Rememberring in the Mind

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Today,........ in my dream i saw and interacted with a class mate of my school....... his name (was) Milton. I left school 25 years ago. Suddenly out of nowhere he surfaced again, perhaps realistically after a minimum of 20 years. Nothing unusual about this, but except that we were never so close. I should say that this fellow was not my best of friends meaning, we knew each other only by being classmates and not friends. Strangely, though i had long forgotten about him

He is a plumb guy with a chubby face. He was good, smiling charecter, that all i remember about him.

I wonder how is it that a face can resurface in our mind without any provokation or recent referneces........ just out of the blue. I am dumbstruck with this event of my dream. Today, a name or a face which i thought was erased out of my memory came back. I think that thats quite strange. There are other such experience but not as clear as this one is - with a clear face, a name, and a conversation taking place. I wish i could crack open the mind. How does memory work?

Do you guys had any similar experiences. Kindly explain this phenomenon.

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

Jackofalltrades;169485 wrote:

Today,........ in my dream i saw and interacted with a class mate of my school....... his name (was) Milton. I left school 25 years ago. Suddenly out of nowhere he surfaced again, perhaps realistically after a minimum of 20 years. Nothing unusual about this, but except that we were never so close. I should say that this fellow was not my best of friends meaning, we knew each other only by being classmates and not friends. Strangely, though i had long forgotten about him

He is a plumb guy with a chubby face. He was good, smiling charecter, that all i remember about him.

I wonder how is it that a face can resurface in our mind without any provokation or recent referneces........ just out of the blue. I am dumbstruck with this event of my dream. Today, a name or a face which i thought was erased out of my memory came back. I think that thats quite strange. There are other such experience but not as clear as this one is - with a clear face, a name, and a conversation taking place. I wish i could crack open the mind. How does memory work?

Do you guys had any similar experiences. Kindly explain this phenomenon.

I hope he is not dead. I have had similar dreams but with mine I have found out subsequently the person I dreamed of had passed on, at approximately the same time. I am in no way suggesting this is the case with you but I just thought I would mention my experiences.

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

Jackofalltrades;169485 wrote:

Today,........ in my dream i saw and interacted with a class mate of my school....... his name (was) Milton. I left school 25 years ago. Suddenly out of nowhere he surfaced again, perhaps realistically after a minimum of 20 years. Nothing unusual about this, but except that we were never so close. I should say that this fellow was not my best of friends meaning, we knew each other only by being classmates and not friends. Strangely, though i had long forgotten about him

He is a plumb guy with a chubby face. He was good, smiling charecter, that all i remember about him.

I wonder how is it that a face can resurface in our mind without any provokation or recent referneces........ just out of the blue. I am dumbstruck with this event of my dream. Today, a name or a face which i thought was erased out of my memory came back. I think that thats quite strange. There are other such experience but not as clear as this one is - with a clear face, a name, and a conversation taking place. I wish i could crack open the mind. How does memory work?

Do you guys had any similar experiences. Kindly explain this phenomenon.

Wow! what I find incredible is that you have posted this experience at this time and I have just read it after the exact same thing happened to me last night! coincidences no? Although my experience was not parted by as much time as yours, it was absolutely amazing! I was once very close to this person but this was around 2 or 3 years ago and we have not seeing or spoken to each other since, and I have not had thoughts of this person and especially no dreams about them since. But it was not just a brief dream that quickly morphed into something else, it was long in duration and seemed to last hours, it was incredibly lucid and felt extremely real, so real in fact that the thought of it being a dream never crossed my mind, I could literally not differentiate my experience from that of real life, it was as if that was my reality that always had been and the reality here did not even exist. Last night we were reunited in this dream, my memory of this person's face has become vague and distorted, but last night I could see it perfectly clear and vividly coherent, much more so than when I try to imagine it now. What is also amazing was that from the time I went to sleep to the time I had woken from this dream it had been 2 hours, but the experience seemed to cover a much prolonged duration, it is amazing how the recollection of accumulative thought gives rise to the sensation of elapsed time. Anyhow, I think the experience I had was simply amazing especially considering that I have had no relations with the person whatsoever for a long time, than for such a vivid and complex dream to arise seems very random and erratic. My knowledge and insight into psychology is definitely not the poorest, but I am quite lost for explanations as to my experience.

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@Soul Brother,

xris;169487 wrote:

I hope he is not dead. I have had similar dreams but with mine I have found out subsequently the person I dreamed of had passed on, at approximately the same time. I am in no way suggesting this is the case with you but I just thought I would mention my experiences.

ha...ha, you got some humour. No, i cannot possibly know whether he is dead or alive. or for that matter anything about him. As I said he never existed for me after we left school. Never was talked about. Never rememberred, never referred, never gossiped, never seen, never heard, never never never........ (except the fact, that the only interaction i may have had would have been the occassional hi and bis 25 and more years ago, or probably (at that time)small talks which a school kid has with another, and if that be, than that too could have been in only some rare occassions).
I hope my dream doesnot affect him, as yours did. :sarcastic:

Soul Brother;169498 wrote:

Last night we were reunited in this dream, my memory of this person's face has become vague and distorted, but last night I could see it perfectly clear and vividly coherent, much more so than when I try to imagine it now. ..................., it is amazing how the recollection of accumulative thought gives rise to the sensation of elapsed time. Anyhow, I think the experience I had was simply amazing especially considering that I have had no relations with the person whatsoever for a long time, than for such a vivid and complex dream to arise seems very random and erratic. My knowledge and insight into psychology is definitely not the poorest, but I am quite lost for explanations as to my experience.

