simple Am to D changes with a break to G and C in the chorus, then back to the chilled out Am to D changes for the main verses). It was called 'Fool Love'.... and as far as I remember it sounds like it did in my dream (apart from I remember there being female backing vocals in the dream).

 

Was the radio on when you woke?

[quickquestion]

 

Teenage angst can be overwhelming, but don't worry you'll get better.

I'm not a teenager, and my anger has only gotten more extreme as I get older.

 

 

No - this song was a real song with lyrics. I'll find them when I get home. The guitar chords carry the tune I heard in the dream. (which being fair are a pretty simple Am to D changes with a break to G and C in the chorus, then back to the chilled out Am to D changes for the main verses). It was called 'Fool Love'.... and as far as I remember it sounds like it did in my dream (apart from I remember there being female backing vocals in the dream).

Well the song in my dream I had last night was the same lyrics as "Battle of the Bands", but I totally changed the notes completely, it was sublime.

Edited April 18, 2017 by quickquestion

[dimreepr]

I'm not a teenager, and my anger has only gotten more extreme as I get older.

 

We all grow up differently.

[DrP]

QUOTE: "Was the radio on..."

 

No Dim, it wasn't - I was away at a conference and was in halls accommodation. I had thought that I might have heard it the day before somewhere on maybe on the radio whilst sleeping, but I have looked it up and the lyrics 'seem' original to me. I have written other songs, so I don't think it was impossible that I just had a creative moment in my sleep. I wrote it down because I was going through a song writing phase and was looking for lyrics for new songs. I've never found the lyrics on the net, or the title of the songs (although the music is pretty bog standard).

[dimreepr]

QUOTE: "Was the radio on..."

 

No Dim, it wasn't - I was away at a conference and was in halls accommodation. I had thought that I might have heard it the day before somewhere on maybe on the radio whilst sleeping, but I have looked it up and the lyrics 'seem' original to me. I have written other songs, so I don't think it was impossible that I just had a creative moment in my sleep. I wrote it down because I was going through a song writing phase and was looking for lyrics for new songs. I've never found the lyrics on the net, or the title of the songs (although the music is pretty bog standard).

 

If you're consciously able to write songs, I see no reason why you couldn't write one in your dreams; if you claimed the latter without the former, I'd look for external influences.

[Velocity_Boy]

Well, it seems to me you're claiming that your dreams and the things you create in them, like music, are true genius. And not, as almost all neurologists and psychiartrists claim insofar as the nature of dreaming is concerned, merely the imagery that is emitted into your waking memory from your brain's filing activity of the previous night. Dreams come from when thre brain takes new memories and experiences and thoughts from the day past and tries to find the best place to file them into your short and long-term memory banks.

 

It would be cool if dreams DID represent our sobconscious and its secret agenda and attempts to communicate with us, as some of the early Psycho-analysts like Freud and Jung believed, but there is simply not any evidence of that being the case. Much less proof. Very few professionals in the field any longer give credence to that notion.

 

Your brain--more accurately, your mind--does not try to prevent you from accessing your full potential, or any hidden genius you feel you might harbor. Rather, IF this genius exists, its always ready to be annexed, and all you need to do is exercise self-discipline and commit time to accessing it. Some dedication and time is often needed. A true attempt must be made. The vagaries and distractions and egoisms--the daily mental detritus--must be swept away.

 

Meditation helps us do this. But alas, that too takes practice for it to be effective and render positive results.

 

And its perfectly OK, hell, it is by far the NORM, to enjoy and revel in your creative attempts, even if they are nowehre close to true genius. Ninety percent of us who enjoy dabbling in the various arts are most decidedly in this camp.

[quickquestion]

Well, it seems to me you're claiming that your dreams and the things you create in them, like music, are true genius. And not, as almost all neurologists and psychiartrists claim insofar as the nature of dreaming is concerned, merely the imagery that is emitted into your waking memory from your brain's filing activity of the previous night. Dreams come from when thre brain takes new memories and experiences and thoughts from the day past and tries to find the best place to file them into your short and long-term memory banks.

 

It would be cool if dreams DID represent our sobconscious and its secret agenda and attempts to communicate with us, as some of the early Psycho-analysts like Freud and Jung believed, but there is simply not any evidence of that being the case. Much less proof. Very few professionals in the field any longer give credence to that notion.

