An article at psychologium.com indicates that certain types of dreams can mean a person has a serious mental condition.
Vivid Dreams Can Mean You Are Highly Stressed.
If you have some very vivid and crazy dreams, then it could be a sign that you are suffering from stress and clearly this is an issue that needs to be addressed. It has also been ascertained that driven people who work in a constantly stressful environment have been shown to be more likely to suffer from these kinds of dreams on a regular basis. It is believed that it is linked to the brain finding it difficult to process the information that it has picked up during the day, so it is playing catch up during the night leading to more restless nights.
Vivid Dreams Can Be A Sign Of Bipolar Disorder
It is accepted that people with bipolar disorder can suffer from very vivid dreams and even though some argue that it can be linked to medication, this is not always the case. Instead, it is linked to the way in which people with vivid dreams suffer from disrupted sleep patterns and various sleep disorders and it is known that there is a connection between this and bipolar.
However, it is important to point out that just because you have these kinds of dreams does not mean that you have this serious mental illness, but it is at least possible. The only question that is unknown is whether the dreams can occur at the start of bipolar disorder or if it is a symptom that appears later on and is almost a by-product of the illness.
More Dreams Than Usual Can Point To Depression
It has been known since the 1970’s that there is a link to an increase in the number of dreams that a person can have with depression. Studies have shown that people with depression can have three or four times the number of dreams than a normal person and once again it is linked to the type of sleep that the person tends to have when they are depressed. It alters the REM sleep that the person gets when they are depressed and this, in turn, alters the types of dreams as well as the ability to recall them. An individual that is depressed can also find it easier to recall the dreams and they will also often feel tired in the morning as a direct result of the extra brain activity during the night.
Nightmare Disorder
Nightmare disorder is when an individual has repeated nightmares over a certain period of time and this is something that is actually recognized by psychiatrists and psychologists alike. This particular disorder has been linked to a range of mental health issues including PTSD, generalized anxiety, sleep disorders, and stress, so identifying the root cause is not always easy. It is important that an individual knows the difference between this and night terrors so that a doctor or psychiatrist can get to the actual problem.
Nightmares and Borderline Personality Disorder
As well as PTSD, it is known that nightmares may be an indicator of borderline personality disorder. As with other examples given above, it is often linked to the way in which sleep patterns are altered due to the disorder itself. Research has shown that people with borderline personality disorder often suffer from more dream anxiety than other people. It is this anxiety that can lead to the development of nightmares and the same study has shown that this anxiety can be attributed to trauma that the individual had earlier in their childhood and indeed this is one key factor in the development of this particular disorder.
Nightmares and PTSD
People that suffer from post traumatic stress disorder report a higher number of nightmares than the average person. There are studies that show that people with this particular disorder may have higher adrenaline levels, so in turn the adrenaline results in nightmares and dreams that contain a lot more energy. It has also been medically proven that certain medication that lowers blood pressure and the production of adrenaline in PTSD sufferers also leads to a reduction in the nightmares hence the certainty of the link between the two. In the case of PTSD, it is common for the individual to actually relive the events that has led to the development of PTSD, so being aware of the nature of the dream is extremely important in helping with the diagnosis.
Anxiety And Dreams
People that suffer from anxiety will often have strong dreams containing a lot of detail and they can also be quite prolonged rather than short bursts of dream activity. It is believed that it is linked to the activity of the mind during the day as it is known that, when anxious, the energy levels in the brain are significantly higher. The brain also tends to absorb more information which needs to then be processed and this is what can then lead to the activity in the dream. If the anxiety is not tackled, then this can become a recurring theme and the difficulty here is that it does tend to play a role in changing sleep patterns and other examples also state that sleep patterns do indeed play a major part in not only the ability to remember a dream, but also our mental health.
The author states that dreams are capable of being one indicator to understand the state of an individuals mental health. It does not a clear link to mental health issues, but individuals who suffer from repeated nightmares or vivid dreams probably should discuss them with their doctor.
