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Dreams
"I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough." (Escher) Why do we dream? Are they instructions from the spiritual world or just deep, hidden wishes that can be used to unlock the secrets of the unconscious mind? Nobody knows for sure. One theory that is prevalent today is that dreams result from the physiological "exercise" of the synapses of the brain. There is no proven fact on why we dream, which is why there are so many theories on the topic. There is Freud's theory that dreams carry our hidden desires and Jung’s theory that dreams carry meaning, although not always of desire, and that the dreamer can interpret these dreams. After these theories, others continued such as the Cayce theory in that dreams are our bodies means of building up of the mental, spiritual and physical well being. Finally came the argument between Evans' theory and the Crick and Mitchinson theory. Evans states that dreaming is our bodies way of storing the vast array of information gained during the day, whereas Crick and Mitchinson say that this information is being dumped rather than stored. Whichever theory is true, we may never know, but from these following theories we can decide for ourselves what we believe to be true and further help us into understanding our dreams.
My own personal theory on why we dream is that the subconscious mind is always working. This results in dreams. The subconscious mind in an attempt to file away all of the information from the previous day results in dreams. A dream in my opinion is nothing more than a chemical reaction in the brain. In laboratory tests, when people were awaked during the RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (REM) stage of sleep and asked to report what was on their mind just before awaking, about 90% reported an experience termed TRUE DREAM. When a true dream is experienced is seems as if it were an actual event rather than one thought or imagined. True dreams often involve a series of such experiences woven together in a somewhat bizarre story. Even those people who claimed to rarely dream or only remember fragments of dreams in the mornings were able to give detailed accounts of a true dream experience when awakened during REM sleep. Those who were awakened during SLOW-WAVE sleep (the deeper, less mentally active stages of sleep) reported mental activity in only about 60% of cases.
All of dreams have all been composed of recent memories and experiences I had during the past days. Although dreams may seem like they are important and personal to us it only seems that way because they are composed of recent memories and emotions felt. Other than that, dreams are meaningless. The AIM model is a way to relate dreams in REM to when we are conscience. From doing this analysis I learned that although we may want dreams to mean something they are just neurological firings that stem from recent experiences. This model is a good way to determine how your brain makes connections between wakefulness and sleep.
Have you ever woken up feeling like you’ve been to the end of the world and back, yet never left your bed? Or maybe you might have had all your worst fears realized when you were asleep? In that case, you were probably dreaming. Dreams are a “series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep” (The American Heritage High School Dictionary, 2004). Everyone has about three to seven dreams a night, but it has been estimated that we forget up to 95 percent of them ( Stevens 2011). Although no one really knows why we dream every night, it’s more likely than not a way for our brain to help us solve problems.
1It is fascinating to think that dreams are a succession of images, ideas, emotions and sensations that occur in the mind during certain time stages of sleep. Researchers have often discussed the content and purpose of dreams but cannot fully understand the meaning of them or the underlying message that are displayed in the unconscious state. What are dreams exactly? Dreams are the succession of images, ideas, emotions and sensations that occur when involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dreaming mainly happens in the "rapid eye movement" REM stage of sleeping when the brain activity os high and resembles being awake. Sometimes dreams can happen during other stages of sleep. But these dreams tend to be less vivid and memorable and can vary from a few sec to 20-30 minutes. The average person has about three to five dreams a night. There are 6 common dreams states that everyone
In response, defenders of the dreaming argument may argue that our actions of sleeping and waking up may actually be part of a dream as well. Our mind creates these “images” so they can possibly serve as signals to us, the experiencer, that we will enter a new phase of our dream. In other words, when you dream of yourself going to bed at night and then waking up in the morning is evident to your mind that you have “woken up” from your dream. So, this doesn’t go against the mind’s intuition of what a dream is because we know, or more so, we dream that eventually, we wake up from our sleep. However, such things in our dreams imply the possibility that we can also dream of ourselves having dreams.
There are many theories on why we dream. Some of them fall into the religious aspect of
In this brief analysis, Cherry explains how dreams have had philosophers star struck for thousands of years. Everyone has had at least one dream they somewhat remember and have been puzzled about, and this article helps explain why. “Why do we dream? What purpose do dreams serve? While many theories have been proposed, no single consensus has emerged.” (Kendra Cherry) Cherry states that some philosophers think dreams have no true purpose, but others beg to differ. Some psychologists think dreams actually help the brain grow. Although there is no right explanation for dreams, there are many different theories on how they affect us and what their true purpose is. 1 Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams.
