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Brainwave 2011

Brainwave 2011

Photos by Michael J. Palma

Buddhism might not exist were it not for the "conception" dream of Queen Maya, the Buddha's mother. In her dream a white elephant comes to her while she is sleeping and penetrates her right side with his trunk. It is from this same side that the Buddha is born, setting in motion a chain of fantastic events that would eventually lead to his enlightenment. The museum's fourth annual exploration of the human mind will focus on the relationship between dreams and prophecy. Why do we dream? What function does this ancillary brain activity serve? Do dreams anticipate the future? Brainwave will endeavor to answer these questions in a number of formats, including on-stage conversations between mind scientists and people from other walks of life, the museum's first "dream-over" for adults at the museum, and a series of workshops linked to the U.S. theatrical premiere of the award-winning documentary The Edge of Dreaming.

Videos

Featured Guests & Programs

Dream-Over A sleep-over for grown-ups	Video
Henry Rollins + David Eagleman The Assassin of My Dreams	Video
Jacques Torres + David Linden The Compass of Pleasure	Video
Amy Tan + Deirdre Barrett Creativity in the Dreaming Brain	Video
Debra Winger + Robert Stickgold Do Dreams Come True?	Video

Meredith Monk + John Antrobus Secrets of a Dream Diary Nathan Englander + Amir Raz Bedtime Hypnotism Nicholas Humphrey + David Freedberg Soul Dust: The Problem of Consciousness Meir Shalev + Serinity Young Who Dreamed the First Dream? Siri Hustvedt + Jaak Panksepp Hallucination and Dreaming David Salle + Iain McGilchrist Which Side of the Brain Controls You?	Scott Turow + Michael Gazzaniga The Murderous Mind Graham Joyce + Kelly Bulkeley Are Dreams Pure Fantasy? Roman Paska + Rodolfo Llinas A Dream on a String Frank McGuinness + Ernest Hartmann Irish Dreams Sharon Salzberg + Lawrence Barsalou The Buddhist Dreamer Lama Lhanang + Jayne Gackenbach Tibetan Dream Yoga
John Patrick Shanley + Polly Young-Eisendrath Do You Doubt Your Own Dreams?

Download the Brainwave 2011 brochure

The Edge of Dreaming

This film tells the true story of a woman who foretells the death of her beloved horse in her dreams and later has a similar dream about her own death.

Brainwave 2011 is made possible by generous support from MetLife Foundation.

The media sponsor of Brainwave 2011 is The New York Times Community Affairs.