Dreams and Entropy

Lately, probably due to a combination of influences, my dreams have been absolutely spectacular. Even better, I am remembering them. I always dream, usually pretty good dreams, but I don't always remember anything about them. Last night's were a combination of story dreams, ones that relate to my personal space, and then one that related to something I was going to write for the blog.

The first dream was a kind of mythological love story of a prince who fell in love with a very ordinary serving girl and was willing to give up everything he had, including his life if needed, to be with her. It took place mostly on ships and at sea, had some characters to create obstacles. I am thinking the people were from India and back in history to the 1800s or maybe even further although it did require there being big ships. The story was lovely and ended happily which was good as not all myths do that. My imagination did a good job on this one.

Then came a dream about looking out my window (the one right here beside where I am typing) and seeing buffalo in my yard. Although I had no idea where any buffalo would have come from in this area, my problem was how do I get them out of the yard before they break down the fence to mingle with my cows, possibly taking my cattle with them when they go merrily on their way. Obviously you don't just herd buffalo as you would cattle. That'd be a good way to get killed. About the time I thought of all that, they did knock down the fence and were in with my cattle. That didn't resolve itself before something else came along.

Finally came the dream that rearranged when I was going to write the next blog. I had one all set to go for today and it was about consequences. After the dream, I moved it as I really liked this dream and how it fit with the subject of consequences.

It was kind of an ordinary dream but I was having an argument or rather a debate in it. The argument was over whether you could predict human behavior, whether there was any sort of grid that really laid out what people, or even anyone particular person, would generally do in any set situation. (This is assuming there is no god pulling the strings, of course).

My point was that whatever humans had done before, how many times they had repeated the exact same behavior, you could not be certain they would do it again because humans don't have a scientific predictability built into them. Other things can happen that change what they can or will do. Even a whim can rearrange it totally. This was all true because of entropy.

When I woke up, I asked Farm Boss what entropy meant as the word was very clear to me in the dream but not the exact meaning of it. He said, keeping it simple, that it was about the scattering of energy and unpredictability.

It turns out (still keeping it simple) that entropy means the measure of uncertainty associated with a random variable. It is a measure of disorder or more exactly-- unpredictability. So no matter how many times you flip a coin, it doesn't tell you what the next coin flip will be. Some things have very little possible entropy to them and with some it's totally what it is. The argument of course is how does that apply to humans... or does it?

It related very much to the thinking I had on consequences but I had never thought of that word as part of it. Entropy, however, was at the heart of my whole line of thinking. It's not a word I use.

Before I went to bed, I had not asked for a dream that related to what I was writing, but I always appreciate it when it happens and especially gives me a great word that certainly wasn't in my routine vocabulary even though I'd heard it used before. The dream brought it as really a gift. The question of whether that is random chance or a pattern that cannot be seen is, of course, up for debate.

Exactly what has led to my dreams being so good right now, I am not sure. I have done a lot of things that could be playing a part from editing that fiction story (which is proving challenging on multiple levels), watching a very thought provoking movie the night before but one that had absolutely nothing to do with any of the dreams, doing some drawing which requires looking for and at something I want to draw, sorting photos to put into a family slide show of a recent beach trip, the super full moon, and looking through old art magazines to clip out what inspired me before I sent them off to be recycled.

Actually I guess I should have been expecting some very full and lush dreams given all that. In a way dreams are a kind of scattering of energies as they aren't at all predictable at least not for me. They come as they will and not at all as I might want them to do. And yet... and yet, that dream fit something else and how do I explain it coming as it did especially with a word that I would never think of using in my waking hours-- well before this?

Possibly I should work more on lucid dreaming and sometimes I have as I finish up a dream in that twilight of barely being awake. Why I remember them or don't, that I can't explain. Possibly I am sleeping a bit more lightly with the full moon although I feel I am sleeping pretty well.

Currently I do realize I have been feeding the imagery more than is usually possible for me even as the dreams were totally in other realms-- well except maybe the buffalo herd in with our cows...

Out of curiosity, because I haven't had a dream about buffalo herds before, I checked my favorite online [Dream Dictionary] which said to see a herd of buffalo in your dreams signifies tranquility and plentitude. To see a buffalo in your dream, symbolizes survival, strength, and power. That all sounds good unless of course, they are mingling with your cows and your concern is they will lead your cows off. I'll have to give the possible meaning of that a little more consideration.

(The sketch is from Tuesday and the sketch a day challenge. Finally we have daffodils blooming. The sketch is based on two that the lambs picked and dropped. Sheep don't actually eat daffodils but lambs don't know that until they try. Farm Boss brought them in and they were a good basis for pretending I was outside where if I had been, I'd have had raindrops all over the paper which some might like but with an ink drawing, not so good!)