The Dream Debate

This is part 3 of a 4 part series starting with Do Androids Dream of System Updates? You should read that first if you want to know what the hell is going on. Cheers!

Pragmatic me: "What does dreaming have to do with anything. Just get to bed, recharge, and get back to work."

Idealistic me: "I've got this notion that during sleep we have the brief opportunity to glimpse into our unadulterated imagination. Perhaps dreaming can have some sort of life enhancing qualities. I draw all day for work, so I'm willing to explore any option to enhance my creative flow. And in order to get to that I need to nail down this sleep thing."

Pragmatic me: "There are teams of scientists working on this stuff. What makes you think you can discover anything here other than your dreams are weird. Last night your dream was so disjointed you could barley write it down. This whole song and dance seems like a waste of time to me."

Idealistic me: "But I feel like I've come up with some really great ideas in the last month. I feel like I'm learning so much more about myself. If to achieve nothing else, isn't that worth the effort? Besides I've shortened the time it takes me to go to sleep from 1 hour to 10 minutes. I've been waking up fresher every morning and I've been averaging less than 7 hrs a night."

Pragmatic me: "Sure, but you shouldn't go around fooling yourself. Maybe your creative ideas came to you because you've been working hard. And all the improved sleep habit stuff is just science. Having a sleep routine helps sleep quality. There's nothing magical about it. But to think that you can eventually reduce your nights to 5 hrs of sleep and still function properly is nonsense."

Idealistic me: "First off, I like to feel like things are magical. I have more connection to stuff that way. And I know it sounds crazy to only sleep 5-6 hours a night, but why the hell not give it a try. This is life, right? What else is there to do?"

Pragmatic me: "Just don't forget that the effects you're feeling are basically a placebo. It's all in your head."

Idealistic me: "I need to forget so the placebo effect will work. That's what all the song and dance is for. And you're right, this whole thing is in my head... but isn't that amazing?"

Next week I conclude my sleep series when I discuss how sleeping improves memory and learning, while I give my final conclusions on my month long sleep experiment.

Stay tuned.