Why Do We Have Such Strange Dreams?
by Lymiy Chrean in General, Wellness, Tech
The story
Why Do We Have Such Strange Dreams?
What if our dreams are more than just random stories?
Neuroscientist Erik Hoel proposed an interesting theory: dreams might help our brains avoid overfitting—a concept in Machine Learning where a model becomes too focused on what it has already learned and struggles with new situations.
Could our strange, unrealistic dreams actually help our brains adapt to the unexpected?
What the sources say
Sources clearly cover Hoel’s theory, but independent evidence is limited and the explanation remains unproven.
- Erik Hoel proposed the overfitted brain hypothesis. (Backed by sources: Rifters, Tufts, Nautil)
- Strange dreams may help brains adapt to new situations. (Backed by sources: Rifters, Tufts, Discovermagazine)
- The theory is not scientifically proven. (No source found: National Institutes of Health, Tufts)
Sources it was checked against
- Your weird dreams might help your brain function better in real world, scientist says (Spokesman)
- The overfitted brain: Dreams evolved to assist generalization - PMC (National Institutes of Health)
- Calendar (Rifters)
- Our dreams' weirdness might be why we have them, ... (Sciencedaily)
- A New Theory for Why We Dream | Tufts Now (Tufts)
- Weird Dreams Train Our Brains to Be Better Learners - Nautilus (Nautil)