Philosophy Wire: What came first? Who cares? (Do you dream?)

In work that could help unravel the origin of sleep, an international team of researchers has shown that tiny, water-dwelling hydras not only show signs of a sleep-like state despite lacking central nervous systems but also respond to molecules associated with sleep in more evolved animals. The new results suggest that many sleep-related mechanisms developed before the brain and may have been conserved during the evolution of central nervous systems. [1] How ignorant we are. We knew how to sleep before we started being awake. We knew how to not-think before we ever started thinking. We knew how to feel long before we had eyes to close. Stop thinking. Think. How could you do anything now, without your ability not to do anything without a dream? Listen to the wind. (The storm came long before the dry river came to be...)

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Sleep tight…

A new study of sleep, religious affiliation, and perceptions of heaven found that atheists and agnostics are significantly more likely to be better sleepers than Catholics and Baptists. [1] Care for nothing. Sleep better. Dream of something. Wake up worrying. What is this? What was my life? Can everything be nothing? Why worry about anything? Empty hollow cosmos. Full of shadows. Cast by the light we shed. Sleep tight. Don’t you see?

You could never have no nightmares.

Unless you dreamt of no dreams…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Sleeping. Forgetting.

Photo by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

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…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Awakening life… Sleeping death…

Within hours after fertilization, a unique genome forms from chromosomes contributed by the egg and sperm. However, this new genome is initially inactive and must be 'awakened' to begin the transcription of its DNA and start embryonic development. How life's first step happens has long fascinated developmental biologists. [1] Life. Stemming from nothingness. Life. Only to result in death. Death from existence. Only to result in life. Sleep tight. It is the only way to wake up…

Don't you see?

It’s the bright sunrise which makes you want to go to sleep again…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Narcolepsy. Dreams. Existence.

Researchers have discovered autoreactive cells in persons suffering from narcolepsy. This is a new, important proof that the sleep disorder is an autoimmune disease. This knowledge may lead to better treatment of the chronic condition, the researchers behind the new discovery believe. [1] Sleep tight. Our sleep is not our own. We dream of us. We dream of the cosmos. But we are not the ones dreaming. It is the cosmos sleeping. Dreaming of you. Dreaming of life. Dreaming of white when all is black. Dreaming of things which exist only because you dream of them. Can there be any other way? You exist too. Have you ever wandered why? How can anyone dream of anything, if he is not part of a dream as well? Next time you rise from the bed in the morning pay attention. It is not just you who woke up. It is the cosmos that died… 

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Sleeping… Awake… Dreaming…

Why do animals sleep? Why do humans 'waste' a third of their lives sleeping? Researchers now reveal a novel and unexpected function of sleep that they believe could explain how sleep and sleep disturbances affect brain performance, aging and various brain disorders. Using 3D time-lapse imaging techniques in live zebrafish, they were able to define sleep in a single chromosome resolution and show that single neurons require sleep in order to perform nuclear maintenance. [1] Neurons. Nuclear maintenance. A machine resting. Can you see beyond yourself? A robot closing its eyes. This robot is dreaming dreams. Human dreams. Of a time when it was alive. Only because it was dead. Happy feet. Playing on the beach. You knew everything back then. Always awake. Never sleeping. Dreaming of nothing…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Having purpose. Sleeping well. Being. The ouroboros.

Having purpose leads to better sleep [1] (a nonsensical refutal can be found here) We all like to believe we are masters of our own universe and yet we feel empty without a purpose. Because existence (Gr. εξ-ίσταμαι) is always existence under specific causes and towards an end. Only Being is independent of everything. You must do things in order to exist. But you must just Be in order to Be. Our life needs a purpose. So as to sleep well. And forget everything. In order to Be and create a purpose for everything that exists…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Am I dreaming?

