The operation of any cue, waking or sleeping, implies the endeavor of the
organism to provide a channel of escapement for the nervous excitation
emanating from the stimulus. The best channels, of course, are furnished by
those neurograms, or vestiges of previous experience, originally
constellated with the stimulus-idea. Indeed, as in the Scratch-Reflex dream,
we find that the stimulus does immediately tend to pass into such channels.
But the same example shows that it takes time for the excitation to raise
into consciousness the image most closely related to, or agglutinated with,
the stimulus; this being, no doubt, due to the passive inertia in the
corresponding neurogram. Meantime, during the apperceptive delay, the energy
spills over into less appropriate neurograms, albeit they are more quickly
mobilized, with the result of evoking bizarre imagery; what I have called
trial apperceptions.[36] Sometimes, too, this is adequate to meet the
situation; for the resolution of the unadjusted is complete so soon as the
stimulus is drained off, re-distributed and dynamically absorbed, as in the
case of mechanical "lost motion." A useful and intelligent solution is by no
means requisite: mere rambling often suffices.
Yet in sleep the process of trial-and-error may often result in highly
constructive resolutions, as in what the French call reve utile. This is
especially true in case the unadjusted cues are highly persistent psychic
stimuli. Here, the excitation rises instead of seeming to wear down and can
be followed in its working up, through trial-and-error, to the elaboration
of a more or less logical response to the demands of the mental
situation;--after which, the excitation appears to trouble the sleeper no
further. Unfortunately, time does not permit my giving the examples I would
like of the varieties of resolutions in dreams--with their every degree of
relevancy and irrelevancy, of a propos and bizarrerie. Instead, I will
briefly dwell on a suggestive example of mental adjustment to specific cues,
in the waking state.
A Japanese poetess is asked to combine into one word-picture the ideas of a
triangle, of a square and of a circle. After a short pause, taken up (as we
may believe) by what Ernst Mach calls the conflict of ideas, and which I
think of as imageless trials and errors, the poetess evolves the following
phantasy: "Detaching one corner of the mosquito netting, lo, I behold the
moon." This resolution left nothing to be desired.
All resolutions of problems, of riddles, of charades, and, according to my
experience, most dreams if not all, represent a trial-and-error method of
working out a reconciliation among unadjusted mental tendencies, the goal of
which is illustrated by the case of the Japanese poetess. Dreams, however,
usually exhibit only the preliminary efforts. Those are hidden in this
example, which stands midway between the severe reasoning of Euclid and the
free-play of a dreamer's response to the reproductive tendencies playing
upon his memory.
As to the theory of the resolution of the unadjusted, I must resist the
temptation to dwell on its many attractive phases, in bringing this
discussion to a close. One of its neglected aspects, however, may be
indicated within the present context, by remarking upon the feeling of
incompleteness that would at this stage, be left in the mind of the hearer,
if I should make an end, abruptly, like a phonograph stopped in the middle
of a tune. My discourse would inevitably be left at loose ends, owing to
the persistency of a number of questions which have been raised, agitated,
but not fully set at rest. These would continue to act as so many persisting
and unadjusted stimulus-ideas. These are embodied in the feeling we now
have, that a summary should be made of what has gone before concerning the
Scratch-Reflex dream and the various methods of interpreting it. Thus, our
"unfinished feeling" represents in itself an obscure demand for a resolution
of the unadjusted; it corresponds to that inner compulsion which operates
upon the imperfect consciousness of the dreamer, or upon the mentality of
any person seeking the solution of a problem or "perplex," either asleep, or
awake--as I trust you all still remain. The present demand for the
resolution of the unadjusted must be met without going deeper into the
theory of the matter.[37]