For the LOST dream theorists, this article is another basis to conclude that the entire series, with its vivid detail, was all a nightmare/dream of a single character.
Showing posts with label behavior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label behavior. Show all posts
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
PATHWAYS TO MEMORY
One drink often leads to two—and sometimes a whole lot more.
Contrary to popular belief, this is not due to faulty willpower or
lowered inhibitions, but rather a population of neurons in the vast
neural substrate of your brain. That's what scientists at Texas A&M
Health Science Center College of Medicine say they have discovered. They
say alcohol changes the physical structure of certain neurons, creating
a greater sensitivity to alcohol and a craving for more.
This finding, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, could have major implications for the future treatment of alcoholism.
Using an animal model, researchers were able to distinguish between two types of dopamine receptors in the neurons, known as D1 and D2. Both types of neurons play a role in behavior and motivation. D1 is the “go” receptor, and D2 is the “halt” receptor. While it has been known for a long time that dopamine is involved in addiction, this study allowed researchers to see that D1 neurons become “excited” after periodic consumption of large amounts of alcohol, causing the brain to crave another drink to maintain that level of neural excitement. “If you drink alcohol, your brain will be changed in a way that makes you want to drink more,” says Dr. Jun Wang, lead researcher on the study.
Neurons are built like trees, with multiple "branches,” and on those branches are “spines”—the method by which neurons connect with one another. Dr. Wang tells mental floss, “After alcohol consumption we found that neurons have grown more branches, and more spines.” This means drinking large quantities of alcohol literally increases your brain’s tolerance of, and desire for, more alcohol.
What’s especially interesting is how alcohol changes or “matures” the shape of the neural spines from a type known as “long-thin” to “mushroom” shaped, the latter of which store long-term memory. While it may seem counter-intuitive that drinking more alcohol improves your memory, Dr. Wang says that it promotes a strengthened context-based memory. “It may not change your memory so that you will remember something better than other people; these memories will be associated with alcohol drinking specifically," he says. "If someone drinks alcohol in a bar, for example, he may remember that bar’s specific location better than someone else.” And the brain will also remember the amount of alcohol consumed and desire more of it.
In fact, when given a choice, the alcohol-consuming animals who had grown increased mushroom-shaped spines in their D1 neurons showed a greater preference for larger quantities of alcohol.
Bolstered by this information, the researchers then instilled an alcohol agonist—a drug that combines with the alcohol in the neuron’s receptors to reduce the excitability, and thus the craving. Rather than using an injection into the blood stream that would be delivered more diffusely all over the body, they injected the agonist directly into the brains of the animals to target the D1 neurons as specifically as possible. “We did observe a reduction in alcohol consumption,” says Dr. Wang. “It suggests that in the future we can target the D1 neurons and suppress alcohol consumption.”
This recent study shows how complex the human bio-organic systems are in relation to our perceived knowledge of them. The idea that neuron chains linked to alcohol consumption create branches of neuron chains to create a "memory" to reinforce the desire for more alcohol is one of those common sense face palms that science throws at us.
I once knew a medical doctor who 35 years ago claimed that the high incidents of childhood misbehavior could be linked to over-consumption of sugars by kids. His conclusion was based on his observation that people are actually addicted to things that they are allergic to . . . a chain of negative consequences from desired consumption. It was hard to get the logic around why a human body would crave things that are harmful to it. But this new alcohol study sheds some light on that organic paradox.
If experience creates pathways to memories, good or bad, and the deeper or emotional those experiences are then we can conclude that those memories will remain stronger and longer. So something dangerous, harmful or unusual could lead to strong memories - - - and then a corresponding desire to repeat the dangerous, harmful or unusual behavior in order to get a "positive" brain matrix. This is why even addicts who realize they are killing themselves continue to abuse themselves because there is a strong, organic "positive" memory associated with their excessive behavior.
