Dr. Dragana Favre is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and a seeker of the human psyche's mysteries. With a medical degree and extensive neuroscience education from prestigious institutions like the Max Planck Institute and Instituto de Neurociencias, she's a seasoned expert.
Our understanding of dreams has evolved over centuries, blending philosophy, psychology, spirituality and neuroscience. Could concepts from quantum physics, such as decoherence, help explain why certain dreams rise to the surface while others fade away? And how might the ancient Greek idea of kairos – the “right, opportune moment” – offer insights into why these dreams come to us at just the right time? Why there are only a few dreams we remember and many more of those we don’t?
Decoherencing the dreams
Before diving into dreams, let’s start with a simple (yet profound) idea from quantum physics: decoherence. In the quantum world, particles can exist in multiple states at once, a phenomenon called superposition. But as soon as these particles interact with their environment, they "decohere" and collapse into a single, definite state. Decoherence is the process that transforms quantum possibilities into classical reality.
This idea isn’t just for physicists–it has significant philosophical and psychological implications. Decoherence can be seen as a metaphor for the way our unconscious mind, brimming with potential, filters information and turns it into something we can consciously understand. Just as quantum particles collapse into reality, our dreams–vast networks of symbolic possibilities—collapse into a single narrative upon waking.
While decoherence explains how potential states become concrete reality, kairos adds another layer to this story. In ancient Greek philosophy, kairos refers to the critical, opportune moment when time aligns perfectly with opportunity. It’s different from chronos, the measured, linear passage of time. Instead, kairos is qualitative–a “right time” for action or revelation.
In our waking lives, kairos can manifest in moments of personal insight, where the right information or experience surfaces at exactly the right moment. In the context of dreams, kairos is the moment when the unconscious mind decides that a certain dream is ready to be remembered. This could explain why some dreams linger in our memory, appearing at critical junctures in our personal lives, while others vanish into the night.
Let’s bring these two concepts–decoherence and kairos–together and explore how they might influence the way we dream and remember dreams. Neuroscientists know that dreaming occurs mainly during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, a phase where the brain is highly active. During REM, the brain creates vivid, often surreal experiences by drawing on emotional memories, random imagery, and unconscious desires.
But not every dream is remembered. In fact, many of us forget most of our dreams by the time we wake up. Could this forgetting process be a form of decoherence? When we sleep, our unconscious mind might hold multiple potential dream narratives—just like a quantum system in superposition. As we wake, these narratives collapse into one. The dream that emerges into our memory is the “collapsed” version of the vast possibilities that our unconscious mind has been exploring.
Now, enter kairos. Just as quantum systems collapse into reality based on environmental interactions, our dreams may rise into memory based on the emotional or psychological context we find ourselves in. Dreams that align with a current struggle, unresolved emotion, or personal insight are more likely to be remembered. These are kairos moments, where the unconscious mind determines that now is the right time for a particular dream to come forward.
To further explore this connection, we can look to the work of Jung. Jung believed that dreams served as messages from the unconscious, offering symbolic guidance for the dreamer’s waking life. But more than that, he believed in a concept called synchronicity–the idea that meaningful coincidences arise when the inner world (the unconscious) aligns with outer reality.
In a way, dreams that are remembered can be seen as synchronicities–moments where the unconscious mind provides symbolic material that resonates with the dreamer’s conscious concerns. These dreams don’t just happen randomly; they emerge at kairos moments when the dreamer is ready to confront their deeper emotions or unresolved conflicts.
For Jung, dreams are more than the brain’s attempt to process random information. They are active agents in our psychological development, guiding us toward greater self-awareness. This aligns perfectly with the concept of kairos, where dreams arrive at the right time to offer insight or healing.
Modern neuroscience backs up the idea that timing plays a crucial role in which dreams we remember. Studies have shown that we are more likely to recall dreams that are emotionally intense or linked to significant life events. The brain’s default mode network–the network responsible for introspection and memory consolidation–becomes highly active during REM sleep. This network might act like a quantum system, holding various dream narratives in superposition until a particular narrative decoheres and becomes the dream we remember.
The emotional weight of a dream, much like the observer in a quantum experiment, could be the factor that determines which dream we hold onto upon waking. Neuroscientific studies suggest that emotional salience primes the brain to remember certain experiences, marking them as significant. This is a neurological form of kairos, where emotionally charged dreams are tagged as relevant to our current conscious concerns.
The interplay between kairos and decoherence also has fascinating implications for therapy, particularly in Jungian and post-Jungian approaches to dream analysis. Therapists often work with patients to explore the symbolic content of dreams, helping them uncover unconscious desires, fears, or memories. But the timing of when a particular dream is remembered—and the emotional state of the patient when recalling it–is often as important as the dream’s content.
In therapy, these kairos moments can lead to significant breakthroughs. A patient might recall a dream at a critical juncture in their therapy, revealing unconscious material that is ready to be integrated into their conscious life. This mirrors the process of quantum decoherence: multiple possibilities exist within the unconscious mind, but only when the emotional and psychological environment is right does a specific dream emerge.
Post-Jungian therapist James Hillman took this idea further, suggesting that dreams are not passive messages from the unconscious but active agents in their own right. For Hillman, the psyche operates with its own rhythm, and each dream arrives when it is needed most. This is a psychological application of kairos, where the dream itself chooses the right moment to be remembered and interpreted.
Beyond individual therapy, the ideas of decoherence and kairos also apply to society as a whole. Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious suggests that societies, like individuals, hold vast reservoirs of unconscious material–archetypes, myths, and unresolved historical tensions. Moments of collective crisis or transformation can trigger kairos events, where this unconscious material surfaces and becomes part of the conscious dialogue.
Think of historical revolutions, social movements, or even global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. These events act as kairos moments, where the unconscious forces of history are brought into conscious awareness, leading to social change. In these moments, societies experience their own form of quantum decoherence, where multiple potential futures collapse into one shared reality.
These collective moments of kairos are often accompanied by an eruption of cultural symbols, myths, and archetypes that help societies navigate the transition. Just as individual dreams can guide personal development, these collective symbols guide social transformation.
Dragana Favre, Psychiatrist and Jungian Psychotherapist
Dr. Dragana Favre is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and a seeker of the human psyche's mysteries. With a medical degree and extensive neuroscience education from prestigious institutions like the Max Planck Institute and Instituto de Neurociencias, she's a seasoned expert. Her unique approach combines Jungian psychotherapy, EMDR, and dream interpretation, guiding patients towards self-discovery and healing. Beyond her profession, Dr. Favre is passionate about science fiction, nature, and cosmology. Her ex-Yugoslavian roots in the small town of Kikinda offer a rich backdrop to her life's journey. She is dedicated to helping people find their true selves, much like an alchemist turning lead into gold.
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