Every night of our lives, we dream, and our brain concocts

Richard Dawkins, ever the interpreter of nature’s mysteries, proclaims: “Every night of our lives, we dream, and our brain concocts visions which are, at least until we wake up, highly convincing. Most of us have had experiences which are verging on hallucination. It shows the power of the brain to knock up illusions.” In these words, he lays bare the fragile line between what we call reality and what is woven by the mind. The brain, architect of thought and reason, is also a master of illusions, conjuring worlds so vivid that we believe them until the dawn dispels their shadows.

The meaning is as wondrous as it is humbling. If in the silence of sleep the mind can craft entire realms—faces, voices, terrors, and joys—so convincing that we are fooled utterly, how much more must we question the illusions we embrace in waking life? Dawkins reminds us that perception is not a mirror but a canvas, painted by the brain’s own hand. To be wise, then, is to recognize the limits of our senses and to admit that truth is often obscured by the veils of imagination.

History gives us examples of those who confronted this mystery. Consider René Descartes, who in his Meditations confessed that dreams were so persuasive that he could not distinguish them from waking life. From this uncertainty, he forged the famous thought: “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes sought one foundation beyond illusion—the existence of the thinking self. His struggle shows the same truth Dawkins highlights: that the human mind is both the vessel of truth and the craftsman of deceitful visions.

This insight also warns us against the arrogance of certainty. Just as the dreamer is convinced of his dream until he wakes, so too may we be convinced of falsehoods until greater knowledge dawns upon us. Superstitions, delusions, and even entire systems of belief may be but waking hallucinations, crafted by the same mental powers that create the phantoms of sleep. The wise, therefore, walk with humility, questioning their own perceptions, seeking evidence, and never resting in blind confidence.

Therefore, let us marvel at the power of the brain—a gift that can both illuminate and deceive. Dreams remind us that reality is more delicate than we suppose, and that the mind has within it both a philosopher and a trickster. To live wisely is not to despise this mystery, but to study it, to question it, and to seek the light that distinguishes truth from illusion. For though the brain may “knock up illusions,” it is also the same instrument through which we awaken to knowledge, beauty, and the eternal quest for understanding.