This finding, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, could have major implications for the future treatment of alcoholism.
Using an animal model, researchers were able to distinguish between two types of dopamine receptors in the neurons, known as D1 and D2. Both types of neurons play a role in behavior and motivation. D1 is the “go” receptor, and D2 is the “halt” receptor. While it has been known for a long time that dopamine is involved in addiction, this study allowed researchers to see that D1 neurons become “excited” after periodic consumption of large amounts of alcohol, causing the brain to crave another drink to maintain that level of neural excitement. “If you drink alcohol, your brain will be changed in a way that makes you want to drink more,” says Dr. Jun Wang, lead researcher on the study.
Neurons are built like trees, with multiple "branches,” and on those branches are “spines”—the method by which neurons connect with one another. Dr. Wang tells mental floss, “After alcohol consumption we found that neurons have grown more branches, and more spines.” This means drinking large quantities of alcohol literally increases your brain’s tolerance of, and desire for, more alcohol.
What’s especially interesting is how alcohol changes or “matures” the shape of the neural spines from a type known as “long-thin” to “mushroom” shaped, the latter of which store long-term memory. While it may seem counter-intuitive that drinking more alcohol improves your memory, Dr. Wang says that it promotes a strengthened context-based memory. “It may not change your memory so that you will remember something better than other people; these memories will be associated with alcohol drinking specifically," he says. "If someone drinks alcohol in a bar, for example, he may remember that bar’s specific location better than someone else.” And the brain will also remember the amount of alcohol consumed and desire more of it.
In fact, when given a choice, the alcohol-consuming animals who had grown increased mushroom-shaped spines in their D1 neurons showed a greater preference for larger quantities of alcohol.
Bolstered by this information, the researchers then instilled an alcohol agonist—a drug that combines with the alcohol in the neuron’s receptors to reduce the excitability, and thus the craving. Rather than using an injection into the blood stream that would be delivered more diffusely all over the body, they injected the agonist directly into the brains of the animals to target the D1 neurons as specifically as possible. “We did observe a reduction in alcohol consumption,” says Dr. Wang. “It suggests that in the future we can target the D1 neurons and suppress alcohol consumption.”
This recent study shows how complex the human bio-organic systems are in relation to our perceived knowledge of them. The idea that neuron chains linked to alcohol consumption create branches of neuron chains to create a "memory" to reinforce the desire for more alcohol is one of those common sense face palms that science throws at us.
I once knew a medical doctor who 35 years ago claimed that the high incidents of childhood misbehavior could be linked to over-consumption of sugars by kids. His conclusion was based on his observation that people are actually addicted to things that they are allergic to . . . a chain of negative consequences from desired consumption. It was hard to get the logic around why a human body would crave things that are harmful to it. But this new alcohol study sheds some light on that organic paradox.
If experience creates pathways to memories, good or bad, and the deeper or emotional those experiences are then we can conclude that those memories will remain stronger and longer. So something dangerous, harmful or unusual could lead to strong memories - - - and then a corresponding desire to repeat the dangerous, harmful or unusual behavior in order to get a "positive" brain matrix. This is why even addicts who realize they are killing themselves continue to abuse themselves because there is a strong, organic "positive" memory associated with their excessive behavior.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
MONOCULTURE AND LIVING YOUR LIFE
Huffington Post article on 8 subconscious behaviors that keep people from living their lives they want to live:
Every generation has a "monoculture" of sorts, a governing pattern or system of beliefs that people unconsciously accept as "truth." It's easy to identify the monoculture of Germany in the 1930s, or America in 1776. It's clear what people at those times, in those places, accepted to be "good" and "true" even when in reality, that was certainly not always the case.
