Dreamland

I'm more than mildly impressed with the mind's willingness (or maybe it's forced on a physiological level) to uninhibit itself while sleeping.

I had a "eyes flash open, hair matted in sweat, heart pounding through my chest, brain racing to catch up with reality" moment last night. Why does our body torture itself like this? Various scientists make the claim that it's our brain trying to prepare us; it's teaching us how to survive through the worst possibilities. If that's the case, my mind is readying me for the apocalypse.

It pulled out all the stops last night. I'm not talking zombies and werewolves - think of your deepest fears and multiply them until you're in the corner crying. Yes, it was that fun. So, my question is, now that I've battled through the terrors lurking in the corners of my thoughts (and my brain gave me the upperhand - I couldn't prevent the crushing events, but I never lost hope) will I indeed be more prepared to handle and logically evaluate similar situations if they actually occur? A Nova episode on dreams discussed studies that showed improved performance on specified activities that the subject had dreamt about previously. (ex. Man dreams about ping-pong and afterwards plays more skillfully)

Scary dreams can claw their way into my slumber, I'll handle it. My brain must have great plans for me... World domination?