Early Dreams

People (Psychologists - my psychology teacher at college at least) don't believe me when I tell them I remember something from when I was just days old (certainly no more than a couple of months.) "It is just what you think you remember embelished by how you think now, now that you're an adult."

What I recall from that time was the first (although for many years I thought it was the second) time I opened my eyes. Specifically, I recall something of what went on in my mind at the time. I was certain that I had opened my eyes previous to the recollected occasion, at the time.

However, a thought came to me a few months ago; what if , what I believed at the time was the second occasion, was actually a dream? What if, despite all the existing notions on the purpose of dreams, this is the actual reason why we dream?

There is generally two opposing ideas on how the mind develops, either from the point of conception or at least from when someone is born. One idea says that a person develops an understanding of the world from structures in the brain which can be likened to a 'boot code' in a computer system. Simply put; associations are made between what a baby experiences and what is within this 'boot code' which then adds new 'code' to that which already exists.

Others believe that people are born with nothing in their minds, and that all knowledge of the world develops innately from their experiences and perceptions - the 'Tabula Rasa' model.

I interpret my own theories, based on the memories I previously described, as being close to the former example. That how we develop an understanding of the world is established within the mind as we develop in the womb. Except, instead of suggesting that it is a universally generic 'code' built from physical structures in the brain, I suggest that it is developed from existing perceptions that, common sense suggests, can only come from the Mother, it is inherited.

It is widely understood that the foetus dreams, and it is suggested that this may result in the baby 'kicking' as is often described by an expectant Mother. Maybe, if the baby dreams of kicking a football, this helps co-ordinate motor functions in the leg. Maybe, if the baby dreams of trying to grab or hold onto something, this has a similar effect on the arms. Maybe, if a new-born dreams of opening his eyes to see something wonderful (his Mother?), it inspires the brain to do just that.

These ideas not only give a model to how the infant/embryonic mind develops, but also, perhaps, provide a model to the purpose of dreams themselves. There are several suggestions already as to the purpose of dreaming. Some suggest it's just a way of decluttering the brain of the days events. Some just think that in a semi-comitosed' state; certain functions in the brain get confused. My suggestion is that, maybe, dreams have a very important role in the development of the infant, but within weeks, or even days, they become superfluous as the child starts to interact with the 'real' world.

It might be that the reason we, as humans, continue to dream throughout our lives is simply because the apparatus, so important through foetal and early-infancy development, remains, and can't be fully deactivated.

There is a precedence for this way of looking at things from a psychological perspective. The human autonomic nervous system, for instance, is said to represent a system that was highly important in pre-historic times, yet often today it is described as responsible for feelings of anxiety and panic, especially in those suffering with phobias. Similarly, parts of the mammalian brain are still present which originally evolved as necessary for survival in a much harsher physically competetive environment. It is true that these examples pertain to tens/hundreds of thousands of years as opposed to a single lifetime, but the principle, I believe, to be still valid.

It has just occured to me that dreams in later adulthood (or sometimes nightmares) resurface with greater significance when something of major significance happens, or is about to happen. This strengthens my argument. There is nothing greater and more significant, I would argue, than being born. So, even though the mind has incalculably more neuron connections, thoughts, memories, knowledge and understanding than when new-born, it is understandable that this process would re-establish itself when faced with uncertain and daunting circumstances.