Rothko Dreams Our World Tuesday |
Your dog lies asleep at your feet, and suddenly his legs begin to twitch and run. Is he
dreaming? Or are you dreaming to think such a thing? Wake up and smell the dog food! Of course he's dreaming. Why would you think otherwise?
Although no one really knows the true function of dreaming it does seem to be necessary for
normal data processing and memory storage. Dogs think and they have memory. And their
memory banks need period purging and reorganization during sleep just as ours do.
Dogs and humans are not as different as some scientists would have us believe. Scientists tend
to dwell on the differences between the two species, whereas the sameness is positively
compelling.
We're 95 percent identical genetically and physically (right down to the iron-containing porphyrin ringour common blood pigment, hemoglobin). Because of this blue print similarity, you might expect a lot of the inner
workings to be the same and they are.
Our brains are similar, our neurochemistry is the same, and our reflexes
and memory are "wired" in like manner.