Hello and welcome to the sixth episode of the ShiftEnglish podcast. My name is Joseph, and I am a British-American living in New Orleans, Louisiana. I want to welcome you to the podcast, especially if it is your first time listening. My goal here is to create podcast episodes for you, the intermediate and advanced English learner, that are original and not the usual boring subjects.
I feel like when we are an expert in a second language, when we have mastered a second language, we can listen or read anything in that second language, so we have lots of choice. We can easily find subjects that interest us. Or conversely, oppositely, when we are just beginning to learn a second language it doesn’t matter what we listen to, because the most important thing is just that it is at the right level. That the thing we are listening to is basic enough for us to understand.
But when we are an intermediate learner I have found it can be difficult to find things to listen to that are original and interesting. So often I feel like as intermediate learners we have to listen to listen to the same type of subjects. It seems to be often subjects like climate change, and how bad it is, or things like what different fashions are popular in different places. It’s like someone decided that intermediate language learners are only allowed to hear the same twenty subjects. Perhaps an evil mastermind, an evil person, somewhere in a high tower is twiddling their fingers together with joy at the success of that plan. When someone twiddles their fingers with joy, it means they move or tap their fingers together in an excited or happy way, but can also be in a mischievous or sneaky way. Think of Mr. Burns in the Simpsons when he is saying “excellent…”
Anyway, I am getting away from the subject as per usual. Maybe I was daydreaming? Daydreaming is when your mind starts to wander and imagine things while you’re awake. Day-dreaming, dreaming in the day. And so, what do we call dreaming at night? That’s right, we call that nightdreaming. Actually, I wrote that as a joke originally because I had never heard of the word nightdreaming. I thought it was just called dreaming when we dream at night. But the joke is on me. Nightdreaming as one word does actually exist in the dictionary, I just looked it up. But yeah, don’t go around saying nightdreaming. People just say dreaming for describing when your mind creates those pictures, stories, or feelings while you are sleeping. We dream our dreams at night.
But why do we dream? What is the point of dreaming, and do dreams mean something? So, when you are ready to explore this topic let’s take a little trip to dreamland…
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I somewhat provocatively chose today’s episode title. Meaning I chose a title that makes people stop and think, to grab attention. But really, I just wanted to talk about dreams, because I think they are fascinating, I think they are really interesting. Dreams represent for me that fun middle ground between hard science and superstition. There is one side where we study dreams scientifically and we have found many important reasons for why we dream. For example, we know that dreaming is super important for our memory and for our emotional healing. And at the same time there are still many people across the world that continue to believe that dreams can mean something much more extraordinary. It’s like dreams are one of the last links to some ancient magical past.
It is somehow more acceptable in general, more common, for someone to attribute a supernatural power to dreams than to other superstitious ideas. If for example someone told me that they had to keep throwing salt over their shoulder to keep away the bad spirits, keep away the bad omens, I would probably think it was a little cuckoo. A little peculiar. Nonetheless this is an ancient superstition going back to the Sumerians and still practiced by some people to this day. The Sumerians were one of the earliest civilizations from around the 5th millennia BC. So, this is an old superstition, just like believing in dreams having supernatural powers.
But if someone told me that they had a vivid dream last night in which they won the lottery. Well, I would totally understand why this person would buy a lottery ticket today in real life. That wouldn’t be strange at all to me! Yet I consider myself logical, rational, and scientific. Do I truly believe like my ancient ancestors that dreams are messages carried from gods, spirits, or the future?
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In doing my research for this episode I came across some interesting research from China, I’ll put a link for you fellow geeks like me at ShiftEnglish.com. The researchers had done a relatively large psychology study looking at the belief systems that people hold. And they found one of the ways dreamers could be separated, could be defined, was by whether they thought dreams were meaningful. If they thought that dreams were meaningful, if they thought dreams had real-life influence in some way, the researchers labeled these people ‘Interested Dreamers’. If on the other hand the dreamer didn’t think dreams meant anything, they labeled these dreamers, they called these dreamers, ‘Indifferent Dreamers’.
Ok, so these two terms, these two groups: ‘Interested Dreamers’ and ‘Indifferent Dreamers’. And these are important in our first definition of ‘do dreams mean anything?’. Because if we are ‘Interested Dreamers’, then scientifically dreams do have an effect on our life. The science shows that. The very act of believing in the power of dreams creates actual change in real life.