The objectivity required to see the effects of present monoculture is very difficult to maintain (once you have so deeply accepted an idea as 'truth' it doesn't register as 'cultural' or 'subjective' anymore) ... but it's crucial. So much of our inner turmoil is simply the result of conducting a life we don't inherently agree with, because we have accepted an inner narrative of "normal" and "ideal" without ever realizing.
The fundamentals of any given monoculture tend to surround how to live your best life, how to live a better life, and what's most worth living for (nation, religion, self, etc.) and there are a number of ways in which our current system has us shooting ourselves in the feet as we try to step forward. Simply, there are a few fundamentals on happiness, decision making, instinct following and peace finding that we don't seem to understand.
So here, eight of the daily behaviors and unconscious habits that are keeping you from the life you really want.
1. You believe that creating your best possible life is a matter of deciding what you want and then going after it, but in reality, you are psychologically incapable of being able to predict what will make you happy.
Your brain can only perceive what it has known, so when you choose what you want for the future, you're actually just re-creating a solution or an ideal of the past. Ironically, when said ideas don't come to fruition (things never look the way we think they will) you suffer, because you think you've failed, when really, you're most likely experiencing something better than you could have chosen for yourself at the time. (Moral of the story: Living in the moment isn't a lofty ideal reserved for the zen and enlightened, it's the only way to live a life that isn't infiltrated with illusions... it's the only thing your brain can actually comprehend.)
2. You extrapolate the present moment because you believe that success is somewhere you "arrive," so you are constantly trying to take a snapshot of your life and see if you can be happy yet.
You accidentally convince yourself that any given moment is your life, when in reality, it is a moment in your life. Because we're wired to believe that success is somewhere we get to - when goals are accomplished and things are completed - we're constantly measuring our present moments by how "finished" they are, how good the story sounds, how someone else would judge the summary. (If at any point you find yourself thinking: "is this all there is?" you're forgetting that everything is transitory. There is nowhere to "arrive" at. The only thing you're rushing toward is death. Accomplishing goals is not success. How much you learn and enjoy and expand in the process of doing them is.)
3. You assume that when it comes to following your "gut instincts," happiness is "good," and fear and pain is "bad."
When you consider doing something that you truly love and are invested in, you are going to feel an influx of fear and pain, mostly because it will involve being vulnerable. When it comes to making decisions, you have to know that bad feelings are not deterrents. They are indicators that you want to do something, but it scares you (which are the things most worth doing, if you ask me). Not wanting to do something would make you feel indifferent about it. Fear = interest.
4. You needlessly create problems and crises in your life because you're afraid of actually living it.
The pattern of unnecessarily creating crisis in your life is actually an avoidance technique. It distracts you from actually having to be vulnerable or held accountable or whatever it is you're afraid of. You're never upset for the reason you think you are: at the core of your desire to create a problem is simply the fear of being who you are, and living the life you want.
5. You think that to change your beliefs, you have to adopt a new line of thinking, rather than seek experiences that make that thinking self-evident.
A belief is what you know to be true because experience has made it evident to you. If you want to change your life, change your beliefs. If you want to change your beliefs, go out and have experiences that make them real to you. Not the opposite way around.
6. You think "problems" are road blocks to achieving what you want, when in reality, they are pathways.
If you haven't heard it before, Marcus Aurelius sums this up well: "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." Ryan Holiday explains it even more gracefully: "The obstacle is the way."Simply, running into a "problem" forces you to take action to resolve it. That action leads you down the path you had ultimately intended to go anyway, as the only "problems" in your life ultimately come down to how you resist who you are and how your life naturally unfolds.
7. You think your past defines you, and worse, you think that it is an unchangeable reality, when really, your perception of it changes as you do.
Because experience is always multi-dimensional, there are a variety of memories, experiences, feelings, "gists" you can choose to recall... and what you choose is indicative of your present state of mind. So many people get caught up in allowing the past to define them, or haunt them, simply because they have not evolved to the place of seeing how the past did not prevent them from achieving the life they want... it facilitated it (see: the obstacle is the way). This doesn't mean to disregard or gloss over painful or traumatic events, but simply to be able to recall them with acceptance and to be able to place them in the storyline of your personal evolution.
