The Sleeping Gypsy (1897) by Henri Rousseau. Courtesy MoMA/Wikipedia
The Sleeping Gypsy (1897) by Henri Rousseau. Courtesy MoMA/Wikipedia
In recent decades, a flurry of research has helped to shed light on the cognitive experience of nonhuman animals. The results have often closed perceived gaps between human and nonhuman intelligence, while hinting at rich inner worlds and an array sensory abilities that can be peculiar – and perhaps often impossible – for us to fathom. But what, if anything, can be gleaned about how nonhuman animals might dream? In this video from the interview series Closer to Truth, the US author and psychologist Deirdre Barrett contextualises what we know about the rapid eye movements and brain structures of other mammals with high cognitive capacities – including cetaceans like whales and dolphins, and other primates – to detail the fascinating ways in which their dreamworlds might differ from our own.
Video by Closer to Truth
video
Virtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
16 minutes
video
History of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
6 minutes
video
Cognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes
video
Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes
video
Stories and literature
Two variants of a Hindu myth come alive in an animated ode to Indian storytelling
14 minutes
video
Technology and the self
The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy
14 minutes
video
Fairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes
video
Food and drink
The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner
14 minutes
video
Anthropology
For an Amazonian female shaman, ayahuasca ceremonies are a rite and a business
30 minutes