On “Dream Power”

Hiewon Ahn

“It’s only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange //

Dreams feel real while we’re in them.”

What are dreams really made of?

In the article Dream Power, neuroscientist and novelist Erik Hoel explores potential hypotheses for why we dream in our sleep, and indicates how we could use them in relation to novels, fiction and TV shows.

While there are several theories as to why we dream (an evolutionary byproduct, a way to store memories, etc), the possibility Hoel is most interested in is the idea of “overfitting” where likening the brain to a computer hard drive by “storing” memories. When organizing our memories, the brain trims and edits certain neuron connections, similar to the workings of Artificial Intelligence. However, this method, if not kept in check, can lead to “overfitting”, a neurological phenomenon where it fails to generalize memories and tasks, and becomes unadaptable. In the context of AI programming, people have battled this symptom by purposefully adding in corrupted commands or random, warped inputs, which keeps the program from generalizing and “overfitting.

The logic of this dream-theory goes that in our case, our dreams are the corrupted inputs that block us from “overfitting”; after all, dreams are often close to real life but warped, twisted or rendered into stranger versions of it.

Hoel acknowledges the surfeit of research needed to develop such theories; however, he also acknowledges the possibility that should this overfitting theory be true, it may apply itself to our inexplicable attraction to fictional stories and plots- maybe novels and shows, like dreams, help us from overfitting even when we are awake.

Reading this article, I came to wonder just how much of our consciousness is based on a precise, mechanical system; if dreams are simply necessary “corrupted” files to keep our brains generalizing its tasks, then are feelings- like empathy, love or sorrow- also carefully calculated reactions intended to keep us alive?