Philosophy Wire: Sleeping. Forgetting.

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In a study of mice, researchers show that REM sleep may be a time when the brain actively forgets. Their results suggest that forgetting during sleep may be controlled by neurons found deep inside the brain that were previously known for making an appetite stimulating hormone. [1] They say that during sleep we formulate our knowledge. But during sleep we also formulate our oblivion. You see, you can never learn something without forgetting something else. But the greatest usefulness of sleep is the obvious one: it allows us to stay awake! Only those who dream can stop dreaming. And we have managed to do so especially because we used to live in a dream. Now there is nothing left to stare in awe. Now the cosmos stares back at us in astonishment. Because we are awake. And the world so desperately wants to go to sleep…

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