What functions do dreams serve today? One view, published in a reputable scientific paper, holds that the function of dreams is to wake us up a little, every now and then, to see if anyone is about to eat us. But dreams occupy such a relatively small part of normal sleep that this explanation does not seem very compelling. Moreover, as we have seen, the evidence points just the other way: today it is the mammalian predators, not the mammalian prey, who characteristically have dream-filled sleep. Carl Sagan
About This Quote

Dreams, in the form of lucid dreaming, are often considered to be a way for us to take control of our dreams and help us avoid bad dreams. However, the dream world is much larger than we realize. The dream world contains strange creatures, landscapes, and other things that seem strange at first but are actually real. This is because the goal of lucid dreaming is to connect with our consciousness, not just to control dreams or wake us up.

Losing sleep by forcing oneself to stay awake is not healthy. Instead of trying to control our dreams, we should be focusing on learning more about them and spending more time practicing lucid dreaming.

Source: Dragons Of Eden: Speculations On The Evolution Of Human Intelligence

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