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An Evolutionary Theory of Dreaming

Posted by Ryan Hurd on August 1, 2008 | 13 Comments

Thinking about thinking is hard, and thinking about dreaming is harder. Believe it or not, there is only one evolutionary theory of dreaming seriously at work these days in academia. Indeed, a theory supporting the biological function of dreams has a steep hill to climb, as we don’t really have a complete theory [...]

Filed Under: Theories of Dreaming

The Trouble with Dream Studies

Posted by Ryan Hurd on November 25, 2007 | 13 Comments

This essay introduces a series of articles about the difficulties facing dream studies as a field of knowledge. These difficulties emerge at every level of participation with dreaming, from third-person gathering of dream reports to first-person remembered experience. How do we know what we know? What is the spectrum of possibility [...]

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Media Watch: Dreams article in Parade Magazine

Posted by Ryan Hurd on November 7, 2007 | 2 Comments

I was pleasantly surprised to see a new article about the value of dreaming in the Oct 28, 2007 edition of Parade Magazine. In this piece, author Robert Moss discusses the role of dreams in creativity, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and possibly human evolution.
Moss writes:

Filed Under: Psychic Dreams

Ancient humans were slackers

Posted by Ryan Hurd on October 18, 2007 | No Comments

Nature is about to publish a fantastic archaeological discovery. A cave site in South Africa has been excavated by archaeologists, revealing an ancient human encampment complete with cooked mussel shells, small stone tools, and some red ocre.
What makes this ensemble so incredible is that it has been dated to @ 160,000 years ago [...]

Tags:cognitive archaeology, evolution

Filed Under: Consciousness & Health