how sylvari get knowledge in the dream

If a sylvari gets knowledge of the world in The dream by other sylvaris' memories,don't they get exponentially smarter with every cycle of birth?what i'm saying is, if a secondborn is born with the knowledge of the firstborn, a thirdborn has both the knowledge of the secondborn and the firstborn,isn't it?if this happens in a few years they must be the most intelligent race ever. kinda reminds me of AI.probably i'm wrong in some aspect or i missed something important in sylvaris lore, what are your opinions?

Every sylvari gets a different knowledge to deal with the real world problems.

We dont know how the dream works, but your theory may be correct.

Also one sylvari can get more than 1 Wyld Hunt- the special mission.

Caithe's original mission was to kill an elder dragon, then her 2nd was to protect the Egg-Aurene.

Sylvari knowledge isn't perfect. Even "today's" sylvari may be confused by little things like children or what a fork is. What they know is relevent to functioning in the world - their profession, what the other races other sylvari have encountered are, and how to survive. Valiants - those born with a Wyld Hunt - are also aware of a mission they must do. Even faces may be seen in the Dream, though perhaps not names.

There's still a lot about the Dream we don't know. The starting area for sylvari is our biggest clue, as is the vision with Trahearne. It accurately predicts the future, or at least a possible one if nothing is done. How it works, though, and why Malyck didn't have his own, is anyone's guess at this point.

That is a fairly accurate assessment, but it's not so far removed from our own, real world education systems. Sylvari don't "download" knowledge, per se. They share experiences. While the pool of experiences grows with every generation of Sylvari, they're still limited by which experiences they have before they fall, and the which Sylvari they experience it from.

As an example: a newborn Sylvari builder isn't given knowledge of house-building that every other Sylvari builder knew, but instead the memory of learning how to build a house, as if they were in the same class together.

The common metaphore for how knowledge from the Dream works is that the knowledge is like water in a well or a lake (the Dream) and sylvari get only a bowl to scoop out the water (knowledge).

A Thirdborn sylvari would have knowledge that both Firstborn and Secondborn learned, but not all of that knowledge. No matter what, the bucket size won't increase over the generations, just the size of the well.

So the younger the sylvari, the more varied their pre-awakening knowledge will be, while the older sylvari awoke with less varied knowledge. But they all woke up with roughly the same amount of knowledge.

In essence, the Dream of Dreams is a vast collected subconscious. The Pale Tree holds the race's collected knowledge and emotion, like a lake into which is poured the sum of sylvari experience. When a new sylvari is born, it's as if they draw a bucket of water from that lake, a small portion of the whole. Only a few memories reach the Pale Tree: the most important or those that have the greatest emotional impact or meaning. They can include entire scenes from a sylvari's life, such as their first battle or their first time cooking an apple pie. They can also be a single poignant moment such as pain, fear, or the face of an enemy.

A sylvari has no control over what experiences are gathered. They cannot communicate with the tree in this manner; the Mother Tree is drawing in hundreds of thousands of fragments from her children. Nor can an unborn sylvari choose which memories they will experience while within the Dream. When a sylvari awakens, the direct connection to the Dream becomes weakened. No longer surrounded by the Dream, their connection to other sylvari becomes more of an empathic bond, capable of receiving and sending strong emotions, but no longer detailed or communicative. It is nothing more than a subtle buzz.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dream_and_Nightmare

Sapling (1): When I dipped my ladle into the Dream's knowledge pool, I think I accidentally used the straining spoon.Sapling (2): (laugh) I know what you mean. My knowledge of the world feels spotty, at best.Sapling (1): Oh, to be omniscient. (laugh) I haven't the slightest idea how to cook, but I know a word like "omniscient."Sapling (2): (laugh) The Pale Tree sees all. We must believe she showed us exactly what we need to know.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Village_of_Astorea#Ambient_dialogue

Just two of many uses of that water metaphor.

(There's a bit of humor that I had just edited and updated the Dream of Dreams wiki article before seeing this thread...)

Considering there is "spirit" of Ventari and sylvari fighting risen in the dream, I would say Sylvari "witness" past, present, potential future in the dream. They do not have information imprinted in their brain "matrix style"

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:The common metaphore for how knowledge from the Dream works is that the knowledge is like water in a well or a lake (the Dream) and sylvari get only a bowl to scoop out the water (knowledge).

A Thirdborn sylvari would have knowledge that both Firstborn and Secondborn learned, but not all of that knowledge. No matter what, the bucket size won't increase over the generations, just the size of the well.

So the younger the sylvari, the more varied their pre-awakening knowledge will be, while the older sylvari awoke with less varied knowledge. But they all woke up with roughly the same amount of knowledge.

In essence, the Dream of Dreams is a vast collected subconscious. The Pale Tree holds the race's collected knowledge and emotion, like a lake into which is poured the sum of sylvari experience.

When a new sylvari is born, it's as if they draw a bucket of water from that lake

, a small portion of the whole. Only a few memories reach the Pale Tree: the most important or those that have the greatest emotional impact or meaning. They can include entire scenes from a sylvari's life, such as their first battle or their first time cooking an apple pie. They can also be a single poignant moment such as pain, fear, or the face of an enemy.