8. You try to change other people, situations and things (or you just complain/get upset about them) when anger = self-recognition.
Most negative emotional reactions are you identifying a disassociated aspect of yourself. Your "shadow selves" are the parts of you that, at some point, you were conditioned to believe were "not okay," so you suppressed them and have done everything in your power not to acknowledge them. You don't actually dislike these parts of yourself, though, you absolutely love them. So when you see somebody else displaying one of these traits, it absolutely infuriates you, not because you inherently dislike it, but because you have to fight your desire to fully integrate it into your whole consciousness. The things you love about others are the things you love about yourself. The things you hate about others are the things you cannot see in yourself.
Every generation has a "monoculture" of sorts, a governing pattern or system of beliefs that people unconsciously accept as "truth." It's easy to identify the monoculture of Germany in the 1930s, or America in 1776. It's clear what people at those times, in those places, accepted to be "good" and "true" even when in reality, that was certainly not always the case.
The objectivity required to see the effects of present monoculture is very difficult to maintain (once you have so deeply accepted an idea as 'truth' it doesn't register as 'cultural' or 'subjective' anymore) ... but it's crucial. So much of our inner turmoil is simply the result of conducting a life we don't inherently agree with, because we have accepted an inner narrative of "normal" and "ideal" without ever realizing.
The fundamentals of any given monoculture tend to surround how to live your best life, how to live a better life, and what's most worth living for (nation, religion, self, etc.) and there are a number of ways in which our current system has us shooting ourselves in the feet as we try to step forward. Simply, there are a few fundamentals on happiness, decision making, instinct following and peace finding that we don't seem to understand.
So here, eight of the daily behaviors and unconscious habits that are keeping you from the life you really want.
1. You believe that creating your best possible life is a matter of deciding what you want and then going after it, but in reality, you are psychologically incapable of being able to predict what will make you happy.
Your brain can only perceive what it has known, so when you choose what you want for the future, you're actually just re-creating a solution or an ideal of the past. Ironically, when said ideas don't come to fruition (things never look the way we think they will) you suffer, because you think you've failed, when really, you're most likely experiencing something better than you could have chosen for yourself at the time. (Moral of the story: Living in the moment isn't a lofty ideal reserved for the zen and enlightened, it's the only way to live a life that isn't infiltrated with illusions... it's the only thing your brain can actually comprehend.)
2. You extrapolate the present moment because you believe that success is somewhere you "arrive," so you are constantly trying to take a snapshot of your life and see if you can be happy yet.
You accidentally convince yourself that any given moment is your life, when in reality, it is a moment in your life. Because we're wired to believe that success is somewhere we get to - when goals are accomplished and things are completed - we're constantly measuring our present moments by how "finished" they are, how good the story sounds, how someone else would judge the summary. (If at any point you find yourself thinking: "is this all there is?" you're forgetting that everything is transitory. There is nowhere to "arrive" at. The only thing you're rushing toward is death. Accomplishing goals is not success. How much you learn and enjoy and expand in the process of doing them is.)
3. You assume that when it comes to following your "gut instincts," happiness is "good," and fear and pain is "bad."
When you consider doing something that you truly love and are invested in, you are going to feel an influx of fear and pain, mostly because it will involve being vulnerable. When it comes to making decisions, you have to know that bad feelings are not deterrents. They are indicators that you want to do something, but it scares you (which are the things most worth doing, if you ask me). Not wanting to do something would make you feel indifferent about it. Fear = interest.
4. You needlessly create problems and crises in your life because you're afraid of actually living it.
The pattern of unnecessarily creating crisis in your life is actually an avoidance technique. It distracts you from actually having to be vulnerable or held accountable or whatever it is you're afraid of. You're never upset for the reason you think you are: at the core of your desire to create a problem is simply the fear of being who you are, and living the life you want.