 

Your brain--more accurately, your mind--does not try to prevent you from accessing your full potential, or any hidden genius you feel you might harbor. Rather, IF this genius exists, its always ready to be annexed, and all you need to do is exercise self-discipline and commit time to accessing it. Some dedication and time is often needed. A true attempt must be made. The vagaries and distractions and egoisms--the daily mental detritus--must be swept away.

 

Meditation helps us do this. But alas, that too takes practice for it to be effective and render positive results.

 

And its perfectly OK, hell, it is by far the NORM, to enjoy and revel in your creative attempts, even if they are nowehre close to true genius. Ninety percent of us who enjoy dabbling in the various arts are most decidedly in this camp.

By genius I mean my songs were sublime masterpieces better than even 70's genesis.

But in my waking hours, my songs are only slightly better than mediocre.

I don't know whether or not meditation will help, I just know lots of people who meditate who have no taste in music.

[dimreepr]

I don't know whether or not meditation will help, I just know lots of people who meditate who have no taste in music.

 

Meditation always helps, and sometimes I found the same state when listening to music, but it doesn't change who you are.

[Manticore]

And not, as almost all neurologists and psychiartrists claim insofar as the nature of dreaming is concerned, merely the imagery that is emitted into your waking memory from your brain's filing activity of the previous night. Dreams come from when thre brain takes new memories and experiences and thoughts from the day past and tries to find the best place to file them into your short and long-term memory banks.

If that is true, then I must have had some very strange days that left no conscious memories whatsoever.

[DrmDoc]

I am wondering what the evolutionary reason why the brain forbids access to it's own genius. It doesn't make any sense...if my brain gave me access to my own creative potential, I would be more popular, have more wealth, riches, and health, and greater reproductive access. But my brain would rather let me live a life of wasted potential and deny me access. I don't get it.

 

You're asking, if I understand correctly, what is the evolutionary basis for an extraordinarily insightful experience--dreaming--that is difficult to recall in detail upon waking? Many years ago, my extraordinary dream experiences led me to neuroscience, which was where I found many of the answers I sought. What I sought uppermost was a clear and cogent answer to why we dreamed. I quickly learned that the answer I sought resided in how our brain evolved rather than in any particular functional study or collective neurophysiological work. If you want to know why we dream, you'll have to first uncover why we sleep because dreaming occurs amid sleep.

 

Sleep is mediated by the most basic and primitive aspects of brain function and it likely evolved as a means to conserve energy during periods of rest and between periods of feeding. As it has evolved, every aspect of the sleep process serves the metabolic needs of brain and body at rest. Although dreaming arises amid sleep, our brain actually isn't sleeping while dreaming. Our brain is the largest consumer of our body's energy uptake (about 20%) and that uptake doesn't stop when we sleep. The metabolic needs of our brain in sleep causes arousal in the brain and that arousal precipitates dreaming. Our dream content is primarily a synthesis of the mental and subtitle physical perceptions we experience during the sleep process. For no other reason, we dream because our brain requires energy even in sleep; however, why some dreams are hard to remember in detail is another matter.

 

Succinctly, our animal ancestors evolved memory concurrent with experiences that had a real physical/material impact on their survival. Dreams are not real physical/material experiences and, therefore, do not conform to the evolved nature of memory. Our dreaming brain is able to make that real vs. unreal physical/material distinction although we may not be aware of that distinction while dreaming. Consequently, dreams are hard to remember because they are not real experiences. Interestingly, our dreams become more memorable the more we consider their content vital to our conscious experience.

[Manticore]

You might remember your dreams as profound, but it does not mean they really are...

 

Here is an extended excerpt from an 1870 lecture by Oliver Wendell Holmes which was published in 1879

 

I once inhaled a pretty full dose of ether, with the determination to put on record, at the earliest moment of regaining consciousness, the thought I should find uppermost in my mind. The mighty music of the triumphal march into nothingness reverberated through my brain, and filled me with a sense of infinite possibilities, which made me an archangel for the moment. The veil of eternity was lifted. The one great truth which underlies all human experience, and is the key to all the mysteries that philosophy has sought in vain to solve, flashed upon me in a sudden revelation. Henceforth all was clear: a few words had lifted my intelligence to the level of the knowledge of the cherubim. As my natural condition returned, I remembered my resolution; and, staggering to my desk, I wrote, in ill-shaped, straggling characters, the all-embracing truth still glimmering in my consciousness. The words were these (children may smile; the wise will ponder): “A strong smell of turpentine prevails throughout.”