Sunday, February 20, 2011

XV- The Birthplace of ideas and solutions


" If you cannot find the solution to your problem..sleep on it".
                                                                                                         - An old adage

The intuitive (sub-conscious ) mind is a sacred gift
    and the rational (conscious ) mind is a faithful servant.
 We have created a society that honors the servant 
 and has forgotten the gift."
                                                              - Albert Einstein


It was the year 1994. I had my board exams and as such had to wake early. My mother told me that not to worry and just tell to the pillow ( yes!! ..just before going to sleep )  what time to wake up, and I will. I did not think much about it at the time. I did as was told and was later surprised that my sub-conscious mind did wake me up at the exact time. I had successfully commanded my sub-conscious mind !!

I wondered how and why it worked but did not put my mind on it  as I had a lot of other mundane things  on my  mind those days. But as I researched the subject of the mind, I began to realise the beauty of the sub-conscious mind. I began to realise that it can not only be commanded but can also give us solutions and ideas that we search for.

Indeed, the Industrial revolution was started by the AC motor, the design of which came to Nicole Tesla in a day-dream.  Further, theory of relativity on which modern science is based came to Einstein in a dream. The structure of benzene and carbon also came to Kekule in a dream.


Further, Dr.  Otto Loewi, popularly known as ' The father of Neuroscience' , attributed his nobel price in 1936  for his work on the chemical transmission of nerve impulses in brain, again to a dream. Infact, after analyzing many discoveries, Dr. Loewi noted " Most so called 'intuitive' discoveries are such associations made in the subconscious".

It is not only discoveries that have come to people in dreams but also creativity has struck people in dreams. The song ' Yesterday ' by the Beatles came to Paul McCartney in a dream. He was so amazed by it, he mistakenly thought he must have heard it before somewhere.

Why is the sub-consicous mind so intelligent and our thinking and rational mind so dumb and merely a servant?. With this question, I slept..thinking that I would get an answer in my dreams..:)

well..I waited. some days passed..no answer came. I remembered that  I am one of the many persons  who hardly get any dreams while sleeping. My enthusiasm wained and  I forgot the question. However a few days later.. there was a black-out in our area. I held a torch in my hand and had just begun to climb the stairs..that the answer just came to my mind. Our 'conscious or rational mind' acts like a  torch. It can only see and work as far as the light reaches. In other words..its just a very small part of the entire mind. On the other hand, the sub-conscious mind works in the dark. It does not have to deal with limitations of the torch.

I was so  surprised that the solution came to me while I was awake and not in a dream as was the case with all the scientists and artists..but... just then another question struck.... isn't this reality also a  dream???....... :)

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P.s- Would love to hear about your dream or comments on this blog. Please add your comment below..would be useful to others for correlating  their own experiences.

Evidences

BBC article on the creativity of the sub-conscious mind.
Just google  " famous discoveries in dreams. "
A wonderful article on sub-conscious and typing





3 comments:

  1. Good thought over the sub conscious mind part but at the end your point comes to inception, So if we are really living in a dream then how can u define conscious or sub-conscious mind as the conscious mind works in the dream we are living then what about sub-conscious state you mean we dream in the dream we are living. I will like to understand the thought or is it like we partition our computer hard disk into C: dive and D: drive where C: drive is the conscious mind and D: drive is the sub-conscious mind.
    ROHIT

    ReplyDelete
  2. As you must be familiar to the fact that like attracts like and hence I would like to mention here that I think in the same way.

    If I successfully attract you then please visit my blog too:

    http://hypnotism-therapy.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. hi.. i am from houston..like the simple way you have handled a complex topic!..makes so much intuitive sense..keep writing!

    - steve

    ReplyDelete