Before turning to the essence of the article, it would be worthwhile to recall the good old film "The Big Change", shot at the dawn of the seventies of the last century (in 1971-72). One of the most curious and completely uncharacteristic for Soviet realistic cinema was a shot when the hero E. Leonov, trying to learn in 5 minutes in a dream material on the story, falls asleep while reading a paragraph from a textbook and broadcast news.
What he gave out the next day in class, the whole country knew. The method was presented by the director in the form of an absurd comic situation, but, nevertheless, this form of training is practiced, and its effectiveness is still being studied by scientists of the most prestigious and world famous universities.
The subconscious mind knows how to remember
What is there in 1971! The fact that a sleeping person better assimilates and remembers information was noticed in ancient times. Not very capable students in ancient Greece were taught in a special way. No, we didn’t keep the abyss until they learned the lessons, they were simply offered to lie down to rest, and during their sleep the teachers tried to “put” in their heads the maximum of the necessary educational material, which the ancient Greek students could not remember during the classes.
Of course, it was not possible to learn a little in 5 minutes in a dream, but in an hour or another half nap, the unlearned material could be made up.
At different times in different countries there were sensational reports of phenomenal memory during sleep. The fact of activation of memory was associated with the fact that a person in the stage of deep tranquility works not with the mind, not with consciousness, but with the subconscious - the deepest tool provided to each of us by nature.
The first phase: the effect is obvious
However, there is a drawback in this form of learning: the “memory” remains active only during the first phase of sleep (we call it drowsiness, drowsiness), but the subconscious mind becomes absolutely indifferent to everything we want to whisper to it, after going into the deep phase - perception new information at this moment ends.
That's why there is a need to invest in a short period of time and learn everything you need in 5 minutes. Dream training a priori cannot be a lengthy process.
The superficial (first) stage of sleep is also the notorious alpha rhythm (up to 13 Hz), in which "everything impossible becomes possible." It is often used during meditation to bring to life the desired object or event. In the case of learning in a dream, it is also an improvement in the process of memorization.
What you can learn in a dream
Restrictions on the choice of subjects that you would like to learn in a dream, not. Something is better for everyone, something is worse. If you have complete order with mathematics, then it makes no sense to duplicate the study of this subject even in a dream.
Usually "sleepy pedagogy" (the scientific name is hypnopedia) is used not only to study those subjects that are difficult to give, but also for a quick learning course.
Mastering foreign languages, acquiring useful skills (including swimming, and learning IT technologies, and understanding the basics of playing musical instruments) are in the first row among subjects that can be studied in a dream.
Using hypnopedia is quite realistic for emergency memorization. For example, for the day you completely got out of your head that tomorrow morning you need to recite verses on the chef’s birthday. And time is already late, there is no time to teach, and the head "does not cook" ... What should I do? How to learn a verse in 5 minutes? In a dream!
Lie down, relax, ask someone at home to read you a poem several times. But at the same time try not to fall asleep at all - otherwise the result will be the opposite. A few minutes will be enough to study. In the morning, it remains only to repeat.
Researchers and Skeptics
They believe in the phenomenon and are tirelessly explored by neurophysiologists from Northwestern University (Chicago, USA). They publish a report on the results of each experiment in authoritative scientific journals.
That it is possible to learn any subject in 5 minutes in a dream to any person, they proved by the example of playing two simple piano melodies, twelve notes of which the study participants learned in a dream not even in five, but in four minutes.
But there is in academia a group of skeptics proving the opposite. This group claims that there is no memorization in a dream, there is only the opportunity to consolidate previously learned material.
Hypnopedia and the state of the nervous system
Representatives of the scientific world precisely from the second group warn that such a teaching methodology is unsafe: it negatively affects the nervous system, keeps the whole body in tension, not allowing it to fully relax, and is especially undesirable for a growing organism.
This conclusion made parents and school teachers think, so the experimental lessons for six-year-olds, when they were taught mathematics and their native language during daytime sleep, had to be urgently canceled.
But reading fairy tales to children before going to bed is a good tradition. And quite safe.
As for hypnopedia, reviews of its effectiveness are 50/50. Some fear its widespread use, since the effect may have a flip side: instead of learning in 5 minutes in a dream something useful, you can earn chronic insomnia and irritability.