So, fun fact, when most people are able to recall whatever incredible idea or artistic vision they had in their dream, they soon realize that it was just their memory replaying something that already existed. An obscure song that you forgot about, a scene from an old movie that you’d think would make for a funny comic strip, etc. Now, this doesn’t mean that people aren’t creative and can’t dream of new things, it just means that your dreams just churn out a vomit of things you’ve processed before.
Source: I made it up
When I was a student I used to stay up late doing math homework
I would have these dreams where I was doing math and I’d solve really complex problems or create beautiful proofs. When I woke up I would furiously write them down before they faded, and then I would realize they were complete and utter gibberish.
Sometimes I do dream up something good, but mostly it’s junk.
One thing that dreams are definitely good for is writing ideas.
Unlike maths, it doesn’t matter if a story is only half-formed or incoherent nonsense… If there’s an idea in there, you can take that and grow it in a way that actually does make sense.
I was once able to fix a bug in my dream, which actually worked out in real life - although, I needed to jump up to my laptop and hack in the solution, as the dream was fading away
Although can’t really recommend dreaming of work…
Heh, for years I used to keep a notebook on my girlfriend’s bedside table. I can’t count the number of times I’d wake up (or finish) and have a solution to a problem pop into my head and have to write out the solution/pseudo code before it was gone forever.
“Why can’t the journal be on your table?”
“Coz. My table has my wrestling trophies on it.”