Introduction
Starting from the ancient times human was always interested in strange phenomenon of sleeping and especially in dreams. Dreams were described in different ways. For instance, dreams were explained psychologically like images of sub consciousness and feedback of neural processes in human’s brain. Spiritually, it was described like messages of god (C.S. Lewis, nd). Remarkable that not only human have ability to see dreams but several species of animals (Wilkerson R. 2003). For example, rat’s sleep is almost same as the human’s they have multiple stages of sleep starting from slow wave sleep to REM stage of sleep (Animals have complex dreams, 2001). Another fact is that living beings, including humans, have more REM sleep in younger age (Siegel, 2005). In summary, dreams are well known for strange, amazing and impossible thing to happen in them, but almost all people don’t actually realize that they are sleeping during the dream. To conclude, dream itself could be defined as the complexity of images and emotions that occur during certain stages of sleep ("Dream". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2000). It is proved that dreams are linked with rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep which occur every 1.5-2 hours of sleeping and with time progress they become longer. The REM stage usually includes rapid eye movement, heavier breath, increased pulse rate and temporary weakening of muscles (Dream Basics: Understanding Sleep, 2007). It seems that dream can happen not only in REM stages of sleep, but it’s easier to remember a dream by awaking during the REM stage (Dement 1957; Kleitman 1957; Hobson 2009). It is noticed that if the person lives with emotionally rich life and his hormon...
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.... In addition, every person could use such dreams in practical life not only to gain motivation or overcome social frights by themselves, but also to expand artistic side, and even to develop physically. But, lucid dreams are not so popular, despite the fact that there is plenty of information about what is needed to be done to get ability of viewing lucid dreams, it means that advertisement is needed, so almost everyone will know about that in order to not miss a chance to touch with something that sounds such fantastic. Nevertheless, certain precautionary measures to prevent lucid dream addiction. Moreover, more reliable and affordable devices should be invented, because not everyone has needed amount of time to develop skill of lucid dream. Thus, based on the conclusion, lucid dreams have a great potential, and could give humanity plenty of positive benefits.
Webb, W. B., & Cartwright, R. D. (1978). Sleep and Dreams. Annual Review of Psychology, 29(1), 223-252. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.29.020178.001255
All mammals exhibit Rapid-Eye-Movement, or REM, sleep, and yet on certain levels this type of sleep would seem to be disadvantageous. During REM sleep, which is when most dreams occur, the brain uses much more energy than during non-REM (NREM) sleep. (1) This "waste" of energy coupled with the increased vulnerability of this state on account of the body's paralysis at this time suggests that there must be a very important reason, or reasons, for the existence of REM sleep and in extension of dreams. Determining the function of dreams, however, has proved very problematic with many arguments which directly oppose each other. Some of the primary functions of dreaming have been tied to is role in development, its production of neuro-proteins, and also to how it may allow for the "rehearsal" of neurons and neuronal pathways. The influence of dreaming on learning is one of the hottest debates. Some argue that dreams aid in learning, others that dreams aid in forgetting, and yet others that dreams have no effect on learning or memory. That REM sleep seems to aid in development might argue that REM sleep may be connected to learning. It seems that most scientists believe that REM sleep aids in certain memory consolidations although some argue that it actually leads to "reverse learning.
...heory, reverse learning theory, and activation synthesis model, others focus on the mental exercise and simulations that dreams bring to us in the evolutionary theory of sleep. While many of the theories agree that dreams are a representation of ideas and thoughts from the unconscious mind, no single theory has been formed as the single primary authority on the matter of dreams despite more support for some of the theories. The fact of the matter is that despite the rampant research and discourse on the concept behind dreaming, these theories are merely speculations. But these speculations feed the curiosity on dreams and will hopefully lead to the expansion of dream analysis to not only better develop the current understanding of dreams, but also to help people around the world by possibly expanding dream analysis to become an early identifier of mental illness.
Dreams have been objects of boundless fascination and mystery for humankind since the beginning of time. These nocturnal vivid images seem to arise from some source other than our ordinary conscious mind. They contain a mixture of elements from our own personal identity, which we recognize as familiar along with a quality of `others' in the dream images that carries a sense of the strange and eerie. The bizarre and nonsensical characters and plots in dreams point to deeper meanings and contain rational and insightful comments on our waking situations and emotional experiences. The ancients thought that dreams were messages from the gods.
A dream may be defined as a mental experience, occurring in sleep, which is characterised by hallucinoid imagery, predominantly visual and often vivid (Hobson & McCarley, 1977). J. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley argue that dreams are simply the by-product of bursts of activity amaniting from subcortial areas in the brain (Hobson, 1988; Hobson & McCarley, 1977; McCarley, 1994, cited in W. Weiten, 1998).
