Psychic theories of why we dream

Why do we dream? I'll be exploring some evolutionary theories from a psychic perspective by paraphrasing a part in Diane Hennacy Powell's book The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena.

First off, REM (dreaming) sleep occurs in birds (which split from reptiles) and all mammals except the egg-laying ones, the only surviving ones being the platypus and the spiny anteater. So REM sleep probably emerged after the split from the common ancestor for marsupial, placental, and egg-laying mammals but before the split from an ancestor common to placental and marsupial mammals. Radiocarbon dating puts the schism between egg-layers and and other mammals at about 150 to 210 million years ago, and that of marsupials and placental mammals at 130 million years ago. That means the evolution of REM sleep started happening sometime between 130 and 210 million years ago.

Mammals and birds began using the limbic system -- the emotional apparatus of the brain and that which produces dreams -- much more than the reptiles preceding them. For example, mammalian and avian babies became more dependent on their mothers for survival. Since these babies were also fewer in number, their being became more important. The limbic system promoted social bonding and nurturing behaviors in the offspring.

Because survival was so crucial, more protection was needed and natural selection propagated the genes which led the way for psychic abilities. Jon Tolaas proposed a theory that helpless newborns spend so much of their time in REM sleep because dreaming lets them psychically detect threats to telepathically communicate to their parent(s). Indeed, humans, cats, rabbits, and dogs are species that are most helpless at birth and who also sleep the most. Tolaas' theory incorporates the research that telepathic dreams happen mainly during times of crisis and between loved ones. This rings true with anecdotes of mothers who wake up in the middle of the night without knowing why, then check on their children seconds before they awake crying.

Mark Mahowald advanced the idea that "almost the entire state of being before we're born is REM (dreaming) sleep." When a baby is still in the womb, dreaming is useless in shielding the child from predators and enemies, but it could be necessary for something else. Hypnotized people have accurately described traumatic events that happened in the outside world when they were in the womb. This enhances the possibility that a dreaming baby can access external information while within the womb. This theory is also supported by the fact that human newborns can immediately distinguish their mother's voice from those of other women, even though the mother's voice my be very muffled as heard from the inside of the womb. The newborn's uncanny aptitude to acclimate to the shock of the outside world might be aided by clairvoyant or precognitive dreams before birth.

Michel Jouvet developed the argument that dreaming allows the testing and practicing of genetically programmed behaviors in sleep. Doing things in dreams is just like actually doing them as far as the body is concerned, so dreams can help one cultivate one's skills. Jack Nicklaus, renowned golfer, claimed that he discovered a new way to grip his golf club in a dream that improved his game by ten strokes overnight. Psychoanalysts believe that many dreams substitute one's wishes for achieving something, so dreams may be a means by helping us develop our skills for the goal.

Whatever the true cause for dreams, psychic or not, I'm tired. So I hope I get as much REM sleep tonight as I can.