Page 143 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

124 Mysteries of the Mind

to problems that had plagued him during his puter. Material must be fed into it or it cannot
waking state. produce effective answers. To the intellect, a
particular plan may sound silly, but to the sub-
Elias Howe (1819–1867) failed at the con-
scious level to perfect a workable sewing conscious it may make a lot of sense.
machine. Then one night he dreamed that a The concept of the dream as a creative
savage king ordered him to invent a sewing tool may be somewhat alien to Western
machine, and when he was unable to comply, thought, but numerous Eastern writings,
the spear-armed natives raised their weapons including the ancient Hindu Upanishads,
to kill him. At that exact moment, he noticed speak of this aspect of the dream. One of the
that each spear had a hole in it just above the Upanishads says that “…Man in his dreams
point. This vision gave him the much-needed becomes a creator. There are no real chariots
clue to the commercial perfection of the in that state…no blessings…no joys, but he
sewing machine. himself creates blessings, happiness and joys.”
Psychologists Montague Ullman, Joseph
Another famous scientist who used his Adelson, Howard Shevrin, and Frederick
dreams to solve problems was Niels Bohr Weiss have done much to advance the thesis
(1885–1962), who one night dreamed of a sun that dreams basically are creative.
composed of burning gas with planets spin-
ning around it, attached by thin threads. He Psychoanalyst Ullman cites four creative
realized that this explained the structure of aspects of dreaming:
the atom, which eventually led to the field of 1. the element of originality;
atomic physics and, ultimately, atomic energy.
2. the joining together of elements into new
patterns;
3. the concern with accuracy;

SOLVING problems via the dream state is as 4. the felt reaction of participating in an
involuntary experience.
old as humankind itself.
Ullman concedes that the final product of
a dream’s creativity may be either dull or
ecstatic, but he insists that it is an act of cre-
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) credit- ation to have the dream in the first place.
ed dreams for the many poems he wrote.
Lucid dreaming is simply the technique of
“Kubla Khan” was the result of a dream by
dreaming while knowing that one is still
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834). The
dreaming. The word “lucid” is used to indicate
classic novel Jane Eyre (1847) was spun from
a sense of mental clarity. A lucid dream usual-
the dreams of Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855).
ly occurs while one is in the midst of a dream
Some of the world’s most successful business and suddenly realizes that the experience that
executives never make a decision until they he or she is undergoing is not happening in
have a chance to allow it to pass through their physical reality, but in the framework of a
minds during the hours of sleep, permitting dream scenario. Often the dreamer notices
solutions to come during dreams. Once this some impossible occurrence in the dream,
practice of “sleeping on a problem” becomes such as having a conversation with a deceased
habit, these successful individuals find that relative or having the ability to fly, which
there is really nothing magical about the prompts this awareness. While experiencing
process of dreaming solutions. Creative dream- lucid dreaming is not quite the same thing as
ing simply appears to be a matter of training the exercising control over one’s dreams, the
mind to do certain things. The subconscious dreamer who realizes that he or she is dream-
level of the mind does the work, rather than ing may greatly influence the course of the
the intellectual level. The subconscious under- events in the dream scenario. Some practi-
stands symbols far better than words, and, in tioners of lucid dreaming promise extended
general, can be likened to an electronic com- creativity, the ability to overcome nightmares

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