The world’s greatest ideas that started as dreams
Did you ever come up with a new idea or solution in your dreams? Share in a comment below.
If you weren't already convinced of the power of dreams to inspire you, provide unexpected solutions to difficult problems, and guide your everyday life, here are eight examples of some of the greatest inventions that were facilitated by dreams.
1. Google's algorithm
Larry Page, one of Google's co-founders, conceived the PageRank algorithm, which became a fundamental part of Google's search engine, in a dream. The dream involved downloading the entire web onto his computer and ranking the importance of web pages based on links.
2. The theory of relativity
There are a few theories concerning how Einstein's famous theory may have emerged with the help of a few dreams throughout his life–proving that the greatest mysteries of the universe may indeed reveal themselves to us if only we listened.
In one dream from his adolescence, Einstein was riding a sledge. As the sledge started going faster and faster, he realised he was approaching the speed of light, which distorted the appearance of stars in incredible patterns and colours. He said that much of his scientific career is a form of meditation on that dream.
In another dream, he apparently saw a field of cows surrounded by an electric fence, but a farmer insisted he saw something different. This dream supposedly helped him understand how events can vary when seen from different perspectives.
Source: Wikipedia
3. The molecular structure of benzene
The German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé discovered the ring structure of benzene, a fundamental concept in organic chemistry, in a dream.
He reportedly saw atoms forming a snake-like structure eating its own tail, turning into a ring–the archetypal image of ouroboros. This led to his groundbreaking understanding of the benzene molecule as a closed ring of carbon molecules.
Inspired by his discovery, he urged fellow scientists at a research conference to "learn to dream".
I was sitting writing on my textbook, but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gamboling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly in the background. My mental eye, rendered more acute by the repeated visions of the kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold conformation; long rows sometimes more closely fitted together all twining and twisting in snake-like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke; and this time also I spent the rest of the night in working out the consequences of the hypothesis. Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth . . . but let us beware of publishing our dreams before they have been put to the proof by the waking understanding.
4. Frankenstein
Mary Shelley proves the infinite creative potential of even our worst dreams–the idea for Frankenstein came to her in a nightmare. This proves that writing down and engaging with our dreams is not only therapeutic, but could actually be the path to a significant cultural contribution.
In the beginning of the novel, she quotes the vision: “I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world.”
5. The periodic table
Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist, had been struggling to organise the known elements into a cohesive system. According to legend, he dreamed of the periodic table with the elements falling into place like a well-played game of solitaire. When he woke up, he quickly recorded his dream-inspired insights, leading to the development of the periodic table of elements.
6. DNA
James Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the DNA double helix structure, attributed part of his inspiration to a dream. In his dream, he saw a spiral staircase, which resembled the structure of DNA. This dream played a role in shaping his understanding of DNA's molecular structure.
7. The sewing machine
Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, came up with the idea after having a nightmare about being attacked by warriors who brandished spears with holes in the tips. This inspired the concept of a needle with an eye at the pointed end, which became a crucial component of sewing machines.
8. Twilight
According to interviews, the idea for the Twilight series actually came to Stephenie Meyer in a dream: on 2 June 2003 she dreamed of a human girl and a vampire who was in love with her, but also thirsted for her blood.
Stephenie Meyer was not an experienced writer at the time but decided to write down her dream and expand upon it, eventually turning it into the first book in the series.
Last but not least...
Let us not forget how Carl Jung discovered his passion for alchemy through a series of dreams that guided him towards the texts over the years.
For example, here's a dream of his from 1926 where he meets a peasant in wartime Italy and together they drive through a gate towards a manor house, seeing another gate in the distance:
“Just as we reached the middle of the courtyard, in front of the main entrance, something unexpected happened: with a dull clang, both gates flew shut. The peasant leaped down from his seat and exclaimed, "Now we are caught in the seventeenth century."
It is also said that Jung dreamed repeatedly of discovery an unknown space in his house–first a room, then a whole wing that didn't exist in real life. As he explored the space in dreams, he found a library filled with old books full of symbols he didn't understand.
It was only a few years later, when Richard Wilhelm sent Jung a translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower, that alchemy caught Jung's attention. He ordered some alchemical texts from a bookseller and was surprised to recognise the symbols he'd seen in his dreams. This was the beginning of what became the entire focus of his work for the remaining 30 years of his life and a significant contribution to transpersonal psychology today.