...a simple and sophisticated form of government This fragment of a conversation still in my 'aural memory' when I awoke from a dream this morning. Beside me, Miki muttered something Japanese in her sleep. What is the relationship between consciousness and dreaming?

It’s startling how little our science has learned about something so fundamental to our lives.

We spend a third of our lives sleeping. Sleep is extraordinarily dangerous. We could get all the physical rest we need just staying still, but no, we lose consciousness, and become vulnerable. What rewards such risk?

Here’s what we know about the relationship between dreaming and consciousness: without dreaming we are unable to stay sane and conscious. If deprived of sleep, at the first opportunity we’ll catch up, not necessarily on all the sleep we missed, but definitely on all the REM sleep. (REM sleep is named for the rapid eye movement that indicates dreaming.) Allowed to sleep but not dream, study subjects' personalities start to change.

No one has the least idea why.

Is consciousness toxic? Everything I’ve learned on the subject so far is consistent with the idea that waking consciousness is an effort that can only be sustained for limited time. A recent study reports that cognitive function declines predictably after 15.84 hours of wakefulness.
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