DREAMING HISTORY

A Harvard University research team under neuroscientist Robert Stickgold reports that when people face problems, napping helps. He explains it to 'Science News' this way: "If you're studying something tough, get the basics down and take a nap. If you dream about it, you will probably understand better."

The napping part is known by every college freshman, but the dreaming part inspired me to dream my way to an idea. Historians have long debated the forces that shape history. Generally the scholars fall into three camps: Determinists, ideologists, and the great-man theorists.

The first take the measure of the determining forces of a country such as its climate, natural resources, national genetics. Factors over which a nation has no immediate control. Favorable or unfavorable, these factors largely determine your fate. The second camp argue that national ideologies are the essential driving force in a country's achievements or failures.

The last group postulate that the occasional appearances of "great men" in history are what largely shape the course of the times. These historians have a suite of examples to lay out: Alexander the Great, Caesar, Genghis Khan, Charlemagne, Philip II, Henry VIII, Washington, Napoleon, Bismarck, Mao, Hitler, Churchill, FDR. [There are those who push this envelope all the way to the prediction of a world-changer known as the anti-Christ ]

Right or wrong, the "great man" theory of history crept into my dreams recently, Here's what I found. Th landscape of a stressed world in which climates are changing, economies are faltering, institutions are cracking, and confidence seeping away faster than my 401K funds. In my dream -- nightmare? -- I saw the shadows of great men and women looming over the scene, raising their voices to confront the challenges and lead "the people."

At first, exciting...!

But then in my dream I saw and heard "the people" drowning out the calls from the leaders. "Why go that way? What about this way? We have a right to take you down! We don't like too many orders, too much arrogance!" A discordant chorus of free voices freely expressing their 101 different alternative ideas.

And so everyone raised their own battle flag and pointed in their own direction. "We are a free people, so no one has the right to lead...!" As my dream faded, I no longer saw or sensed any "great men" at the head of "the people." Only a thousand-points-of-light each illuminating a thousand different paths.

Just then I woke up. I'm still trying to sort through my dream. How's your dreams?