The transformation of an idea into an hallucination is not the only
deviation of the dream from a waking thought which perhaps corresponds
to it. From these pictures the dream forms a situation, it presents
something in the present, it dramatises an idea, as Spitta[64] (p. 145)
puts it.[K] But the characteristic of this side of the dream life
becomes complete only when it is remembered that while dreaming we do
not—as a rule; the exceptions require a special explanation—imagine that
we are thinking, but that we are living through an experience, _i.e._,
we accept the hallucination with full belief. The criticism that this
has not been experienced but only thought in a peculiar
manner—dreamt—comes to us only on awakening. This character
distinguishes the genuine sleeping dream from day dreaming, which is
never confused with reality.
The characteristics of the dream life thus far considered have been
summed up by Burdach[8] (p. 476) in the following sentences: “As
characteristic features of the dream we may add (_a_) that the
subjective activity of our mind appears as objective, inasmuch as our
faculty of perception perceives the products of phantasy as if they were
sensory activities ... (_b_) sleep abrogates one’s self-command, hence
falling asleep necessitates a certain amount of passivity.... The
slumber pictures are conditioned by the relaxation of one’s
self-command.”
It is a question now of attempting to explain the credulity of the mind
in reference to the dream hallucinations, which can only appear after
the suspension of a certain arbitrary activity. Strümpell[66] asserts
that the mind behaves in this respect correctly, and in conformity with
its mechanism. The dream elements are by no means mere presentations,
but true and real experiences of the mind, similar to those that appear
in the waking state as a result of the senses (p. 34). Whereas in the
waking state the mind represents and thinks in word pictures and
language, in the dream it represents and thinks in real tangible
pictures (p. 35). Besides, the dream manifests a consciousness of space
by transferring the sensations and pictures, just as in the waking
state, into an outer space (p. 36). It must therefore be admitted that
the mind in the dream is in the same relation to its pictures and
perceptions as in the waking state (p. 43). If, however, it is thereby
led astray, this is due to the fact that it lacks in sleep the criticism
which alone can distinguish between the sensory perceptions emanating
from within or from without. It cannot subject its pictures to the tests
which alone can prove their objective reality. It furthermore neglects
to differentiate between pictures that are arbitrarily interchanged and
others where there is no free choice. It errs because it cannot apply to
its content the law of causality (p. 58). In brief, its alienation from
the outer world contains also the reason for its belief in the
subjective dream world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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