Peter on Dreams

Do dreams have meaning? I don't think so. At least, I don't think that dreams have meaning in the same way that our consciously created sentences, symbols and art have meaning. They have meaning because we intend to give them meaning, but when we dream, there is no intention. My own dreams are created by my brain, but I'm not creating them, and they don't have any intended meaning. Of course, the brain asleep is still the same brain that creates our mind, our self-awareness and our intentions when we are awake, so it's not surprising that some of the same functions are continued when we are asleep. And some of those functions might be working on bits of problems that we were thinking about during our waking hours, so it sometimes happens that dreams relate to things that we have been doing or thinking. For example, there are cases where scientists have got the answers to problems in dreams. The most famous example I can think of is Kekule, who discovered the hexagonal arrangement of carbon atoms in benzene molecules. He said this answer to the problem he was working on came to him in a dream.

This does sound like Kekule's dream had meaning, but did it? I think a part of his brain was continuing to work on the problem as he slept, and he was lucky that he woke up and remembered the answer. It acquired meaning when the awake and conscious Kekule gave it meaning; until then it was a meaningless dream that might have disappeared without trace, as most dreams do. At least, most of my dreams disappear and I never remember them. I sometimes remember for a few seconds after waking that I was dreaming, and maybe even about what, but by the time I brush my teeth, most of my dreams are gone forever, and I think I don't even remember most dreams for a few seconds. They are like little ripples that are never seen, heard or recorded by anyone. And it probably doesn't matter.