A sylvari has no control over what experiences are gathered. They cannot communicate with the tree in this manner; the Mother Tree is drawing in hundreds of thousands of fragments from her children. Nor can an unborn sylvari choose which memories they will experience while within the Dream. When a sylvari awakens, the direct connection to the Dream becomes weakened. No longer surrounded by the Dream, their connection to other sylvari becomes more of an empathic bond, capable of receiving and sending strong emotions, but no longer detailed or communicative. It is nothing more than a subtle buzz.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dream_and_Nightmare

Sapling (1): When I dipped my ladle into the Dream's knowledge pool, I think I accidentally used the straining spoon.Sapling (2): (laugh) I know what you mean. My knowledge of the world feels spotty, at best.Sapling (1): Oh, to be omniscient. (laugh) I haven't the slightest idea how to cook, but I know a word like "omniscient."Sapling (2): (laugh) The Pale Tree sees all. We must believe she showed us exactly what we need to know.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Village_of_Astorea#Ambient_dialogue

this is exactly what i needed to know, thank you very much for the detailed answer and the on point metaphor of the lake,very easy to comprehend.

In Chapter 10 of the Ghosts of Ascalon novel, the sylvari necromancer Killeen tries to explain the concept of sylvari knowing things and the role of the Dream. :)

"It isn't mind-reading," said Killeen, "and we aren't all connected into one big mass mind. However, before we come into the world, the sylvari are united in the Dream of Dreams."
[...]
Riona had set Killeen off by asking the question "You're five years old. How do you know so much?" Indeed, it was a question that plagued Dougal as well. Unlike Riona, he had known a number of sylvari, and they always surprised him with the depth and breadth of their knowledge.
By the same token, there were matters that were completely beyond them. Emotions seemed to be a hard concept for them to understand fully, as was tact. The sylvari he had dealt with over the years would often unknowingly offend others by pointing out obvious and uncomfortable truths.
"We are the bounty of the Pale Tree, which grows at the center of the Grove," said Killeen. "Long ago there was a human warrior named Ronan who found the seed of the Pale Tree in a cavern. Ronan tired of war and, along with a former foe, a centaur named Ventari, traveled to the south and planted the tree in what would become the Grove.
"Ronan passed on, and so, too, in time did Ventari, who spent his life tending to the young sapling. Before he died, Ventari carved his tablet and set it down at the base of the tree. When we awakened, that tablet became our law, and we were infused with the spirit of both brave Ronan and gentle Ventari.
"We were not there when all this happened, but we know it because of the Dream of Dreams. While we were quickening within the golden fruit of the Pale Tree, the tree spoke to us of the world outside. She taught us, if you will, of the nature of the waking world.
"We are not all-knowing," she continued. "The Dream of Dreams is not like a tome of all knowledge. But it does give us a life before our life, in which we learn much of the world we are coming into. Fire is hot. Wild animals can be dangerous, but many can be tamed. Here is the proper way to use a sword. This is how you cast a spell, if you are so disposed. We come into the world with knowledge of the world, but not necessarily the experience."
Riona shook her head. "Is there a difference? Experience gives you knowledge."
"For humans, most likely," said Killeen, "but not for us." She picked up an oversized drumstick. "This is the leg of a young moa. I know that it was a moa from the Dream, and further that it is well cooked but not overcooked. I know what it tastes like but have never tasted it myself." She took a bite of the leg, and chewed for a moment or two. "Chicken," she said at last, the word muffled by the food in her cheek.
"I don't know what is weirder," said Riona, looking a little uneasy, "your telepathic dreams or the fact I am watching a plant eat an animal."
"Many plants eat animals," countered Killeen. "Flytraps, ibogas, jacarandas, pitcher plants. The oakhearts chase down and mash animals they encounter and use the remains to fertilize their young."
"Of course they do," said Riona. She turned to Dougal and whispered, loudly, "Creepy!"
If Killeen heard the comment, she did not respond to it. "But we don't have telepathic dreams. In the Dream of Dreams, one grows one's identity. When one is Awakened into the world, we leave the Dream behind, for the most part. But what we learn in the world goes back into the Dream to help new sylvari understand. The Firstborn entered into a world without sylvari, but what they learned helped all that followed them. So, too, what I learn will help future generations."
"Must make it hard for sylvari to keep secrets," said Riona, and Dougal realized what she was thinking: Killeen knew everything they knew about the mission. Who else has emerged, newly fallen from the Pale Tree who knew about this?
"We try not to keep secrets," said Killeen, almost smugly. "But knowledge is rarely specific. A face, an item, perhaps a name, may stay with us once we Awaken. We may feel drawn to a particular place or person, or feel that some task needs to be done. Occasionally, something in the Dream echoes back to an awakened sylvari, but it is more of a feeling than a vision filled with details and specifics. That is one reason so many sylvari wish to fight the Elder Dragons: we dream of a great shadow in the Dream, and awaken to a world where the dragons cast an equally deep shadow on the land.
"As an example"--she motioned at Dougal with her moa bird--"I know about the long war between the charr and the humans, but not as much about the reasons why, or what happened in Ascalon City." She looked at Dougal and took another big bite of moa flesh to indicate she was done talking for a while.