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Maybe someday
35
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
52/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Sidarta Ribeiro, Daniel Hahn
Publisher:
Pantheon
Date:
August 17, 2021
A neuroscientist explores the role of dreams in human existence and evolution, arguing thatâfrom the earliest cave paintings to today's cutting-edge scientific researchâdreams have contributed to humans' capacity to perceive past and future and our ability to conceive of the existence of souls and spirits.
What The Reviewers Say
How can we explain the nature, recurrence and meaning of dreams?.
The Oracle of Night makes a resounding case for the mystery, beauty and cognitive importance of dreams. Ribeiro marshals prodigious evidence to bolster his case that a dream is not simply 'fragments of memory assembled at random' (as he summarizes Francis Crick’s dismissive position), but instead is a 'privileged moment for prospecting the unconscious'.
If this were just a science book it would be rich and full, but Ribeiro weaves in a history of dreaming, selecting ideas that support his evolutionary argument.
... a capacious examination of the phenomenon of dreaming.