Thanks for sharing that. My dream of this morning too, was lucid, clear and vivid......... as if i was back in school, and was talking about our school mates etc. as i am dreaming the dream in my school days...... which would have been perfectly alright.

But today after 25 years......... my my my....... i was surprised, how could this guy, whose existence and knowledge never crossed my path, eyes and ears, could suddenly be brought back from memory.

So, the obvious question is how does memory work....... Can it retreive all data that we experience day to day, minute by minute, moment to moment. ......... But yet there are experience where we face a situation when we do not remember a guy whom we met a month ago.

Wonder, how does that happen?

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

We are such stuff as dreams are made of...This other world where we obey our subconscious and view the plays it creates for us, to admire. What imaginings we can inspire by dream but then awaking can not aspire. ...Sorry about this I seem to be having a moment..

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

poetic indeed......... mystical perhaps.

Yeah the mindy is a pretty tricky thingy!

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

Jackofalltrades;169485 wrote:

Today,........ in my dream i saw and interacted with a class mate of my school....... his name (was) Milton. I left school 25 years ago. Suddenly out of nowhere he surfaced again, perhaps realistically after a minimum of 20 years. Nothing unusual about this, but except that we were never so close. I should say that this fellow was not my best of friends meaning, we knew each other only by being classmates and not friends. Strangely, though i had long forgotten about him

He is a plumb guy with a chubby face. He was good, smiling charecter, that all i remember about him.

I wonder how is it that a face can resurface in our mind without any provokation or recent referneces........ just out of the blue. I am dumbstruck with this event of my dream. Today, a name or a face which i thought was erased out of my memory came back. I think that thats quite strange. There are other such experience but not as clear as this one is - with a clear face, a name, and a conversation taking place. I wish i could crack open the mind. How does memory work?

Do you guys had any similar experiences. Kindly explain this phenomenon.

I have something along the same lines happen to me when I get into certain frames of mind or thinking processes. What happens is, as I am pondering a problem or searching for a solution for a task, my mind actually travels to a particular location that I once experienced. Mostly these locations are places that I had visited at various times during my childhood. It is very strange because these places really don't hold any real significance to what I am thinking about. I just caught myself in this sort of mental day dream one day while struggling over a problem. Ever since then I have had the ability to catch my mind wandering to these specific locations. Why I happens I can speculate and give a lot of possible reasons, but that really wasn't the point of mentioning it.

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

Dreams will often reach into the long term memory.

Our dreams will often consist of things we associate with certain values and representations.

When you dream of this particular person, is because you associate him with some kind of values.

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

Jackofalltrades;169485 wrote:

Today,........ in my dream i saw and interacted with a class mate of my school....... his name (was) Milton. I left school 25 years ago. Suddenly out of nowhere he surfaced again, perhaps realistically after a minimum of 20 years. Nothing unusual about this, but except that we were never so close. I should say that this fellow was not my best of friends meaning, we knew each other only by being classmates and not friends. Strangely, though i had long forgotten about him

He is a plumb guy with a chubby face. He was good, smiling charecter, that all i remember about him.

I wonder how is it that a face can resurface in our mind without any provokation or recent referneces........ just out of the blue. I am dumbstruck with this event of my dream. Today, a name or a face which i thought was erased out of my memory came back. I think that thats quite strange. There are other such experience but not as clear as this one is - with a clear face, a name, and a conversation taking place. I wish i could crack open the mind. How does memory work?

Do you guys had any similar experiences. Kindly explain this phenomenon.

Great post. I wonder what any explanation could really provide. It could integrate this experience within a causal network, but the experience remains what it is/was.

I love the issue of memory. I argue that time is made of concept, and your dream is a point in case. Another issue is this: what is the difference between remembering a dream and remembering waking experience? Are both these types of memory the same? Is time then a sort of dream?

1 Reply

@Reconstructo,

Reconstructo;170082 wrote:

Great post. I wonder what any explanation could really provide. It could integrate this experience within a causal network, but the experience remains what it is/was.

I love the issue of memory. I argue that time is made of concept, and your dream is a point in case. Another issue is this: what is the difference between remembering a dream and remembering waking experience? Are both these types of memory the same? Is time then a sort of dream?

You must consider the subconscious and what secrets and marvels it hides. If it released all its secrets to us we would go mad. On occassions through dreams it gives us views we could never recall awake or be capable of comprehending. Every night is an adventure into our subconscious.

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@xris,

xris;170087 wrote:

You must consider the subconscious and what secrets and marvels it hides. If it released all its secrets to us we would go mad. On occassions through dreams it gives us views we could never recall awake or be capable of comprehending. Every night is an adventure into our subconscious.