The average person spends over one-third of their life sleeping, and over this period of time he or she can have over 1,825 dreams (Wicklinski). By definition, dreams are mental images, thoughts, or emotions that are experienced while sleeping. In the beginning, dreams were thought to be messages sent from the gods or spirit world. Researchers now have many theories explaining why people dream. Many of these theories explain that dreams can resemble an individual’s sensory experiences or even secret wishes. All people dream, but only 42% of people can recall their dreams from the night before (“Dreams”). The study of dreams is a topic that is constantly being debated by researchers for many reasons. Dreaming is important because it can impact people’s health, provide insight into what they are feeling, and reveal information about their behavior.
Have you ever wondered why you dream and how you can sometimes direct it? Maybe you have wondered if your dream has any true meaning to it. You are not the only person who has these questions. These questions come up a lot when psychologists discuss the topic of dreaming. The topic of dreams and lucid dreaming has been around for hundreds of years. There have been many books and journals solely devoted to dreams and how they affect people today. The goal for this paper is to answer and explain the questions (Why do you dream? Can you direct your dreams? And do dreams have meanings?) using journals, books, and other resources written by widely known psychologists such as Sigmund Freud.
...n and development throughout history. After the research, I learned that while most dreams are fairly coherent, patterned, which include everyday settings, people, activities, and events, they may involve relatively unusual and perhaps bizarre aspects. Altogether, these images would allow people to have the most revealing and distinctive view of who they are and what they know in daily life by telling stories in the brain. However, while I still feel that no theory can exactly interpret what dreams’ meanings really are, it is interesting to know more how human brain’s activity (dreaming) function when people sleep. Moreover, I have decided to see my dreams as a television show with different episodes at night. That way, I will be able to enjoy the dream without ruining the fun that my brain offers because I would love to see what and how my brain wants me to see.
In this paper I hope to open a window to the vast and mysterious world of dreaming. To most people, information about dreams isn’t common knowledge. In researching this subject though, I found that everybody has and reacts to dreams, which are vital to your mental health. You will also find how you can affect your dreams and how they affect you.
For thousands of years humans have experienced a phenomenon which we describe today as dreaming. It has puzzled and sparked interest to all whom experience it. For as long as people have been dreaming, there have been people trying to understand and interpret them. This research paper examines the causation and deeper meaning of dreams. It will compare and contrast the differentiating ideas on the subject by famous psychologists and also examine first-hand accounts from real individuals. The objective of paper is to shed some light on this complex and bizarre behavior.
In this Forum on Sleep and Dreams, we will see how the diversity of academic disciplines can help to answer important questions about sleep and dreaming—questions that may touch the basis of human intellect. The Forum is fortunate in...
First, let examined the definition of dream according to Sigmund Freud “dream is the disguised fulfilment of a repressed wish. Dreams are constructed like a neurotic symptom: they are compromises between the demands of a repressed impulse and the resistance of a censoring force in the ego” (Freud, 28). This simple means that all dreams represent the fulfilment of a wish by the dreamer. Dreams are the mind way of keeping an individual asleep and to digest and work out all that we have going on inside our brains, the negative, positive, fear and unclear thoughts and actions. This set the framework for dream work. Freud also stresses that even anxiety dreams and nightmares are expressions of unconscious desire. Freud further went on to say that, “the general function of dreaming is to fending off, by a kind of soothing action, external or internal stimuli which would tend to arose the sleeper, and thus of securing sleep against interpretation” (Freud, 28). With this, it shows that a dreamer can take apart his dream and analysis it, if he or she remembers, once conscious.
If every human being were to become a frequent lucid dreamer, the world’s culture, art, technology, medicine and even science would quickly develop in a whole new direction. Consider if every inventor suddenly had a breakthrough about a new invention through lucid dreaming or if every artist suddenly began producing subconsciously inspired artwork. Imagine if every scientist could abruptly solve advanced problems that had left them stumped. If people had access to lucid dreams and used them in a productive capacity, the world would tap into a greater power within. Unfortunately, there is much speculation placed on the notion of lucid dreaming despite the numerous scientific experiments made to prove its existences.
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?
Dreams can often give some people good ideas, which they could not imagine. It is said that Robert Louis Stevenson got his idea for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from a dream. But some people think that they are not able to apply these ideas in their life so there is a well-known saying about them which says that: “IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT”. Mean to say that whatever one watches in dream he/she should try to implement it in his/her personal life and if that idea is good one that one should also pass it to others and also ask them to implement it on their lives as well. In somebody’s darkest or boring hour, dream can give somebody hope, courage and determination to some creative work which somebody has not done before.