Dreams are very peculiar often times and are paid no attention because of their insignificance. This is the attitude of a majority of people. When people discuss dreams with peers it is discovered that most people have similar dreams and share common themes, motifs, and symbols. Of course, each dream is unique to its’ own dreamer but dreams are not random or meaningless. Dreams contain wisdom, insight to emotions, and ultimately help one to find their meaning of life. It is not to say that dreams are the one and only thing that lead to finding the meaning of living but they certainly are beneficial and helpful. Life without meaning is life without happiness or fulfillment. To truly get the meaning of life, insight, and wisdom, from dreams it is important to know the scientific history of dreams, how dreams are beneficial in solving problems, facing fears, and validating intuition, how to interpret dreams personally with dream guides and dictionaries, the possible effects on dreams, and lastly, simply make a commitment to listen to dreams and use their message for the betterment of health and living.
Dreams are series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. Dreams occur during a certain stage of sleep known as REM. Several different psychologists, including Freud and Hobson, have studied dreams. Psychologists have provided many theories as to what dreams are and the meanings behind them.
In the novel, Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M Coetzee, the magistrate’s progressive, non-linear dreams are a parallel to his growing involvement with the barbarians and his growing distaste for the empire. The great psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud said, “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious.” In every dream there is a hidden meaning and when the reader starts analyzing the magistrate’s dreams he reveals that he is oddly attracted to the barbarians and knows he should not get involved and it will be a trial to get close to them.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, dream is defined by a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring involuntarily in a person’s mind during certain stages of sleep. Dreams have fascinated humans since the beginning of time. The recorded history of dream interpretation dates back to 3000-4000 B.C. with the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. They documented their dreams on clay tablets. People back then saw the dream world as an extension of reality, but that it was a more powerful realm. Furthermore, they believed that when they dream, their souls would leave their body during sleep and travel to the dream world.
There is not an exact reason on why we dream although there are many theories, but studies show its importance to our health and well being. If you go to bed with a troubling thought or issue you may wake with a solution, or feel better about the situation (“Stages of Sleep”). Children and adults can experience nightmares during sleep (“Stages of Sleep”). There are several causes of nightmares including; stress, illness, trauma, etc (“Stages of Sleep”).
What is a dream? Why do we have dreams? Do dreams have deeper meaning in our lives? The answers to these questions have eluded and intrigued many psychologists throughout history and have sparked my interest as well. As an avid and vivid dreamer I have often found myself wondering what the true meanings to my dreams were. So what are dreams? “Strictly speaking, dreams are images and imagery, thoughts, sounds and voices, and subjective sensations experienced when we sleep.”1 Even after thousands of years of research, psychologists have still not come to an agreed answer on why we dream. There are as many opinions out there as there are individual dreams. Some psychologists believe dreaming is simply the minds way of distracting itself from outside information during sleep to allow people to get deep rest. Others such as Dr. Eric Hartman suggest dreams serve almost as a psychotherapy in which the brain can make connections between different emotions and thoughts in a safe protected environment. Do dreams have any direct correlation to everyday events and experiences? Are they meant to aid individuals in understanding and interpreting their world around them?
Despite the large amount of time we spend asleep, surprisingly little is actually known about sleeping and dreaming. Much has been imagined, however. Over history, sleep has been conceived as the space of the soul, as a state of absence akin to death, as a virtual or alternate reality, and more recently, as a form of (sub)consciousness in which memories are built and erased. The significance attributed to dreams has varied widely as well. The Ancient Greeks had surprise dream encounters with their gods. Native Americans turned to their dreams for guidance in life. Shamans dreamed in order to gather information from the spirits.
Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to understand the different functions of the human body, how we move, talk, act, and for the most part many of these physiological behaviors have been explained on some level. However, one area of the human body that has had researchers and scientist confused for a long time is the mind. Many things go on inside the mind that don’t make sense and so far have no tangible explanation of why it occurs and how. One of the most fascinating and mysterious sections of psychology is that of dreaming. We dream thousands of dreams every night, but why and what do they mean?
Throughout our lives we have experienced the activity of dreaming, but have we ever wondered if there was a hidden meaning behind it? We go to sleep, than dream, than wake up and not even remembering the slightest parts of our dreams. After a while we just seem to accept it as a normal thing and not look deeper into it any further. Dreams can be mysterious even frightening because it can change suddenly with unusual elements, but understanding the meaning of our dreams can be very insightful. Like the famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud stated that dreams are a representation of unconscious desires, thoughts, emotions, actions and motivations. I believe that dreams are a road to the unconscious mind and are a way of discovering oneself. Not only do we dream for wish fulfillment, but also to solve problems more effectively in our daily lives.