Why do people think that dreams mean something?

Question

There has NEVER been ANY compelling scientific evidence showing that dreams mean anything at all. There have been studies that show that dreams can be mental filtering. When are people going to get over Freud???

Answer 1

EXACTLY. I don't believe in that crap.

Answer 2

well what exactly do you mean by 'dreams mean something'? at this point in time our knowledge and understanding of dreams can best be described by the lack thereof. Neuroscience is making significant steps forward, but there is still much we don't know. Dreams might be a window into our streams of subconsciousness, a play off Hume and others. As far as other musings of dreams being predictors of the future, premonitions of a sort, there is little reason to believe such fantastical speculations, not to mention the paradoxical implications that would have on our understanding of time and free will. As far as we know, and that isn't much, dreams can be meaningless imagery depicting utterances of our subconscious, recollections and creations from our memory, or something of a supernatural or spiritual sort. I tend not to believe the latter, but that is probably true on many other instances where this sort of dichotomy manifests itself. Without empirical evidence or compelling theoretical arguments, there is little reason to believe the more entertaining interpretations of dreams. However this does not qualify one for discounting the possibility of the idea in its entirety, in a premature manner.

Answer 3

I agree completely. It's terribly misleading to take some external system of symbols, such as Freud's, and apply it to somebody's dream imagery. Even so, the dream itself can often tell you something about what's been on your mind a lot recently.

To understand a dream, it’s helpful to keep in mind why and how we dream. When we sleep, the body and perception systems are shut down, but the brain remains active. The brain thinks about what has recently been most active during waking hours—experiences, thoughts and feelings accessed recently whether consciously or not. The brain is still active, so it works on this content, but not in a familiar, rational way. During sleep, this material is not related using input from the external real world, but rather by the brain connections already established in the cortex. So the story connectedness isn’t like everyday experience, but rather a strange, circuitous flow from one image to the next. So dreams aren’t magical messages to guide our life, but dream imagery is taken from everyday experiences, thoughts and feelings that matter most to us during our waking life. So it’s a mistake to apply standard symbol definitions, such as Freudian meanings. All you need to do is think about what kind of imagery it is and how it relates to your daily life.

For example, if you dream about being pursued by a relentless dark deadly entity, in your waking life you may feel threatened (not necessarily by death) or insecure, that the forces of life could make your life difficult or cause loss. And often worrying about death IS what's going on.

Answer 4

to your last question i don't know, but it was Freud who said dreams where a reflection of what we wanted and couldn't have. hidden ambition.
people hear this, and when they dream something they don't understand, they want to find an explanation to that dream, or think it is a premonition.
most people want to find a "why" to everything.

Answer 5

Your dreams a way for your unconscious mind to work out problems that plaguing your waking life. No, a banana or a tree or an arrow or anything else means something about sex, but they are significant.

Answer 6

Because sometimes they actually do AND it has been proven that dreams can sometimes act as a messanger trying to tell you something. Look it up.

Answer 7

because sometimes they does.
people knew that long before Freud was born.

Answer 8

Cause they do. It may not be some huge meaningful thing but they do show you things that need your attention most often.

Answer 9

your dreams express your xubconcious thoughts so if you understand your dreams you can understand yourself better