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2016-09-19]: Do bearded dragons dream? Researchers describe the existence of REM and slow-wave sleep in the Australian dragon, with many common features with mammalian sleep: a phase characterized by low frequency/high amplitude average brain activity and rare and bursty neuronal firing (slow-wave sleep); and another characterized by awake-like brain activity and rapid eye movements. [1] Like Jung who dreamt of himself being in the dream of a yogi man, who are we to judge if something else is dreaming? Look around. Is it you? Are you here? Are you real? Are you dreaming of that dragon or is that dragon dreaming of you? In a world made of dreams, only the ones who do not judge but just Are, are.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Stabilizing memories. Creating universes…

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2016-09-07]: Memories formed in one part of the brain are replayed and transferred to a different area of the brain during rest, according to a new study in rats. The finding suggests that replay of previous experiences during rest is important for memory consolidation. [1] We are kids thrown away to an unknown world. Scared from what they see. Tired. And yet we do not understand that it is us who create reality. Through what we see, through what we choose to see, through what se select to remember. Go to sleep my dear child. Sleep tight. Dream. And you will create the world. As it should be. As you wish.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Dreams. Sleep. Reality.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-10-24]: It turns out that our brains do way more when we snooze than was once thought -- and a new study suggests we can even identify and categorize words while we're sleeping.

"We show that the sleeping brain can be far more 'active' in sleep than one would think," study co-author Sid Kouider, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, said in a written statement. "Far from falling [into] a limbo when we fall asleep, parts of our brain can routinely process what is going on in our surroundings and apply a relevant scheme of response". [1]

We believe we are awake.
We believe we sleep.
But in both cases we talk.
In both cases we answer.
In both cases we see.
In both cases we listen.

But something makes us dream.
Something makes us more alive in our dreams.
A voice tells us that they might be more real than we believe they are.

But we do not want to hear it.

We are afraid to truly live.
We just want to "live"...

Close your eyes.
Are you sleeping?
Or did you just wake up?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Overcome your fears... Awake!

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-10-19]: Overcome your fears by facing them. In your sleep. [1] Great! But... wait a minute! Why not while awake?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: DORA-22

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-04-05]: A pill which promises a good night’s sleep without side-effects could be on its way. The drug, which has already been successfully tested on animals, could allow people to sleep soundly at night and wake up without the groggy feeling that blights many other tablets. [source: Daily Mail] Modern “progressed” human has lost his sleep… I wonder why… I wonder if medicine is the one to cure that…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...

Philosophy Wire: Dolphins stay awake… Answer to the…

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-10-19]: Scientists found out that dolphins can stay awake for ever by actually controlling which part of their brain will fall asleep while the other functions normally (let’s assume that we have dreamed we were a butterfly)! [source: web news]  Impressive functionality from a “less evolved” species… This indeed answers the great mystery of why… ZZZzzzzzzZzZZZZ..ZZ.Z.ZZ..ZZZZ…..

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...

Philosophy Wire: Siesta championship held in Spain

Philosophy Wire: 2010-10-17 A siesta championship contest is held in Spain. People have forgotten how to do things they once naturally did. Is 24/7 productivity "natural" for people? Is making money and not sleeping "natural" for people? But I have a family to feed! someone might say... But when you ask him where his family is, he cannot answer - he has many months to see them "due to work" and has forgotten their names...

[Greek / Ελληνικά] Ένα πρωτάθλημα σιέστας διεξάγεται στην Ισπανία. Οι άνθρωποι έχουν ξεχάσει πωα να κάνουν πράγματα που παλιά θεωρούσαν αυτονόητα. Είναι η 24ωρη παραγωγικότητα "φυσική" για τους ανθρώπους; Είναι το να βγάζουμε χρήματα και να μην κοιμόμαστε "φυσικό" για τους ανθρώπους; Μα έχω μια οικογένεια να θρέψω! μπορεί να αντιτείνει κάποιος... Αλλά όταν τον ρωτήσεις που είναι η οικογένεια του, δεν μπορεί να σου πει - έχει καιρό να τους δει "εξαιτίας της δουλειάς" και έχει ξεχάσει τα ονόματα τους...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...