5. You think that to change your beliefs, you have to adopt a new line of thinking, rather than seek experiences that make that thinking self-evident.
A belief is what you know to be true because experience has made it evident to you. If you want to change your life, change your beliefs. If you want to change your beliefs, go out and have experiences that make them real to you. Not the opposite way around.
6. You think "problems" are road blocks to achieving what you want, when in reality, they are pathways.
If you haven't heard it before, Marcus Aurelius sums this up well: "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." Ryan Holiday explains it even more gracefully: "The obstacle is the way."Simply, running into a "problem" forces you to take action to resolve it. That action leads you down the path you had ultimately intended to go anyway, as the only "problems" in your life ultimately come down to how you resist who you are and how your life naturally unfolds.
7. You think your past defines you, and worse, you think that it is an unchangeable reality, when really, your perception of it changes as you do.
Because experience is always multi-dimensional, there are a variety of memories, experiences, feelings, "gists" you can choose to recall... and what you choose is indicative of your present state of mind. So many people get caught up in allowing the past to define them, or haunt them, simply because they have not evolved to the place of seeing how the past did not prevent them from achieving the life they want... it facilitated it (see: the obstacle is the way). This doesn't mean to disregard or gloss over painful or traumatic events, but simply to be able to recall them with acceptance and to be able to place them in the storyline of your personal evolution.
8. You try to change other people, situations and things (or you just complain/get upset about them) when anger = self-recognition.
Most negative emotional reactions are you identifying a disassociated aspect of yourself. Your "shadow selves" are the parts of you that, at some point, you were conditioned to believe were "not okay," so you suppressed them and have done everything in your power not to acknowledge them. You don't actually dislike these parts of yourself, though, you absolutely love them. So when you see somebody else displaying one of these traits, it absolutely infuriates you, not because you inherently dislike it, but because you have to fight your desire to fully integrate it into your whole consciousness. The things you love about others are the things you love about yourself. The things you hate about others are the things you cannot see in yourself.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
TOLD WHAT TO DO
It sums up what he was all about: bitterness.
His anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly with resentment were the key traits of his character.
He was abandoned by his unwed, teen mother.
He was further abandoned by his con artist father.
He was further abandoned by a series of foster parents.
Was this the foundation for a mental condition or just welded into his mind as self-esteem, self-worth and unresolved parental issues.
But bitterness can cause illness.
New research suggests constant bitterness can make a person ill.
In the study, Concordia University researchers examined the relationship between failure, bitterness and quality of life.
In his research, Wrosch examines why some people avoid bitterness at different stages of life and why others don’t.
Over the last 15 years, Wrosch has investigated how negative emotions, such as regret or sadness, affect people. Most recently, he has focused his attention on the impact of bitterness.
Feelings of anger and accusation are often found with bitterness.
Unlike regret, which is about self-blame and a case of “woulda, coulda, shoulda,” acrimony points the finger elsewhere — laying the blame for failure on external causes.
“When harbored for a long time,” Wrosch said, “bitterness may forecast patterns of biological dysregulation (a physiological impairment that can affect metabolism, immune response or organ function) and physical disease.”
He estimates that between one and two per cent of the population is embittered and by giving the condition a proper name, people with PTED will receive the therapeutic attention they deserve.
While experts continue to review this perspective, Wrosch and Renaud say bitterness can be avoided.
They hold that if people who experience failure can find other ways to fulfill their goals they can avoid being bitter.
If they cannot discover alternatives, then individuals need to disengage from futile efforts (e.g., to get promoted, to save a marriage) and reengage in something that’s equally meaningful (e.g., a new job or passion).
This process is called self-regulation. Researchers state that meaningful activities to disengage and reengage can be necessary for a person to avoid bitter emotions.
“Any effective therapeutic intervention,” said Renaud, “hinges on the affected individual finding ways to self-regulate.”