Before I can explain that with an example, I need to backup first and explain a bit more how someone was defined as an ‘Interested Dreamer’. Ah, in English ‘to back up’ to explain something means to go back to something you said before, usually to give more detail. So, I need to backup to explain how the researcher’s defined someone as an Interested Dreamer.
The researchers questioned people based on the follow criteria: Dream omen ( I believe that what I have dreamed may happen), Dream reality (I believe that dream contents are linked with my experiences), Dream creativity (I believe that a dream can inspire me), Dream health (I believe that dreams are related to a dreamer’s health and mood state), Dream superstition (I believe that we can communicate with people who have passed away through our dreams), and Dream learn (I believe that dreams can consolidate memories), and Dream attitude (I like dreaming).
Basically, someone that scored high on the above criteria would be defined as an ‘Interested Dreamer’. But it’s important because it shows the variance of ways in which we can view dreams as important, as significant. It varies from simply ‘liking’ our dreams, all the way to believing our dreams are predicting the future.
And depending on the way you do or do not view your dreams as meaningful will change the way in which a dream will have real-life influence. And that takes me back to the example I was going to make earlier. Hooray. I didn’t forget. For example, someone that scores high on Dream Omen and Dream Health, is someone that believes that dreams predict the future, that dreams foretell the future. And also they believe that dreams tell us something about our personal health. So let’s imagine this person, this Interested Dreamer, has a nightmare, has a bad dream. They may believe that this nightmare will come true, or that this nightmare means that they are sick in some way. Either way, they will be much more stressed, much more anxious by this nightmare than an Indifferent Dreamer would be, someone that doesn’t view dreams as having any meaning.
And this is what the results show. Being this type of Interested Dreamers has a circular effect. They believe their nightmare means something bad in real life. That makes them feel more anxious, more distressed. This increased anxiety results in another nightmare. And so we go round. And you know what happens when you start sleeping badly, sleeping poorly? That’s right, your health starts to get worse in real life. Just like your bad dream predicted, right?
Of course, we could see the same circular effect in a positive sense. They believe a good dream means good things in real life. That produces positive feelings and emotions when awake. Which produces more positive dreams while sleeping. And we go round that happier loop, that happier circle.
Similar results to the above were seen also with Western participants, and with Iranian participants. The percentages of people classed, or defined as Interested or Indifferent Dreamers changed depending on the culture. But the effect is similar across the globe, across the world. When we believe in our dreams we give them the power to change our emotional state in real life. That is one major way in which dreams really do mean something.
In the next section we will take a look at some more surprising facts about dreaming and also some other important functions of dreaming, some important reasons why we dream.
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Have you ever met someone that says they don’t dream? Well turns out everyone dreams. So you can call them a liar now. You are welcome. And apologies if you are one of those that say they don’t dream. It turns out that everyone dreams. We just forget. On average we forget 95% of our dreams shortly after waking.
So we all have dreams, even if we don’t remember them, and that is probably a sign it’s for a good reason. A reason important for our brain. Something I thought was interesting was that even people who are blind from birth have dreams. They don’t just have dreams with images in the way someone who can see, or as someone who has had sight at least some of their life. A person who has always been blind will have dreams more rich in other senses. Their dreams will be rich in sounds and tastes and smells.
And then there are those that have their sight, and who can see colours normally, but whom dream only in black and white. Apparently 12% of people dream totally in black and white, like an old movie.
So clearly there are many ways to dream. We don’t all dream in the same way. But we do share some commonality, we share some common points when it comes to dreaming. The vast majority of our dreams happen when we are in the stage of sleep known as Rapid Eye Movement, or REM sleep for short. That’s the stage of sleep when you see the persons eyes moving around a lot. It’s actually a bit creepy in my opinion. And the crazy thing is that even blind people move their eyes around like this when they sleep too.
But what is our brain up to? It’s all pretty weird behavior if you think about it. We sleep for around a third of our lives. We have our eyes moving around really fast even although our eyelids are closed. And our body is paralyzed, our body can’t move while we dream. Well, unless you are someone that sleepwalks. But why? Why does our brain go to all this effort?
