Learn about what you can do to remember more of your dreams. You’ll also learn about the difference between internet language and regular language, in the first edition of our “Hashtag Tuesdays” mini-series with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how you can remember more of your dreams: https://curiosity.im/31y2Y37 Additional resources from Gretchen McCullough: “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language” — https://amazon.com Follow @GretchenAMcC on Twitter — https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC Official website — https://gretchenmcculloch.com/ Lingthusiasm, Gretchen’s podcast — https://lingthusiasm.com/ Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about what you can do to remember more of your dreams. You’ll also learn about the difference between internet language and regular language, in the first edition of our “Hashtag Tuesdays” mini-series with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how you can remember more of your dreams: https://curiosity.im/31y2Y37
Additional resources from Gretchen McCullough:
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/is-internet-language-bad-w-gretchen-mcculloch-and-how-to-remember-more-dreams
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about what you can do to remember more of your dreams. You’ll also learn about the difference between internet language and regular language, in the first edition of our “Hashtag Tuesdays” mini-series with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Want to Remember More of Your Dreams? Here's How — https://curiosity.im/31y2Y37 (Cody)
There are things you can do if you want to remember more of your dreams. It’s true! And obviously dreams are still mysterious to scientists and dreamers alike. But there is research suggesting there could be some fundamental differences between people who remember their dreams and those who don't. One is gender. Researchers don’t know why, but women tend to remember their dreams more often than men. This could be due to gendered differences when it comes to interest in dreams, or it could be due to hormonal or biological differences. And it’s not just who you are, but HOW you sleep that can impact how you remember your dreams. When you fall asleep slowly, you enter hypnagogia [HIP-nuh-GAH-jee-ah], which is a period of “dreamlike visual, auditory, and physical hallucinations that occur just at the onset of sleep.” You dream more regularly when your enter REM sleep, which is that dream-ready phase that comes with physiological changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. Near the end of REM, your body either prepares to wake up or cycle through the sleep stages again. Those who wake up toward the end of a REM phase are more likely to remember their dreams.
Based on this and other research, scientists think some simple tricks might help you become a high recaller. In 2017, Harvard Medical School professor and sleep expert Robert Stickgold said that if you follow his regimen for dream memory, quote, "I would predict that 80 percent of people who initially said they never dream would say they do now," unquote. Here are the three main things he recommended: First, drink three full glasses of water before you go to sleep. You'll wake up more frequently, and as we know, that could help you remember your dreams. I said water, though, NOT beer or wine — alcohol suppresses REM, so that’s not gonna help. Second: put dreaming on your to-do list. Repeat the phrase "I'm going to remember my dreams" three times before you zonk out. Your brain likes to work on important things before sleep, and this habit reinforces dreaming as a priority. Make sure you have a pen and paper next to your bed in case you need to remember what you just dreamed. And third: wake up slowly! The worst thing you can do is wake up, turn to your partner, and say, "I just had the coolest dream." Do that, and you might forget it forever. Instead, stay half-asleep and replay your dreams as best you can. Replaying will help you store the memory differently so you'll remember it for a long time. Oh, and one more thing: remember that the longer you sleep, the more REM time you have, and the more opportunities you have to dream and remember.
[PURPLE MATTRESS]
ASHLEY: Speaking of sleep, today’s episode is sponsored by Purple Mattress.
CODY: Sleep is important — and not just for remembering your dreams. The quality of your sleep affects the quality of your daily life! Ashley has seen me on days when I’m not well-rested, and let’s just say we’re not allowed to record podcasts on those days. It’s a rule.
ASHLEY: [ad lib line] And if you’re struggling to get a good night’s sleep, then you’ve gotta try a Purple mattress. It’ll probably feel different than anything you’ve ever experienced because it uses a brand-new material that was developed by an actual rocket scientist. It’s not like the memory foam you might be used to.
CODY: The Purple material feels unique because it’s both firm and soft at the same time. It keeps everything supported while still feeling really comfortable. Plus it’s breathable, so it sleeps cool. And when you order, you’ll get a hundred-night risk-free trial. If you’re not fully satisfied, you can return your mattress for a full refund. It’s also backed by a 10-year warranty, with free shipping and returns.
ASHLEY: You’re going to love Purple. And right now Curiosity Daily listeners will get a FREE Purple pillow with the purchase of a mattress! That’s on top of all the great free gifts they’re offering sitewide. Just text Curious to 84-888. The ONLY way to get this free pillow, is to text Curious to 84-888.
CODY: That’s C-U-R-I-O-U-S to 8-4-8-8-8. Message and data rates may apply.
Gretchen McCulloch #1 — How internet language is different than regular [4:21] (Ashley)
ASHLEY: It’s pretty clear that the digital world is transforming the way we use language. And we’re going to look into exactly how it’s doing so in our Hashtag Tuesdays mini-series. Our guest for this series is internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch [Cul-luck], author of the new book “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language.” In this series, we’ll tackle whether internet-speak is really corrupting our youth, and some of the surprising differences in dialects between people from different places and generations. We’ll kick off today’s conversation by doing some level setting with this question: how is “internet language” different than the language we maybe read in a book or speak to each other in real life?
[CLIP 4:21]
Who knew we weren’t the first generation to try to come up with a sarcasm typeface? Again, that was Gretchen McCulloch [Cul-luck], author of the new book “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language.” You can find links to the book and more from Gretchen in today’s show notes, and next week she’ll be back to talk about “boomer speak” and how people from different generations are digitally divergent.
ASHLEY: And now, let’s recap what we learned today. Today we learned that you can remember more of your dreams if you wake up slowly — and, of course, if you get more sleep in the first place.
CODY: And that formal writing is safe from the scourge of emoji.
ASHLEY: And that we’ve been trying to come up with a reliable way to write sarcastically for centuries — but there’s still no perfect solution in sight.
CODY: It was also cool to learn that this is the first time in history researchers and linguists have had access to huge amounts of informal, conversational writing they can analyze. In the past it was always like, postcards or journals in museums, but archivists have only kept some of that stuff from certain classes of people, like say, educated people. [ad lib]
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Stay curious!