Theories Of Dreams

“Cave of Forgotten Dreams” – Memorable

“Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” filmmaker Werner Herzog’s exclusive peek at the Chauvet Cave discovered by Jean-Marie Chauvet and fellow speleologists (cave mavens) Eliette Brunel-Deschamps and Christian Hillaire in 1994, makes a point. The more wondrous the find, the more questions it poses. This look back 30,000 years asks the really hard ones.

Following Herzog’s poetic camera through this now hyper-protected cavern in the Ardèche section of Southern France, you can’t form the inquiries quickly enough. The wall paintings are stunning, exhibiting an artistic skill heretofore thought to be attained in much later times. Who were these people? What did they think? What did they wish?

Hmm, imagine…thirty thousand years ago, all pretty much confirmed by carbon dating. Archeologists from among the select group of scientists and intellectuals given privy to the discovery theorize the cave and its drawings were preserved by a landslide that sealed the opening. Frozen in time, the pictures even include some animals now long extinct.

Coated in calcified cobwebs, bones of animals—mostly cave bears—decorate the floor between the stalagmites. There are no human remains, which leads anthropologists to speculate that our Ice Age ancestors didn’t reside here, but perhaps used the artistically festooned space for rituals. The whimsical, staring eye of a painted lion is dumbfounding.

Via Herzog’s documentary, we are invited to what has hitherto been a very private party. And, in an extreme articulation of that prissy aunt’s living room covered in clear plastic, it is shown how, to preserve the historic treasure, the most modern techniques have been blended in with the antiquity. It’s look don’t touch taken to its nth degree.

Diamond plate paths cautiously cross the floor of the long cave, extending some 1,300 feet. Carefully perched lights allow study of the approximately 300 paintings, only one or two of which depict the human form, and that still remains uncertain. But just to baffle us, there are a couple of purposely placed handprints…sort of a Kilroy was here thing.

In a voice more passionate than engaging, Mr. Herzog narrates, at first in an instructive mode. Then he mixes it up with theories and suppositions from several experts, and finally shepherds it the rest of the way in a gauzy, philosophical reverie. For now, new empirical information about this latest 8th wonder of the world won’t be coming quickly.

Sleeping, Dreaming, and Theories | Suite101.com

Sleeping and Dreaming

There are four different stages of sleep EEG that an individual goes through during their sleeping cycle (Pinel, 2007). Stage one of sleep consists of low voltage, high frequency signal (Pinel, 2007). As a person begins to advance towards stage two of sleep the EEG voltage increases and the EEG frequency decreases (Pinel, 2007). In stage two of sleep the EEG has slightly higher amplitude and a lower frequency with two distinctive characteristic wave forms the K complexes and sleep spindles (Pinel, 2007). In stage three of sleep there are occasional delta waves which are the largest and slowest EEG waves (Pinel, 2007). Stage four of sleep is predominated by delta waves (Pinel, 2007).

In addition it is important to point out that there are two different stage one of sleeping. There is the initial stage one EEG that has already been described and then there is emergent stage one EEG that an individual returns to after completing stage four of sleep (Pinel, 2007). In the emergent stage one it is accompanied by REM or rapid eye movements and by the loss of tone in the body core muscles (Pinel, 2007). It has also been discovered that during the REM emergent stage one of sleep that people dream (Pinel, 2007).

Dreaming Beliefs

Dreaming is a subject that is fascinating and not entirely understood leaving it open to different beliefs and theories. A few common beliefs have been addressed and proven to be inaccurate. One such belief is that external stimuli can become incorporated into their dreams (Pinel, 2007). Another belief is that dreams only last an instant, though research suggests dreams run on “real time” (Pinel, 2007). Still others believe they do not dream at all even though they spend just as much time in REM as dreamers do (Pinel, 2007). People also have a tendency to believe that sleep talking and sleepwalking only happen during dreaming which is not true (Pinel, 2007). Lastly there is the belief that penile erections indicate dreams of sexual content, however, this no more true than dreams without sexual content (Pinel, 2007).

Dreaming Theories

Along with the discovery of dreams came theories of interpreting dreams. One interesting theory that became the basis for many interesting stories was produced by Sigmund Freud. The Freudian theory of dreams has no convincing evidence but suggests that an individual’s dreams are triggered be improper or repressed wishes that are usually of sexual nature (Pinel, 2007).

James Joyce's Ulysses and Sigmund Freud - Bloom in "Circe" Interpreted Through Freud's Theory on Dreams

The Interpretation of dreams

Introduction to Psychology

On Dreams

The wilderness of dreams, exploring the religious meanings of dreams in modern Western culture