Dreams are a very ponderous things. Simply saying, dreams are a stream of images, sounds, and
the actions of something; like a movie. But never have dreams been able to be explained. The
Greeks and Romans claimed that dreams were signs from their gods and had prophetic magic
(www.scientificamerican.com). Even though the purpose of dreams has not been discovered, a
huge movement in the study of dreams occurred at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1952,
scientists in Chicago discovered electrical readings during a certain stage of sleep. When woken
up in this stage, people almost always remember their dreams. This stage is the only stage of
sleep where we dream, and it is known as the REM stage (YouTube.com).
During the REM stage your brain acts as if it is awake, with a small difference. Chemicals, such
as norepinephrine, serotonin, and histamine, are blocked. This causes your body to become
paralyzed so that you do not act out your dreams. With this being said, it is possible to wake
suddenly not being able to move because your body has not stopped blocking chemicals from
entering your system. The REM stage is the deepest sleep stage. In this stage your heart rate and
breathing become inconsistent. REM sleep is very important, even though it only takes up about
25% of your sleep cycle. Without REM sleep, your body is tired and cannot remember things.
Your body, even though it is paralysed in this stage, relaxes. REM sleep is vital for the body,
even though the exact reason is not known. Without it not being known, it affects the theories of
why we dream. (YouTube.com)
There are many theories on why we dream. Some of them fall into the religious aspect of
things, but most are...
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...association
between emotion and symbol help the brain recognize the emotions and weave them into
our personal history.Ultimately, this hypothesis brings us back to the storytelling
component of dreams. We seem to use these bizarre images and ideas to make sense of
the day's events, to turn random neural firing into something coherent, and even to figure
out how we should feel about what's happened to us. There is no doubt that dreams play a
major role in our thought processes. The question remains, however: Are they an
evolutionary adaptation, or just an uncanny accident? (10 theories that explain why we dream)
Whether it is believed to be a distraction or an adaptation, dreams are still a mystery.
Scientists and society may ponder on the interpretations of their meanings and origins
until the end of time. Until then, we will just keep dreaming!
For years, psychologists have been wondering over the mysterious field of dreams. Dreams have always been mysterious. The content of the dreams can shift instantly, featuring unexplained events or sudden terrifying images (Whitman, Ornstein & Baldridge, 1964). The fact that the content of dreams can be enthralling is what causes many psychologists to believe that there has to be some implication to dreams (Webb & Cartwright, 1978). While many theories are formed to explain the functions and meanings of dreams, there is a lack of evidence on their purpose. In fact, recent researchers such as G. William Domhoff suggested that dreams most likely serve no real purpose (Domhoff, 2001). This research essay considers the whether there are a significant functions and meanings of dreams by responding to the following questions.
A common definition of dreams according to “Patterns for College Writing” is “the symbolic representation of mental states”, but this sparse definition does not begin to encompass the complex mechanisms behind dreams and its effects on human culture around the globe. Dreams have long been the topics of folklore and urban legends. Since human beginnings, people have sought to uncover the origin of dreams. The ancient Greeks believed dreams came from the God Oneiroi. The Chinese believes that dreams happened when the hun or spirit leaves the body for the land of the dead. The Ishi Indians believed that dreams were sacred messages from the Gods. Yet even now, with the current technological and intellectual advancements, scientists and psychoanalysts have still to find the true reasons and meanings of these dreams. Some argue that dreams are the products of overactive subconscious minds while others argue that dreams are solely randomized emotions from the limbic system during sleep. Despite these contrasting theories, the truth of the matter is that the topic of dreams and the reasons behind them remain a mystery.
