“I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?”
— Zhuangzi (4th century BCE)
Our brains think in ways we’re unaware of. What we think of as thinking is the end result of much mental digestion. We have little evidence to support this except our own general blindness to the processes that underlie our thoughts.
Dreams reflect formative aspects of thought, but they are not thoughts in the normal sense. They might constitute thoughts in the minds of other species, but they are further developed in humans.
It’s clear that our thoughts are incomplete. We see this in the continued slaughter, unspeakable horror, and species-level exploitation that has dominated human history. Another level of thought is needed, and this may require further development of our brains.
What Do You Think?
How Do You Think?
In the Nursery of Ideas
A Dream of Irrelevance
The Dream’s Role in Forming Thought
A Clarifying Second Dream
Not Just a Few Bad Apples
Better Thoughts Through Daydreams
Dreams Are a Digestive Process
Oneirology Recapitulates The Evolution of Mind
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