A big part of the reason seems to be connected to our memory. We are receiving so much information during the day. Our brains are recording so much information while we are awake. And sleeping is the brain’s break, it’s pause, to make sense of that information. To filter and change short-term memories from the day in to long-term memories.
You can think of your brain like a computer. During the day, it’s constantly taking in information — everything you see, hear, and learn — and it saves that data in a kind of temporary folder. Then, when you sleep and dream, your brain works like a computer doing a ‘save and filter’ process. It takes the important files from that temporary folder and moves them into the main hard drive — your long-term memory.
Dreaming, in that sense, is like your brain pressing the “save” button for the day. Without that process, a lot of what you learned or experienced might just disappear, like closing a file without saving it. Ok that’s the end of my geeky computer analogy.
But essentially, during this dreaming process of what dream scientists call ‘memory consolidation’ the brain is re-organizing memories. In this re-organizing process, the brain is trying to find connections and relations between memories. Which can be a mix of a long-term memories and short-term memories. Those connections help the brain know how to store certain memories. And that is one reason why dreams can get really wacky, really strange. The dream brain may be making a connection that makes no normal sense.
You might, for example, one moment in a dream be talking to your brother on the phone and the next you are swimming like a fish underwater. And maybe your brain made that jump in the story of your dream because in real life that day you saw a fish in an aquarium. Which reminded you of the fish your brother had when you were kids. But anyway, the point is that the brain is making connections between memories as we sleep, and dreams are both a reason for and a byproduct of this memory consolidation.
I know these are some more technical words, but they will all be on the transcript at ShiftEnglish.com, along with a list of vocabulary. But basically, dreams happen because our brain are processing memories. But also, dreams are part of that process. Dreams help our brain process memories.
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So there is that side of memory which is an important part and reason of dreaming. But what about the emotional side of dreaming. In English, we have a few popular phrases which make a connection between sleeping and feeling better. For example, if someone is having a bad day, or a rubbish day as they say more in the United Kingdom, someone might tell them “Sleep is the best medicine”. They are basically giving the advice, go to bed, go to sleep, and in the morning you will feel better. Maybe not amazing advice depending on the situation why the person feels bad. But hey, I am sure they mean well, I am sure they think they are helping.
Or in another example, if someone is struggling to make a hard decision, then the common advice to give is to “Sleep on it”. Similarly to before, they are giving the advice that instead of overanalyzing, instead of overthinking about whatever the thing is, they would be better off getting a good night’s rest. And in the morning, according to the saying, they will be able to make a clear decision.
So, as you see, there are quite a few of these types of popular sayings in English, making a link between feeling, thinking and sleeping. And if you have any in your language that are common, I would be interested to know about them, just leave a comment wherever you are listening to this episode, or send me a message at ShiftEnglish.com.
And these saying don’t come from just urban legend. They are not made-up stories like fairytales. The science has shown us that sleeping, and specifically dreaming, supports emotional health. Dreams are an important time for our brain to process and regulate emotions and stress. When we dream, our brains are working through emotions from the day. They are linking those emotions with past emotions, making connections in a similar way how we already discussed with memories.
And even better, dreams provide a safe space for our brains to do this emotional processing, to do this emotional regulation. Even problems or stresses we felt like were unresolved during the day, our brain will continue working through them during our dreams. Honestly, it is like we have this super amazing therapist in our dream-brains that wants to help us wake up feeling more emotionally balanced than we were when we fell asleep. That said, if we were having repetitive nightmares that may be a sign we are hung up on something and should go see an actual therapist, while awake. Ah yeah, to be hung up on something in English just means you can’t stop thinking or worrying about the thing, even though you might want to move on.
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So there you have it. Do dreams mean something? They sure do. They are essential to our mental wellbeing. We need them to process memories. And we need them to process emotions experienced during the day. Does that mean they can predict the future or communicate with the dead? Well, no one has proven that they can’t! But what is sure is that the more we believe that dreams have this type of power, then the more we are emotionally impacted them. If we believe our dreams have supernatural powers, or if we believe our dreams can teach us something about our health, we put a lot of importance in them. We give our dreams the power to make us happy, or hopeful, or in the opposite case, we give our dreams the power to make us stressed or even scared.