So for an average sleep time of eight to ten hours, we go through this sleep cycle four to five times a night. In stage one of the sleep phases, we are in a light sleep that lasts anywhere from five to ten minutes. In this stage, our eyes are still moving slowly and our muscles are slowing down, but may still have sudden muscle contractions like as if we were being startled or as if we were falling down. People in this phase may not feel rested if they are awakened, and might not of felt like they were even asleep at all. In stage two of the sleep cycle, you have successfully fallen into a light sleep. During this cycle your heart rate has slowed down, and your body temperature has dropped. You no longer have eye movement, and your body is finally resting the parts it has used through out the day. The next stage, which is stage three is also combined with stage four of the sleep cycle. These two cycles together are known as the delta sleep or the deep sleep stage, and is a very important part of the sleep cycle. During these cycles your body repairs and re-grows tissue, strengthens the immune system and builds bone and muscle. In these cycle it may be very hard to wake a person up, and if woken they may feel droggy or “out of it” for several minutes. In these stages is when most people have night terrors, experience sleep walking, or sleep talking occurs. In an adults average time of sleep this takes up about fifteen to twenty five percent of the time of sleep. Lastly, there is the REM cycle, which is also known as paradoxical sleep. During this cycle is when most of your muscles are paralyzed, your eyes are moving rapidly, and your breathing, heart rate and body temperature are not regulated. Vital signs show that during this stage, the arousal and oxygen levels
The history of dreaming began in the early centuries. “Dreams were often considered prophetic” (Comptons by Britannica). That means that dreams were seen as a message from the gods. Thousands of years ago, “Greek sick people slept in temples in order to receive dreams that would heal them” (Kantrowitz, Babara; Springen Karen). Current dream science started at the end of the 19th century. Dreams were seen as a kind of “desires” (Kantrowitz; Springen) stemming from childhood. Scientists still don’t know for sure why we are dreaming and what are dreams made of; howe...
Young, Emma. "The I In Dreaming." New Scientist 209.2803 (2011): 36-39. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Since ancient times, dreams and their interpretations have been recognized as powerful and important. Dreams were considered to be a gift from a higher power and a connection from earth to the heavens and other spiritual worlds (Guiley). In the Old Testament, King Pharaoh’s dreams are interpreted multiple times by Joseph and clay tablets dating back to 3000 B.C., in the Roman and Greek era’s depict dreams or visions being sent from God, the dead, or other spiritual beings (Guiley). As time and science progressed dreams became less important until research began to show something interesting happening while the min...
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.
The human psyche has a vital role in psychology, including the way humans interpret dreams and their sequence. Humans do not want to remember the truth of reality so we try and hide it in order to forget about it through the process of dreaming. Except, while trying to forget about the past, it leads to
All over the world different people, scientists, and civilizations have different dream theories. For instance, the Senoi tribe in Malaysia has a fascinating tradition of dream telling. Every morning the people of the tribe begin their day by discussing and interpreting their dreams with each other. The children, as they grow older, actually learn to control their dreams by simply wishing bad dreams into positive ones. It is observed that, by paying tribute their dreams, the people of the Senoi tribe learn to have faith in themselves. Also, they have very few, if any, mental problems “could working constructively with dreams be part of the answer” to mental issues? (Peirce)
The first cultures to classify different types of dreams were the Babylonians and Assyrians. As stated by Amy Coy, creator of worldofdreamssymbols.com, to them, there were two types of dreams: good and bad. Good dreams were dreams that were sent from the gods, and that bad dreams were from evil and demons. They also believed that dreams have predictive power of sending omens or prophecies to people about the future.
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.
During prescientific days, dreams were interpreted as ‘manifestations’ of a ‘higher power’. Since the introduction of psychology, dreams have had 4 distinct interpretations. The first interprets dreams as a “liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature”. The second interprets dreams as “accidental disturbances from ‘internal organs’. The third interprets dreams as a foretelling of the future. The last interpretation is Freud’s. He interprets dream as an expression of subconscious desires.
Sleeping and Dreaming 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.
Dreams are what we experience when we are sleeping or even when we are awake, they can last from a few seconds to up to twenty minutes. Dreams can consist of pictures, emotions, ideas and desires. According to the Psychology tenth edition textbook “we spend six years of our life in dreams.”(pg. 105) We spend so much time dreaming but yet we do not know the purpose and the reasoning behind our dreams. Nonetheless by taking Psychology with John Petellat at Daytona State College I have come to learn the proposed explanations of why we dream. Some of the numerous explanations are “To satisfy our own wishes”, “To file away memories” and “To make sense of neutral static.” (pg.106-107)
Dreaming is the series of visualizations or feelings during a period of time when you are asleep. It is a form of thinking...