Explain Like I'm Five

14267 readers

47 users here now

Simplifying Complexity, One Answer at a Time!

Rules

Be respectful and inclusive.
No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
Engage in constructive discussions.
Share relevant content.
Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Use appropriate language and tone.
Report violations.
Foster a continuous learning environment.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

161

Why do we vividly remember our dreams ~5 minutes after waking up then promptly forget every detail? (lemmy.world)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It’s weird how I’ll see a dream and really ponder over it right after waking only for it to be completely out of my memory shortly after.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

This is a somewhat personal theory, not something I know science to confirm, but I imagine, we evolved to have dreams, because they help us play out situations that might come up similarly in the future.

So, maybe you won't ever actually be in underpants in school, but you might still get into an embarassing situation and then know how to laugh it off.

So, the learnings from those dreams, those have to be remember. But the 'simulated' situations in those dreams, they would be bad to remember, because they never actually happened. So, it's also advantageous for survival to not remember them, which is why we generally evolved to not do so.