In some cases, overcoming bitterness demands more than self-regulation. When bitterness arises from blaming other people, then recovery may involve others.
“In order to deal with bitter emotions there may need to be something else required to enable a person to overcome the negative emotion — that something is forgiveness,” said Wrosch.
Friday, November 29, 2013
YOUTH
I read in a magazine that "the wonder of youth" is a prerequisite for all that is possible in life.
What are the main attributes of youth?
Learning. The absorption of knowledge of one's surroundings begins immediately after birth. The ability to begin to move around in one's environment is the next step. Then the acquisition of knowledge becomes standardized in each person's own culture. Trial and error is acceptable as a child.
Rebellion. Perhaps based on the lack of knowledge of how things really work, youth often rebels against the constraints of their parents or society norms. Many parents wait for their wild children to get their rebellious tendencies out of their system before they leave the nest.
Experimentation. Youth have less inhibitors when it comes to social norms, vices, alcohol, drugs, etc. Some scientifically inclined will just throw things together just to see what happens. Many times, they don't believe things cannot be done.
Dreamers. Youth more often than not have dreams about the paths they want their life to follow. A young child can dream to be a fireman or an astronaut. Through child's play, imagination is developed which later on can be formed into applied knowledge to solve problems.
Fear. Until a child grows up to see the world as it is, he or she can become trapped in the simplest of fears such as the dark, being left alone, etc. There is an emotional development to growing up and experiencing life which parallels the intellectual development in people.
A child can view the wide open world with wonder.
As people grow into adulthood, these attributes are reformed.
Learning becomes adult skill sets for one's employment or profession.
Rebellion becomes the desire to improve oneself's lot in life.
Experimentation gives way to standardized habits and behavior.
Dreams become more nostaglic as a daily routine becomes the norm.
Fear gives way to anxiety and emotional bouts triggered by certain stressful events, such as
marriage, a new job, a death in the family, an accident, or the birth of a child.
In some ways, the main characters in LOST held more true to the attributes of youth than the reformed ways of adulthood. This can reinforce the notion that the characters were actually children in the guise of "acting as adults" in a dream world.
What are the main attributes of youth?
Learning. The absorption of knowledge of one's surroundings begins immediately after birth. The ability to begin to move around in one's environment is the next step. Then the acquisition of knowledge becomes standardized in each person's own culture. Trial and error is acceptable as a child.
Rebellion. Perhaps based on the lack of knowledge of how things really work, youth often rebels against the constraints of their parents or society norms. Many parents wait for their wild children to get their rebellious tendencies out of their system before they leave the nest.
Experimentation. Youth have less inhibitors when it comes to social norms, vices, alcohol, drugs, etc. Some scientifically inclined will just throw things together just to see what happens. Many times, they don't believe things cannot be done.
Dreamers. Youth more often than not have dreams about the paths they want their life to follow. A young child can dream to be a fireman or an astronaut. Through child's play, imagination is developed which later on can be formed into applied knowledge to solve problems.
Fear. Until a child grows up to see the world as it is, he or she can become trapped in the simplest of fears such as the dark, being left alone, etc. There is an emotional development to growing up and experiencing life which parallels the intellectual development in people.
A child can view the wide open world with wonder.
As people grow into adulthood, these attributes are reformed.
Learning becomes adult skill sets for one's employment or profession.
Rebellion becomes the desire to improve oneself's lot in life.
Experimentation gives way to standardized habits and behavior.
Dreams become more nostaglic as a daily routine becomes the norm.
Fear gives way to anxiety and emotional bouts triggered by certain stressful events, such as
marriage, a new job, a death in the family, an accident, or the birth of a child.
In some ways, the main characters in LOST held more true to the attributes of youth than the reformed ways of adulthood. This can reinforce the notion that the characters were actually children in the guise of "acting as adults" in a dream world.
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