I've been having unusually vivid dreams since finishing Half-Life 2. I don't know whether it's because I actually can get some sleep now or what. But the dreams are sticking with me for a change -- and I want to know where their plots come from.
I posed this question to a friend and he suggested a simple neurological explanation. Dreams are just composed of whatever strings of neurons that happen to be flaring at the time. Sure, you'll often dream about things that have happened that day -- those will be the neurons that are still 'hopping'. But what about the stuff that you don't have a memory of? Surely I've never encountered ponds (only found in Libya!) that are so salty you'll die if immersed in them for more than a minute. I've never been a GI on a beach whose barracks are being slowly washed away by the incoming tide.
I have a feeling that Jeff Goldblum is waiting in the wings to lecture me on chaotic systems.
Of course, the neurological explanation is boring and dispassionate. I want a sexy explanation that ties it up into a little neat bundle, preferrably without using the word 'archetype'. I want a formula that says "if you dwell on x or y for a long enough period during the day, then w or z will likely appear while you are snoozing. W and Z will invariably be killer tornadoes and stars that zip around the sky to reveal themselves as alien spaceships portending the end of all things.
At least I didn't dream about the hiker who had his arm trapped in a rockslide. Over the course of being trapped for a week he realized he had to cut off his arm. I probably could have done without watching it.. but it was soooo fascinating.
Posted by eric at December 13, 2004 09:07 AM