2007-02-21 20:12:02 · 8 answers · asked by dong252076 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
Many people think and say that dreams are random images that have no meaning. If this is true, then obviously the first question to ask would be, “Then what’s the point? Why do people dream if it’s useless and random?” I have found no satisfactory answer to this question. Therefore, I believe that dreams are very important and not at all random. Having said this, I think the next question I ought to answer is, “Why do people dream? What is the purpose of dreaming?”
People who study the brain (not the mind) would probably tell you that we dream because our brains need constant stimulation. While we are awake, we get this stimulation from what goes on around us – what our friends say to us, what we see on TV, what we read about, what we observe every second. But while asleep, the brain has no outside stimulation. It needs to rework all the images with which it has been bombarded all day; this provides stimulation as well as helping your memory function. (I think, though I am not sure, that it is during certain parts of sleep that our brain decides which memories to put in our short-term memory, which in our long-term memory, and which to repress.)
However, this doesn’t answer the question of why we dream. Why is it necessary for the brain to produce images while it is working? Or are dreams just a by-product with no purpose?
This could be so; however, I believe that there are more reasons for why we dream. I think that these reasons have more to do with the mind (our perception and ways of thinking and feeling) rather than the brain (the physical part of the body that controls our thinking).
There are several schools of thought of which I am aware which try to answer the question of why we dream from the perspective of what happens in the mind rather than the brain. The two most well-known are those that believe dreams are a result of external stimuli and those who believe that dreams are a result of subconscious thinking processes. Of course, there are also people who believe that dreaming is a combination of these two things.
It is true that some dreams are caused by external stimuli. These are things that happen around you while you sleep. For instance, if someone poured freezing cold water over you while you slept, you might dream of standing under a cold waterfall. If you hear your alarm going off, you might dream of hearing a police siren or some other continuous (and probably unpleasant) sound. Also, sometimes your mind weaves external stimuli into a dream in order to protect your sleep. For instance, when your alarm goes off you might dream of being at school or work. This allows your mind to say, “I’m already where I need to be; therefore, I don’t have to get up.” This happens especially when you haven’t gotten enough sleep.
However, it is also true (or at least it is my belief that this is true) that most dreams are caused by what happens in our subconscious. Everybody has memories, thoughts, and feelings that they repress. We do this because the things we are repressing are not pleasant to us or because we can’t deal with them. One of the theories of why we dream states that the subconscious needs to “empty itself out”, but this cannot happen while we are awake because that would defeat the whole point of repression. We dream in symbolic form because if we dreamed literally what we were thinking, we would be so disturbed that we would wake up. By using symbols, your subconscious tries to protect your sleep. Also, if you do not understand the symbolism in a dream, you usually do not become aware of what it is that your subconscious is releasing. In some cases, this can protect your happiness (and sometimes even your sanity).
People also repress wishes. Many dreams are direct wish-fulfillment dreams. For instance, killing someone in a dream is the fulfillment of a wish to get rid of somebody and not have to deal with them anymore. However, most people can’t consciously harbor a wish to get ready of somebody because this is not socially acceptable. (This happens most often with people we feel we’re supposed to love, like parents or siblings.) The wish becomes repressed and manifests itself in dreams.
2007-02-21 20:15:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think that dreams are messages of things to be in the future. Not nessarily important. Once I had a dream, hard to explain but it had to do with a setting like a street corner and the side walk and everything looked kind of a blue color. Many years later after having that dream, I had a fast food job and when I was making breakfast there, everyday that I stood there at the grill cracking an egg open, that image popped into my head. So maybe the dream was telling me that in a few years I would have a job that I hate. On the other hand, lastnight I had a dream that I was fighting with a company on the phone that I had ordered stuff from about my payment and me telling them that I sent it to them and they didn't believe me. The very next morning, they had left a message on my phone that they received my payment and thanked me for doing business with them. So I do believe dreams are kind of messages but in a very weird way.
2007-02-21 20:31:03 · answer #2 · answered by toothfairy.2006 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dreams are images created by the brain that represent our deepest fears, wishes and emotions that we overtly express or repress during our conscious waking hours. Most dreams are just random thought patterns that have a life of they own and can be controllable by the subconscious mind to some extent but some can serve as messages, these are called "prophetic dreams". These can be startingly accurate but the reason and mechanism behind them are still unknown.
2007-02-21 20:19:00 · answer #3 · answered by doctor_goggles 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you imagine something, then also you get some images in your mind right? Dreams are those imaginations of your unconcious mind that you view when you are asleep. During sleep, concious mind is not working but unconcious is.
Many ancient civilisations regard dreams as powerful and magical happenings. But it is not so. Read "Interpretations of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud to get a scientific perspective.
Now once in a while something in real life might be similar to something that you "saw" in a dream. That can be regarded as pure co-incidence.
2007-02-21 20:17:14 · answer #4 · answered by TulipGirl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I like to think as what you dream is the very last thought you had before you fell asleep.I also like to think of my dreams as the world where i can get away with anything. >:D Anyonne ever have a dream where you know youre dreaming so you do things that would get you in trouble in real life? I know i do.wow....I sound like a psycho. LOL
2007-02-21 20:17:36 · answer #5 · answered by teenidol_12 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Heyyyy babes! 😋 I know your asleep right now...you always look so freaking cute while your sleeping btw! ❤️ I know you won't get this until tmrw morning when you wake up... Sooo GOOD MORNING!!! ☺️ lolz hope you have an amazing day! I'll be thinking about you all day! 💋 mwah! (Letters of your name) = 👨❤️💋👨👨❤️💋👨👨❤️💋👨👨❤️💋👨👨❤️💋👨 miss you always! 💋❤️💋❤️💋
2016-05-23 22:27:17 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
some of dreams are true but most are not..it depends on you if you believe or not..
2007-02-22 13:21:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
SHUT UP KEEP QUIET AND just enjoy....It's Gods free movie leave it alone.
2007-02-21 20:20:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