Dreams are a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. The question is, why do we dream? Could it be because, as Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud says, a dream is a wish- fulfillment [Bennington-Castro, Annalee Newitz, and Joseph (July 24, 2013)]? Or is it because dreams allow us to solve problems more effectively than when we are conscious, as a Harvard Medical Researcher, Deirdre Barrette once said [Bennington-Castro, Annalee Newitz, and Joseph (July 24, 2013)]. In order to understand why we dream, we must first know the history, emotions, and facts about dreams. Diverse cultures have various interpretations and beliefs as of why we have dreams. As time changes and technology advances, we have more opportunities for analyzing and studying why we dream. Back in the period of the Greeks and Romans, people thought dreams were communications from God or from the dead. They also believed dreams were symbols and could be used to foretell the future. However, Aristotle, a Greek Philosopher, deemed …show more content…
No one knows for certain why we dream, although various people and cultures have their beliefs and opinions. Even though we haven't come to an agreement as to why we have dreams, it doesn't signify that our dreams don't have a purpose. Whether they help cure diseases or are messages from God, they have a meaning and reason behind them. They can permit us to find solutions to problems that we may not have known how to solve with only the help our conscious. Dreams are also beneficial to our mental, physical, and emotional health. Our subconscious can guide us through emotions that we may have been unsure of how to handle. They allow us to have a deep, meaningful sleep each night, enabling us with plenty of energy when we wake up. Although, to accurately explain why we dream we would have to do further research, analysis, and experiments with supporting facts and multiple
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.
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.
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...
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.
Dreams can be used to that person advantage by lucid dreaming and create many stories so they will be able to write books about them like the famous author Stephen King. He wrote many of his stories by his dreams. Whenever he has trouble finishing a story or doesn't know where it should go next he will dream it and incorporate it in his stories. Some dreams may be show a glimpse of a person's future and give important information to them. King’s says, “Precognitive dreams are a staple of our supernatural folklore”(39). Every story and film that has come out has eventually started out from a person's mind and they must of gotten that vision from a dream. Turning that dream into something that everyone can see whether it's a book or film. “ Creative imaging and dreaming are just so similar that they've got to be related” (King 42). It must be, it all comes from the mind and just like daydreaming seeing a vision in the mind when the individual is conscious and is able to have control over
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.
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)
All in all dreams are inevitable, everyone has them. Although there is no accurate reason on why we dream, researchers have concluded that it has a lot to do with physiological reasons. To understand dreams,
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.
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.
Have you ever stayed up too late? At one time or another most people have probably experienced that feeling where their eyes start to droop and blur. It’s their body telling them they need to sleep… But do they? Many people might think losing a night’s sleep or not sleeping enough is not a big deal, but in fact, continuously lacking sleep does affect people in a bad way. People should know the healthy amount of sleep they need and some solutions to sleeping problems. Sleep deprivation causes physical and mental effects on the human body and can be directly responsible for many fatal accidents.
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.
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.
Dreaming is very different than everyday life, yet somehow still relates to it in some way. In everyday life we have stress and happiness along with many other emotions. Yet in someway when we drift off into a deep sleep this emotions come right back. Dalai Lama once said that “sleep is the best meditation.” Sleep may be the one thing that people turn to, a place where your mind is totally set free to do what it wants and think what it wants. An idea or vision that is created in your imagination that when suddenly when you awake, feels so real.Dream reflect reality because most peoples dreams are in fact related to past, and recent experiences, or events that have happened in a person’s life. Dreams are more than just a method of entertainment, They should be taken more seriously because of the fact that with dreams imitating own reality, you can then learn more about yourself.
Dreams are necessary. Without dreams, there will be no ambition to chase. There will be no goal to reach. We won't have anything to aim for. We will all be nothing without dreams. Not having dreams is like chasing a traceless murder. It is like following an invisible shadow. It is a dreadful goose chase. We must know what we want to do and follow that ambition. We can’t achieve anything in life without goals, and for these goals, we need to dream.