I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode. I hope you learned some new words or phrases, and maybe a little about dreams as well! If you know someone that is also learning English and could benefit from this type of podcast, please share ShiftEnglish with them. And also importantly, if you are finding these episodes not to really be your style of learning, then don’t worry about it, move on to something else. There are so many ways of learning a language. Two people can learn the same language in totally different ways, using totally different methods. What’s important is that you connect to something that feels natural and fun for you. Something you will come back to repeatedly and make a habit out of it. For me when I learned French it was talking to people and listening to podcasts on content that interested me. But I know people who enjoyed studying grammar. Others that enjoyed watching movies. Others that enjoyed going to in person lessons. You get it. You are super smart and you will find what works for you even if it isn’t this. And if it is this, well, cool.
There will be no episode next week as I do some website stuff with ShiftEnglish.com. I am trying to get the website setup to be as helpful as possible for English learners. The idea is to have the accurate transcripts on the website along with a list of the trickier vocabulary words. I think that the transcripts generated on the podcast platforms are useful. But in my opinion it is better for learning, easier for our brains in learning English, to have a proper document we can read that was actually written by someone. So, that’s my mission, make the website more user-friendly for you, and I plan to release a new episode again in two weeks. Until then, I hope you stay well and manage to learn a little bit of English every day.
Vocabulary
conversely — used to introduce an idea that is the opposite of the one just mentioned.
Example: I love summer. Conversely, my brother prefers winter.
- mastermind — a clever person who plans and controls a complicated project or plan (often used jokingly).
Example: The mastermind behind the surprise party kept everything secret.
- twiddling — moving or turning something small, especially the fingers, usually when nervous or pleased.
Example: She sat twiddling her pen while waiting.
- daydreaming — letting your mind imagine things while you are awake; not paying attention to the present moment.
Example: I missed the next sentence because I was daydreaming.
- dreaming — having mental images, ideas, or stories while you sleep.
Example: Last night I was dreaming about flying.
- provocatively — in a way that causes people to think, react, or feel strong emotions; sometimes deliberately shocking.
Example: She asked the question provocatively to start a debate.
- fascinating — extremely interesting; something that holds your attention.
Example: The lecture about space was fascinating.
- superstition — a belief not based on reason or science, often about luck or magic.
Example: Some people have the superstition that a black cat brings bad luck.
- extraordinary — very unusual or surprising; remarkable. Outside the normal.
Example: It was an extraordinary day.
- peculiar — strange or unusual in a way that is interesting or worrying.
Example: There was a peculiar smell in the kitchen.
- vivid — very clear and detailed (usually about images, memories, or descriptions).
Example: I had a vivid memory of my first day at school.
- labeled — given a name or description to show what something is.
Example: The jars were labeled so we knew what was inside.
- predict — to say what will happen in the future, often based on information or signs.
Example: Weather experts predict rain for tomorrow.
- foretell — to say that something will happen in the future (similar to predict).
Example: Some stories claim that dreams can foretell important events.
- circular effect — a situation where one action causes another, which then leads back to the first — a loop.
Example: Anxiety can cause bad sleep, and bad sleep can increase anxiety — a circular effect.
- classed — placed into a group or category.
Example: Students were classed by their ability level.
- blind — unable to see.
Example: He has been blind since birth.
- paralyzed — unable to move part or all of the body (can be temporary or permanent).
Example: After the accident he was temporarily paralyzed in his legs.
- temporary — lasting for only a short time; not permanent.
Example: I have a temporary job for the summer.
- byproduct — something that is produced as a result of making or doing something else; not the main result.
Example: Sawdust is a byproduct of cutting wood.
- rubbish — (informal British) trash; also used to say something is not good or of poor quality.
Example: That movie was rubbish — I didn’t enjoy it.
- overanalyzing — thinking too much about something, often making it more complex or stressful.
Example: Stop overanalyzing the text — the answer is simple.
- regulation — a rule or law that controls how something happens; also the act of controlling something.
Example: There are strict safety regulations at the factory.
Links
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2147/NSS.S227154#:~:text=Dreamer%20Profiles%20Differences,and%20GAD%2D7%2C%20respectively. —- Interested vs Indifferent dreamers
https://www.ijsm.in/doi/pdf/10.5005/IJSM-10-1-22 — 95% of dreams forgotten