Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-11-06
WHY WE DREAM
BY H. Addington Bruce
TT o the question. why do we dream?"
direct and simple answer may be re-
turned:

| IN y the question. why do We dream?' q
| direct and simple answer may be re-
| turned:
1--WE dream because sleep does not mean
| complete Inconsistencies. In sleep the
channels of communication between the
| sense organs and the brain are not entirely
closed. Hence there is an inflow of sensa-
| tions calling for Interpretation. Our efforts
to interpret these while we sleep are our
! dreams"
OF oourse.the deeper the sleep the slighter
| will be the Impressions made by the incom-
| ing sensations and the fainter the resultant
dream images. Also the less likely shall we
! be to remember what we have been dream
ing.
| But observation and experiment. go to
| show that there never Is sleep SO profound
as to be wholly dreamless. They show, too.
| that most varied stimuli in the way of ex-
| ternal and integral sources of sensation may
| serve as exc1ters OF dreams.
| Dreams may result, for example, from the
| flashing of a light inside or outside the
| sleeper's room, noises-perhaps very slight
noises-made while he is sleeping, sensa-
| lions of heat or cold experienced through the
| closing or opening OF a window.
Similarly he may dream because of sensa7
| tions caused by some unusual sleeping pos
! ture which affects his muscular sensibility,
| or because of conditions affecting the sensi-
| bility Of his internal organs, his heart, lungs
| throat, etc. Or his dreams may be the
| product of fatigue sensations, slight changes
| in the circulation of blood through his brain
changes in the state of his nervous system.
In short, anything capable of causing a
sleeper to ask himself. "What is this I feel? "
is capable of setting him TO dreaming A nd
since, though conscious enough to feel some
! thing, he is not conscious enough to know
| precisely what he is feeling, his dream an
swers TO the question he has put to himself
| may be- and usually are, strangely wide OF
the mark
They are the more likely to be wide OF II
| because while the critical faculty ordinarily
| is weakened in sleep, the imagination is
| quickened Thus there results a tendency
| both to exaggerate sensations experienced
during sleep and to dramatic them.
The sting of mosquito is interpreted not
as the mere twinge 1t actually is, but as a
knife thrust inflicted perhaps as the climax
| to long series of exciting adventures. Or
the sound of distant engine whistle may
set a sleeper to work busying himself in the
| management of some great factory enter.
prise.
Which, it should be added, means that
| while the physical stimulus-the mosquito
sting, the engine whistle, whatever 1t may be
acts a starting point for dream, it by
no means determines the details of the
| dream. If it did, everybody would dream
virtually similar dreams according to the
| stimulus experienced.
| This is far from what actually happens
Similar stimuli occasion different dreams in
different dreamers-and, for that matter, oc-
casion different dreams in the same dreamer
! at different times.
l. One night the mosquito may cause a
dream of murder, second night dream OF
being torn to pieces by a giant bird third
| night dream OF yet another sort. The de-
| tails vary with the personality Of the dream M