Do Aliens Dream??

Just a thought I've been puzzling on for the last day or two: with all the millions of galaxies out there, containing (potentially) hundreds of solar systems, the case for intelligent life in our universe is statistically pretty strong.

That being said, do you think these other beings dream like we dream? Do they even sleep? All animals (humans included) on our planet sleep...many dream. I've watched dogs & cats dream. Why should aliens be any different? And what sorts of things might they dream about?

If it's true, as has been suggested here on ATS that we travel to different dimensions in our dreams, could we be interacting with other dreaming intelligences in the universe?? What are YOUR thoughts?

I think most complex organisms would have to have some type of down-time.

IRM

reply to post by starsyren


Absolutely not. Aliens are not human, the only way for them to have such things is for them to build a heartwarming connection with a human being. Having many adventures on the way.

And then- only then, can they dream.

Originally posted by starsyren
All animals (humans included) on our planet sleep...many dream.

But they don't necessarily sleep like we sleep. Dolphins for example, they shut down half their brain, such that they are in a half-awake state that is more of a resting phase than actual sleep. It's believed that some creatures like jellyfish don't sleep at all although they may become inactive if there's no food around. Carl Sagan used to say that we try too hard to imagine alien life looking like us, communicating like us, and being like us when in fact ETs would likely be so utterly alien to us that we may not even know an ET lifeform if we were looking right at it. When you look at the extreme diversity of life on this planet it's actually pretty hard to imagine life elsewhere looking anything like it does here. And also, when you see that we have only one evolved lifeform of higher intelligence out of the millions of forms of life on this planet it points out just how much of a crapshoot it is that there's anything else like us out there.

reply to post by TsukiLunar


Interesting theory, having trouble deciding if it was meant to be ironic or not? If not, what brought you to that conclusion...if a heart-warming connection is all that's needed for the ability to dream, could they not make that connection with each other?

reply to post by TsukiLunar


How can you be so absolutely sure that dreaming is something limited to humans? Probably the most arrogant statement I've heard all day.

Actually, aliens are the dream.

reply to post by SavedOne


That's true...but given the sheer number of possible habitable worlds out there, surely some species is bound to be like us. Like I said, it was just a fun thought I was chewin on

I believe that any living thing that has some sort of communication, will in some dream. I was just thinking how funny it would be if they dreamed of humans abducting them.

reply to post by TsukiLunar


aliens arent human? First of all you dont know that, second im sure they're thousands different type of aliens and third im sure we arent the only humans in the universe

reply to post by starsyren


Yes... I do believe that that most of the highly intelligent species dream and sleep as same as Earthlings do in normal life.

But... if they have to engage in hypersleep on long starry voyages could be a different story. My hypothesis - Is that if a person who was in hypersleep, who was engaged in a nightmare, during his or her dream state, could not wake-up to escape the nightmare. That person... could die of a heart attack, because said person could not escape his nightmare. So I believe that humanoid's or all living species, should not be allowed to dream in hypersleep.

Just to find out about what ET's dream about, [besides beautiful Earth women,] could be a fascinating revelation.

reply to post by sam_inc

post by sam_inc
aliens arent human? First of all you dont know that, second I'm sure they're thousands different type of aliens

Don't you think the second part of that statement invalidates the first ?

OP
Given that the Alien in question is sentient and not a bug or microbe then I would say yes they do dream , as dreaming is a function of the brain and seen in many different species on Earth .
What do they dream of ? , stuff related to their lives and existence the same as us I would guess .

reply to post by SavedOne


exellent point of view !
2nd if androids dream of electric sheep?

reply to post by starsyren


Is sleep associated with day and nite as there are areas of full light and full nite so it depends on sleeping or imagining or channeling or just concentrating by them. There sleep may only be a blink of a human eyes worth of time but in their time much may be going on. NOw uhman like beings who exist near other stars ect or in deep space who knows. To go further A MATRIX WOULD HAVE WLL WITHIN IT SLEEPING SOMEHOW. gOOS WUESTION

There is a book entitled, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” written by Phillip K. Dick. It is mentioned briefly in Vatel's post, and the book is what the movie, "Blade Runner" starring Harrison Ford is loosely based on. That may shed some insight on the subject for you. Also the song, "More Human than Human" by White Zombie is based on the same thing.

Do aliens dream? It is possible. Maybe if you meet one in your dream you should ask him/her.

reply to post by gortex


I don't know about your last statement...more often than not, the stuff my brain comes up with at night has NOTHING to do with my life or experiences. That's part of how I got to thinking about this question in the first place. In 99% of all my dreams (the majority of which I DO remember) I'm not in a place I know, or around people who are familiar. It's all fantastic dreamscapes and random, often absurd, situations.

When I write them down, break them down, and interpret the different parts I get an explanation of a scenario from waking life...but that's the only connection to my dreams and my reality. Perhaps, if "aliens" dream, they use them as messages to be interpreted also?

reply to post by starsyren

post by starsyren
the stuff my brain comes up with at night has NOTHING to do with my life or experiences.

Not directly but what I meant was our dreams reflect life and experiences on this planet as an Aliens dreams would reflect life and cultural experiences on their planet .

reply to post by starsyren


I don't know, i don't think so. We dream because we don't know how to truly use our brains at full capacity. If we did, I think we'd only require a few minutes of napping and less food.

or so I hear.

reply to post by starsyren


I've always believed that if they do indeed exist,they're nothing like us. Unless they're from a planet exactly like earth,which while possible is highly unlikely. So short answer,no I don't think they dream like we do. It's kind of like we're nothing like them. That's how I look at it.

reply to post by starsyren


Simply put, of course they could. Aliens out there some where will no doubt dream. It is not just a human trait. Other animals dream as well. Because we ARE animals you know. We are just a species of Ape. We just like to pretend that we are not animals.

Animals have complex dreams

So it is only natural that Aliens would dream as well. The planet you are born on has nothing to do with anything.