Oh yes, I agree. And where do memories hide when we are not thinking of them? For me that is the most direct argument that the subconscious mind exists, or that the concept is valid. You might also say that at night the contents previously unconscious float up into our dream space.

Yes, if we were swamped by it, we would go mad. And if we don't let it out in moderation, by dreaming, we also go mad. Smile

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@Reconstructo,

Reconstructo;170108 wrote:

Oh yes, I agree. And where do memories hide when we are not thinking of them? For me that is the most direct argument that the subconscious mind exists, or that the concept is valid. You might also say that at night the contents previously unconscious float up into our dream space.

Yes, if we were swamped by it, we would go mad. And if we don't let it out in moderation, by dreaming, we also go mad.

The bewitching hour approaches , so to my bed and the next adventure awaits. Will I fly, meet my hearts desire or just dream of tomorrow's woes?

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@xris,

Krumple;170032 wrote:

............... Ever since then I have had the ability to catch my mind wandering to these specific locations. Why I happens I can speculate and give a lot of possible reasons, but that really wasn't the point of mentioning it.

Thank You,
Go ahead and speculate. How does a place be associated with particular experiences? The scenery in my dreams have always been vague,.... as if it is a blurred background. But it is the men, women and dogs etc .. ha ha......that remain in the foreground and which is clear as day light.

But you may see, that all the events are carried out in a haphazard manner, crucially though, the protoganist comes onto the screen (of the theatre called dreams) from our memory. So if some images or experience comes back after a long time, it implies that memory must have structures or layers to its composition. How does memory work is the question.

Here, as xris says like the subconscious mind we have a subconscious memory.

HexHammer;170061 wrote:

Dreams will often reach into the long term memory.

Our dreams will often consist of things we associate with certain values and representations.

When you dream of this particular person, is because you associate him with some kind of values.

Thats true......... but we also have bad dreams........ at least i have had....... and we do sometimes not like what we saw in there.

On coming to the specific instance of dreaming this particular person, and associating him with some kind of values (good or bad) is a pretty good explanation. I thank you for that.

Reconstructo;170082 wrote:

Great post. I wonder what any explanation could really provide. It could integrate this experience within a causal network, but the experience remains what it is/was.

I love the issue of memory. I argue that time is made of concept, and your dream is a point in case. Another issue is this: what is the difference between remembering a dream and remembering waking experience? Are both these types of memory the same? Is time then a sort of dream?

Can you explain more by the argument 'that time is made of concept'?

Normally the waking experience rememberances are easy to explain by the analogy of the RAM of the computer. The recent events which we witness in a conscious sate of mind is easily recorded and retrieved. If this ability was not available to most of us, than most us would have been either called insane or demented. Isn't it?....... No social conversation or interaction will take place if we do not remember the immediate past events.

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

The way I understand it, during the REM phase of sleep, delta wave activity increases dramatically (pulsing at more than 60 cycles per second) stimulating numerous areas of the brain. That this sometimes results in dreams of people and places long gone isn't terribly surprising.

We don't remember most of our dreams because most of the neurological processes that are responsible for short-term memory recording are shut down during sleep; not all, and not always - thus some we remember and some we done. Also, memories with emotionally-engrained connections are stored differently and therefore end up being recalled easier - It is quite a fantastic process and experience

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

Khethil........... thanks for that.

All that you said may be true, logically ofcourse. But, i say that there was no emotional attachment at all in the case with Mr Milton....... When Milton was a master, we just passed each other just like two fellows pass each other in a class of 52 students........ of course we might have exchanged some words (which of course i dont remember now), which is quite natural, and logical......... it is logical because, i am reasoning out the passing by incidents; because i do not even recall it from and within my memory.

My probe is to know, whether our memory has a subconscious level, which is activated when we associate or associated the face with a value we ascribe, which was noted by Hexhammer.

The rebirth of this character, after 25 years was a strange phenomenon for me. It is possible as you put it, perhaps at that time, i may have liked this guy, as i think i had no issues or grudge against him, he was kind of a neutral innocous child, but still may have liked him. Liking a guy may be an emotion of sorts, but as i said thats a big IF.

Moreover, I am also wondering, by the light of my dream experience, which is of course nothing extra ordinary in a sense, except as personal amusement, whether the dreams of angels and gods coming and speaking to some prophets and other characters in scriptures may just be such occurences, attributed as epi-phenoemnons or unnatural events taking place due to supernatural interventions. This may be a stretch....... but is it not logical, and therefore imaginably possible.

Therefore, i think, the scriptures may be true in reporting such incidents, but the authors attributions to something or someone may just be a faulty thought analysis whereby divine forces are invoked, when infact an out of blue, long forgotten event or entity comes into our dreamful state of consciousness, for which no reasons are easily acquired.

Is it not possible

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@Jackofalltrades phil,

hypnosis has intrigued me a lot......... i would like to do a therapy and see how deep i can go into my memory.

Matrix phenomenon........ naaaa..... its sci-fi

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