Are Our Dreams More Complex than They Were 100 Years Ago?

[Redz]

I don't remember the details of the dream I had the other night, but I was awakened in the middle of a dream that I was actually enjoying for its entertainment value (and no, it wasn't a dirty one).  I was really interested to see what was going to happen next.  I was pretty well aware that I was dreaming too.  My dream had a plot, and characters who I wasn't even familiar with. 

Of course it all blurred when I woke up, and I couldn't get back to the same dream when I fell back asleep (though that's cool when that happens).

My question here is:  with all of the vivid images, and stories we see every day in TV, Movies, Video Games, computer games, etc...are our dreams more complex than dreams were a hundred years ago?  Without the concept of what a television were people's visualization of their dreams less vivid?  How were they different.

Anyone have any theories?  Facts?

[Quinn]

someone had to dream up the ideas of video games and TV didn't they?
Its more complex in the fact that now we share other people's dreams because of a common media.
Say you were to dream about the Celtics winning a championship; before basketball those dreams wouldn't have existed, but now that they do they caused you to have the dream about it.
Also, because of the invention of basketball, other people are likely to have similar dreams.

So in a sense, dreams are more complex, but I also believe they're less personal anymore, since Hollywood has become such an active form of media in everyone's lives

[pengaloo]

That's an interesting question. I'd guess that today's dreams aren't more complex than they were 100 years ago. Maybe today we'd dream of being chased by bears after watching some movie, but back then - people actually were chased by bears.

[guava_wrench]

I can't remember my dreams from 100 years ago. 

I'm guessing that we don't have the data to make comparisons to 100 years ago.

[Chris]

I'm torn on this.  On the one hand, our imaginations are stunted from what they were in the past, since we really don't need to use them much anymore, and I think our brains in general are not getting the workout they would have 100 years ago.  But on the other hand, all of the overstimulation from TV and other things like that could really cause some chaos in our brains. 

Since dreams' main use is to consolidate information taken in during the day, I would imagine they would be much crazier than they ever used to be...but they may be at the cost of vividness and organization, making the dreams much more chaotic.

[dark_lord]

i dont dream too often.....but i would imagine that they are more complex due to the amount of things a person is exposed to via technology, both visually and through daily living (ie cars, phones, running water, etc.)

[Redz]

I can't remember my dreams from 100 years ago. 

Point taken 

But even 25 years ago, or 50

[rondohondo]

I hardly ever have dreams anymore except when I take Tylenol PM . It is really weird, has anyone else experieced this ? I took some last night and remembered a dream for the 1st time in months....

[indeedproceed]

I can usually remember dreams I had right before I woke up, but only for about an hour..I keep a notebook next to my bed just in case its a really weird or eventful.

[SSFan V]

I can't remember my dreams from 100 years ago. 

beat me to it!


(but the answer has to be of course do to the amount of additional stimuli in our lives.  They may have the same basis's but they obviously have to be more complex.....except for the RL Stevenson character.

[indeedproceed]

I can't remember my dreams from 100 years ago. 

beat me to it!


(but the answer has to be of course do to the amount of additional stimuli in our lives.  They may have the same basis's but they obviously have to be more complex.....except for the RL Stevenson character.

Most of my dreams center around A) Being chased by something, B) Forgetting about my math/english/chemistry test 5th period, C) Forgetting my locked com and my books are in there, D) Ladies

I don't think its much more complex than our ancestors dreams...other settings maybe, but same themes.

[cdif911]

as a psychology teacher, I actually know some answers to things here =)

first off, everyone dreams every night. Even if you don't think you do, you do

waking up from a dream is the best way to remember it - often times that's why we remember bad dreams more than good ones

If you want to really remember a dream, write it down before you get out of bed - it will be lost by the time you go to the bathroom or shower or whatnot, then you need a trigger to bring it back - but if you write it, it sticks

ok as to the question of vividity of our dreams - 1st off there's a theory of dreaming called universal dreams, which most dreaming fits into - these are types of dreams everyone has, both good and bad - so motion for example - good motion dreams might be flying or swimming, bad might be being trapped or falling or drowning... so on and so forth

another theory sees our dreams as a way of cleaning out whats inside our minds, in this case we get a lot of randomness, so I would say yes, there is more potential for random things in our dreams because we are more stimulated now than 100 years ago

also Redz, it sounds like you're close to lucid dreaming that fun state of being aware you're dreaming...next step is to try and take control without waking up - good luck!

as for the Tylenol PM person - those drugs actually block REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is where most of our dreams are (about 80%) so you're just increasing your NREM dreams, which are more vivid and realistic, thus more likely to be remembered, especially if something bad happens.

so I would say our dreams have more stuff in them now, b/c there is more stuff around us

[MBz]

I hardly ever have dreams anymore except when I take Tylenol PM . It is really weird, has anyone else experieced this ? I took some last night and remembered a dream for the 1st time in months....

I am the same way, and the dreams seem to be more intense but completely out there at the same time, completely unrealistic things happen during the dreams.

[Redz]

as a psychology teacher, I actually know some answers to things here =)

first off, everyone dreams every night. Even if you don't think you do, you do

waking up from a dream is the best way to remember it - often times that's why we remember bad dreams more than good ones

If you want to really remember a dream, write it down before you get out of bed - it will be lost by the time you go to the bathroom or shower or whatnot, then you need a trigger to bring it back - but if you write it, it sticks

ok as to the question of vividity of our dreams - 1st off there's a theory of dreaming called universal dreams, which most dreaming fits into - these are types of dreams everyone has, both good and bad - so motion for example - good motion dreams might be flying or swimming, bad might be being trapped or falling or drowning... so on and so forth

another theory sees our dreams as a way of cleaning out whats inside our minds, in this case we get a lot of randomness, so I would say yes, there is more potential for random things in our dreams because we are more stimulated now than 100 years ago

also Redz, it sounds like you're close to lucid dreaming that fun state of being aware you're dreaming...next step is to try and take control without waking up - good luck!

as for the Tylenol PM person - those drugs actually block REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is where most of our dreams are (about 80%) so you're just increasing your NREM dreams, which are more vivid and realistic, thus more likely to be remembered, especially if something bad happens.

so I would say our dreams have more stuff in them now, b/c there is more stuff around us

good stuff cdif, thanks

and yes, I have, at times come close to "taking control without waking up" but it is tricky...I definitely find that the one's I can come closest to doing so with are like the ones I described (one's that I pretty much view as my brain giving me creative, whimsical entertainment).  It is really hard to walk the line between realizing your dreaming and letting yourself continue to "watch" your dream with that realization.

It's sort like Douglas Adams' theory on how a man might learn to fly.

"There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

...well maybe not, but I love that line anyhow

[cdif911]

I hardly ever have dreams anymore except when I take Tylenol PM . It is really weird, has anyone else experieced this ? I took some last night and remembered a dream for the 1st time in months....

I am the same way, and the dreams seem to be more intense but completely out there at the same time, completely unrealistic things happen during the dreams.

the intensity is NREM - the body is quasi active and can actually move - same time that we sleepwalk/talk - basically your brain thinks its really happening - people who have night terrors, have them during this period - nyquil, tylenol PM, alcohol etc. block REM making NREM dreams more likely