The Molecule of More

Friedrich August Kekulé became famous when he discovered the structure 
of the benzene molecule, an important industrial chemical of that time. 
Chemists had established that the molecule was composed of six carbon 
atoms and six hydrogen atoms, which came as a surprise. Usually molecules 
of this sort have more hydrogen atoms than carbon atoms. It was clear that 
whatever structure the molecule took, it wasn’t an ordinary one.
The chemists tried to arrange the carbon atoms and the hydrogen atoms 
in all sorts of ways that wouldn’t violate the rules of chemical bonding. 
They knew that carbon atoms could be strung together like beads on a 
string, and there could also be side branches coming off at right angles, but 
none of the structures they tried were consistent with the known properties 
of the benzene molecule. The nature of its true shape was a mystery. Kekulé 
described the moment of insight when he realized what that shape was:
“There I sat and wrote my [chemistry textbook], but it did not proceed 
well, my mind was elsewhere. I turned the chair to the fireplace and fell 
half asleep. Again the atoms gamboled before my eyes. Smaller groups this 
time kept modestly to the background. My mind’s eyes, trained by visions 
of a similar kind, now distinguished larger formations of various shapes. 
Long rows, in many ways more densely joined; everything in movement, 
winding and turning like snakes. And look, what was that? One snake 
grabbed its own tail, and mockingly the shape whirled before my eyes. As if
struck by lightning I awoke.”
The vision of the snake with its tail in its mouth, the ancient ouroboros, 
led to the insight that the six carbon atoms of the benzene molecule 

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THE MOLECULE OF MORE
formed a ring. Like the snake with its tail in its mouth—complete in 
and of itself—dreams are inner representations of inner ideas. Cut off 
from the senses, dreams allow dopamine to run free, unconstrained by 
the concrete facts of external reality. 
Dr. Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist and dream researcher at Har-
vard Medical School, notes that it’s not surprising that the answer to 
Kekulé’s problem took a visual form. Much of the brain is every bit as 
active during dreaming as it is when it is awake, but there are crucial 
differences. Not surprisingly, the parts of the brain that filter seemingly 
irrelevant details, the frontal lobes, are shut down. But there is increased 
activity in an area called the secondary visual cortex. This part of the 
brain doesn’t receive signals directly from the eyes, which receive no 
input during dreaming. Instead, it is responsible for processing visual 
stimuli. It helps the brain make sense of what the eyes are seeing.
Dreams are highly visual. In her book The Committee of Sleep: How 
Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem Solving—and How 
You Can Too, Dr. Barrett explains that just as Kekulé discovered the struc-
ture of benzene in a dreamlike state, ordinary people can use dreams to 
solve practical problems, too. Dr. Barrett put the problem-solving power 
of dreams to the test in a group of Harvard undergraduate students.
She asked them to choose a problem that was important to them. 
It could be personal, academic, or more general. Next she taught them 
dream incubation techniques. These are strategies people can use to 
increase the likelihood of having a problem-solving dream. The stu-
dents wrote down their dreams every night for a week or until they 
believed they had solved their problem. The problems and the dreams 
were then submitted to a panel of judges who decided if the dream 
really did provide a solution.
The results were striking. About half the students had a dream 
related to their problem, and 70 percent of those who dreamed about 
the problem believed their dreams contained a solution. The indepen-
dent judges mostly agreed. Among the students who had a dream about 
their problems, the judges deemed that about half offered a solution.
One of the students in the study was trying to decide what kind 
of career he would pursue after graduation. He had applied to two 

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133
CREATIVITY AND MADNESS
graduate programs in clinical psychology, both of which were in his 
home state of Massachusetts. He had also applied to two industrial psy-
chology programs, one in Texas and the other in California. One night 
he dreamed he was in an airplane, flying over a map of the United 
States. The plane developed engine trouble, and the pilot announced 
that they needed to find a safe place to land. They were right over 
Massachusetts, and the student suggested that they land there, but the 
pilot said it was too dangerous to land anywhere in that state. When he 
woke up, the student realized that after spending his whole life in Mas-
sachusetts, it was time to move on. For him, the location of the gradu-
ate school was more important than the area of study. His dopamine 
circuits had provided him with a new perspective.
DREAMING STORIES AND SONGS 
Dreaming is a frequent source of artistic creativity. Paul 
McCartney said he heard the melody for “Yesterday” in a 
dream. Keith Richards said he came up with the lyrics and 
riff for “Satisfaction” in a dream. “I dream colors, I dream 
shapes, and I dream sound,” said Billy Joel in an inter-
view with the