Dreams
I have put this off for far too long...To Ali. if you read this, know that your blog inspired it. I've thought long about dreams. too long.
Why do men dream? why do people fantasize about the parallel dimension of what could be? what does it mean to dream? what is a dream?
People use the word 'dream' without realising the power it contains. just imagine, so many famous people throughout history accomplished so much with little more than their bare hands and a dream. Bill Gates. Alfred Nobel. Mahatmas Ghandi. Napolean. Alexander. Qin Shi Huang. They would all of them be but no different from you or me except for the simple fact that there lay in their minds a dream so powerful, so wondrous, that they were compelled to achieve it.
One could see a dream as a cerebral function that can be explained by science and evolution. Several millenia ago, our ancestors developed consciousness. (see my post on Artificial Intelligence) They could, within the endless confines of their head, place themselves inside a scenario with models based on their observations. Activities like hunting and surviving a predatory attack can be 'saved' into their memory, such that when the time comes they know how to escape from a rhinoceros with a head cold.
Why am i telling you about consciousness all over again? because i believe that the brain never truly rests, even at night. The consciousness still operates, in the form of dreams. every night as the body shuts down the brain takes count of the events of that day, burning into memory key features of the day that were essential for survival, such as new sources of food and predator movement. Then the brain takes this new-found information and creates even more scenarios. such a skill has not been lost, and today we still dream, although probably not about falling off the tree you're sleeping in.
Dream-reality conjuncture? it is not impossible for dreams to seem so real that you could swear they were actually real. the brain can create several scenarios in the confines of one night. some may make sense, like dreaming about being late for school, and some may seem totally unreal, like when alien dinosaurs invaded your brain and a rogue battleship killed them all off. the possibilities for creating scenarios are limitless, and it is precisely because of this unlimited freedom that dreams seem surreal most of the time. everything depends on the accuracy of information the models are based on. but when the consciousness hits the right mark, dreams can seem so real that they can blur the line between fantasy and reality. when it hits the right mark, there is a chance that the dream could come true. and when it does, viola, you have your dream come true.
But that is only an unconscious effort to dream. men are born dreamers. it comes naturally to social creatures like us. people learn to dream of great things from a young age. whoever dreamt of becoming an astronaut when you were young? or owning a Ferarri? that is an example of a conscious effort to dream. It can be seen as a goal, a target to be set, a benchmark to reach. that dream you conjure could seem so real, so enticing, so worthwhile, that you would do everything in your power to make that dream a reality. at that point the dream's purpose is done. it is but only a motivator, created to help men do great things. if you cannot dream, you cannot be.
To everyone who reads this, if you have a dream you really want to come true, then do everything you can to make it reality. no matter how absurd or farfetched it may seem, as long as the dream is sound, then it can always come true. all it needs is a little effort on your part, beacuse only those who chase dreams are the ones who catch them.
And to that special someone, i dreamt i held your hand...