A nightmare is a failed dream, a dream that, by not “handling” anxiety, has failed in its role as the guardian of sleep

 --- Irving Yalom, quoted by Anneliese Burgess in Oor die lewe se dwarswinde, Binne+Land, 9 November 2025

Burgess writes

Ek vind Irvin Yalom se benadering tot drome verfrissend prakties en menslik. Hier is wat ek meen hy oor my droom sou gesê het. Eerstens dat die inhoud van die droom nie 'n kode is wat ontsyfer moet nie, maar eerder 'n uitnodiging tot 'n gesprek met myself.

Daardie kloppende hart is die wysheid van die liggaam wat aandring op aandag. Vir hom is tydsberekening nooit toevallig nie. Die feit dat ek droom van iets wat terugkeer na aanleiding van 'n foto uit die Kamdeboo presies 'n jaar gelede, sê iets oor waar ek nou in die lewe is.

Vir Yalom is 'n droom 'n daad van kreatiwiteit; die psige se poging om 'n storie te vertel wat miskien nog te moeilik of pynlik is om andersins sinvol verwoord te word. Yalom moedig ons aan om self betekenis uit ons drome te te skep – nie deur 'n universele droomwoordeboek te raadpleeg nie, maar uit ons kennis van onsself. 'n Groot aspek van sy denke is "eksistensiële angs" – hoe ons beïnvloed word deur ons bewustheid van ons sterflikheid, en die sterflikheid van verhoudings. Verwerping, wat in daardie droom 'n dwarswind was, raak aan 'n universele menslike vrees vir alleenheid en die dood van verbintenisse wat vir ons sin gee.

the purpose of planning is to develop the planner, not to develop the plan

 --- Angus Fletcher, in conversation with Russ Roberts about his book, Primal Intelligence, EconTalk, Nov 3, 2025,  11:25

Russ Roberts: But, say a little bit about this idea of why it's worthwhile to plan, even though the plan is smashed as soon as your helicopter lands, because then most people would say, 'Well, then that was obviously a mistake. Why would you plan if it's not going to work out?'

Angus Fletcher: So, no plan survives contact with the enemy, which is why centralized planning is always a mistake. Which is why you always have to decentralize planning to the people on the ground, who are able to more rapidly adapt and evolve as the situation itself evolves.

The reason you plan is to become a better planner. So, this is a core thing that kind of goes to the book. It actually comes from Dwight Eisenhower, and Dwight Eisenhower says that basically what you do before any military operation is you make a plan for everything you can imagine happening. You think, 'What if my enemy does this? What if my enemy does this other thing? What if I have this unexpected breakthrough? What if I have this unexpected challenge?' You make plans, you make plans, you make plans, you make plans, you make plans; and then the moment the battle starts, you throw out all the plans, and you just focus on what's happening now.

And so, to your point, why do you spend time planning? Well, the purpose of planning is to develop the planner, not to develop the plan. In other words, it's to make you better able at inventing new courses of action on the fly.