IGNACIO, Cara Isabela D.

IGNACIO, Cara Isabela D.                                                                         STS-X2

2013-13841                                                                                                  Group 5

Reaction Paper: Dreams

The producers of Inception created a documentary film on dreams. It reveals the meaning, interpretation, and nature of dreams. This paper aims to discuss the things I’ve learned from the documentary. Also, it will include my understanding of the documentary.

A dream, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, is “a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep.” The mind operates unconsciously while a person is dreaming.

Let me discuss sleep. There are 3 stages of sleep: light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. Dreaming occurs during the called Rapid-Eye Movement, or REM, sleep. A dream may happen in other stages of sleep but it is more vivid during the REM stage. This is because REM sleep is the stage wherein brain activity is high, as if an individual is awake.

People have been wondering whether dreams are scientific or existential. Some say it is either while others say it is both. In my opinion, it is both scientific and existential. Dreams are considered existential because a person uses his creativity and imagination in order to dream. Emotions, memories, feelings, personal experiences, and so much more, are some of the factors that may affect dreaming. It may be considered a science, on the other hand, because science studies dreams. It explains to us how our mind works. Dreaming is not purely science because while someone dreams, he does not use logic. In other words, dreaming is both existential and scientific.

Dreaming is truly wonderful. It may give meaning to some aspects in our lives. For example, in the documentary, there was this girl who would always see the shadow of a man. Slowly the man approached her then he hugged her. A week later, she met a guy and felt the exact way she did in her dream. Another man in the film was a chain smoker. One night he dreamt about getting lung cancer and this became his wake up call to stop smoking.

Dreams prepare us for the worst case scenarios. It is a defense mechanism that helps us practice what to do when in danger, without really being in danger. Dreams allow us to enter dangerous situations in order to be prepared when it happens to us in the real world.

Lucid dreaming is when a person is aware that he is dreaming. This type of dreaming happens when one takes control over his dreams, but it takes a lot of practice. Lucid dreams are very vivid and realistic. Most people remember it easily.

In summary, dreams are truly amazing. First, dreams can give meaning to things in our lives. Second, it may be controlled. Dreams may be affected by external factors when one is asleep. It can also be affected by the dreamer himself. Third, people share dreams. This connects us with people around the world. We may have the same dreams, without knowing each other. Also, dreams serve as our defense mechanism by putting us in worst case scenarios. These are just some of the wonders of dreaming. It is only the tip of the iceberg.

IGNACIO, Cara Isabela D.                                                                                     STS-X2

2013-13841                                                                                                              Group 5

Reaction Paper: The Life of Mammals

The documentary film we watched in class was entitled The Life of Mammals. The film introduced to us the numerous types of monkeys, how they lived, and how they interacted. It was very interesting because it showed the countless similarities we, human beings, have with monkeys.

One of the things I learned from the film is that monkeys have the richest social lives of all animals. Not only that but, they too are the closest to us humans.

Monkeys have amazing color vision. Without this, they would have a hard time distinguishing the things they would eat. Their color vision compensates for their average sense of smell. The Pygmy Marmosets, the smallest monkeys in the world, use their clear color vision to catch insects among the leaves. This helps them detect and even catch their prey. Howler monkeys, on the other hand, use this to distinguish which leaves are poisonous. The color of the leaves indicate which is ready to eat and this is why the howler monkeys need this special ability.

Like humans, monkeys too have a caste system. The Saki, for example, use the different colors on their faces to determine the seniority of an individual. The Toque Macaques of Sri Lanka have another version of a caste system, more similar to ours. They are born into classes and each class gets certain benefits.

Monkeys are very smart. They have large brains. They can learn things by imitating people. The Orangutans are known for this. They have big brains, can imitate people, and can use tools. Orangutans have a sort of mental map and calendar. They live apart due to food scarcity but once a year, there is an abundance of food in the forest, and they know when that is. Orangutans are very sociable and they have an amazing memory. They can recognize their friends even after several years apart.

Chimpanzees are highly sociable and highly political. After catching a prey, they share it very strategically with their clan. They give food to the monkeys that can become their allies. This just shows how clever they are.

“Perhaps the time has now come to put that process into reverse. Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, perhaps it's time we control the population to allow the survival of the environment." – David Attenborough

David Attenborough ended the documentary film with this statement: “Perhaps the time has now come to put that process into reverse.” Human beings are too focused on change and development. We create the most outrageous inventions in order to make life easier for us. We have been blinded by the wonders of technology that we can’t see the main issue at hand. We do not need advance machines and equipment for us to survive, what we need is to take care of our environment.

Our world is damaged and global warming is getting worse. If we continue neglecting our planet, we may lose our home. Everyone must act now and help out the environment. Even the little things, like planting a tree or turning of the lights, can contribute to a better tomorrow.

To summarize this paper, I invite everyone to do their part in saving our planet. Prevention is always better than cure. We should act now so that we will have a home to live in tomorrow.