Talking in Our Sleep -or- The Philosophy of Homo Somniloquens
Internal Monologue -or- Mastering Inner Speech
Talking in one's sleep is a common occurrence, talking out-loud while one is sleeping is not. Sleep talking or somniloquy is prevalent in childhood and slowly disappears in puberty. From a research point of view the question is simple; as children learn language, they internalize speech functions in form of inner speech, does somniloquy correlate to internal monologue development? Said differently, is the problem of sleep talking out loud a problem of mastering inner speech?
One of the things that make dream research so "awesome", is the fact you can always learn something new about the philosophy, thoughts, beliefs and customs that exist around the planet. One of our universal human behaviours is talking, and in the dream below a Chinese man is talking to a venerated Eastern goddess, that I had never heard of. Who knew.
Huizhong, Chinese, 70
I dreamed I was talking to Guanyin goddess of mercy and compassion and it felt wonderful.
Mr Hagen's Reply: I and Thou -or- Eastern and Western Philosophy of Dialogue
Your dream is not about "small talk", yours is a conversation with the goddess of mercy and compassion Guanyin. Dialogue is the foundation for philosophy East and West. I believe that one of the closest Western equivalents to your dialogue would be Martin Buber's "I and Thou". The Socratic "dialogical self" provides a philosophical foundation stone for our social identity. The words and the images in the East and West may vary, however the idea and spirit of compassion and empathy are universal.
Thank you for your dream.
Further Reading:
- Allan Watts, "Psychotherapy East and West"