Reach for your dream

Abstract

Humans share many traits with animals. They communicate, like dolphins do; they grieve, as we know from chimpanzees; they create communities like elephants; and they tend to their children, similar to tigers. So where is the decisive difference? According to Suddendorf, we humans are capable of mental travels. We create scenes and situations in our heads, which have no connection with our current situation. We imagine that we are enjoying a sunny day on a Caribbean island, while in reality we are sitting in a stuffy subway. The more important difference, though, is that the images in our heads have power over us! They influence our decisions and distract us from our ordinary duties and routines. We become dissatisfied and strive for something different. History is full of events, where humans departed from their common grounds, dared to confront unforeseeable challenges and dangers, because they pursued an imagined scene. Sometimes they succeeded; oftentimes they failed miserably. This is not only the case for individuals, like the unlucky Franz Reichelt, who in 1912 was convinced he could parachute from the Eiffel Tower wearing a self-made jump jacket and leapt to his death. Whole nations have experienced catastrophes because of delusional projects. Scotland went bankrupt and had to join the Union, because their bold Darien adventure in the jungles of Panama failed, evaporating their expensive dream of a Scottish colony and leaving more than two thousand Scots to perish. Dreams impel humans to leave their comfort zone and make irrational decisions. If they are lucky, the outcomes are great discoveries and inventions. The snag is that the satisfaction for having reached a goal wanes and the old discontent emerges again.