why do we dream?

[cacian]

I have often wondered about dreams and what they actually mean.

what is the significance of a dream and most importanly why do humans dream?

[JuniperWoolf]

I don't know why we dream, but I know that if we don't (like say they're supressed with drugs or we're woken up before we can reach a REM state) we go crazy and get really sick after a while.

[Buh4Bee]

To deal with **** realities.

[MystyrMystyry]

I had a dream last night that that bloody Prendelmick's dogs ran away. They weren't dogs though. They were huge and affectionate like ovegrown wombats but they weren't wombats either. Overly affectionate slurping salival tongue licking things with another breed of tiny dog that wasn't a dog living in their greasy coats. I know this first hand because they were in my backyard and all over me when I tried to shoo them away. Their owner eventually came running if you can call a saunter a run, and it was the No no no bloke from Vicar Of Dibley - no wonder he kept his identity secret!

He said he was in a hurry (!) because he had to help a silver haired Helga with her presidential campaign. Apparently it had been going on for weeks and her bus had broken down outside his place and he was trying to repair it - and by the way did I have any headache pills?

After a while he leaves - forgetting about his 'dogs' which seemed to loom in the background but were no longer needed, but still an important plot device somehow.

But what? Helga's going to be president? This I had to check out, if only to find how she wrangled to become President of New Zealand. I get there ('there' is the middle of town and it took many hours of trudging to get there. She seemed born to the roll - and ordered me to prepare the walls for her campaign posters, handing me a block of sandpaper for to get them ready.

Her bus starts by itself after this and an icecream van's broken tune rings out from it as she drives off.



What does that one mean???

[cacian]

I don't know why we dream, but I know that if we don't (like say they're supressed with drugs or we're woken up before we can reach a REM state) we go crazy and get really sick after a while.

I have never heard of reaching REM state before..must look it up.
I am not aware you can suppress dreams with drugs but the opposite is true that you can accentuate dreams however.

[osho]

I have often wondered about dreams and what they actually mean.

what is the significance of a dream and most importanly why do humans dream?

I wanted to start this thread myself and feel happy that you raised the question about dreams. I always ponder over the subject of dreams. I am thinking about going into books on dreams. I will definitely read Freud on dreams and he was an authority on this. I do not think his findings can be conclusive and indeed he made a few revelations and arrived at certain hypothetical conclusions centering around dreams, their connotations or correlations, digging into the very domain of the subconscious

[OrphanPip]

The general scientific consensus is that dreams are a side-effect of the various neurological processes the brain undergoes during sleep, with brain scans suggesting it has something to do with memory. Freud's suggestion that they reflect unconscious desires is generally rejected since modern models of neurobiology do not think of the "unconscious" as a repository of repressed desires and thoughts.

[BookBeauty]

Some individuals actually believe that dreams occur on another dimension, undetectable as of yet by science, which is sensitive to thought, and projects the thoughts as images. The dreamer is not usually aware of it. When they are aware of it, it's called 'lucid dreaming', which is a legitimate term, although it usually means that the individual is simply conscious of their dreams. Some even believe that everyone 'astral projects' during sleep, to this 'other dimension', unawares. Some people actually attempt 'astral projection' consciously, and claim to have done so. Those that have, sometimes cite seeing a silver cord coming from their bodies, and they see themselves sleeping in bed. Eerie. 'Astral projection' is also claimed to be related to an 'out of body experience', which many accounts have been recorded, usually due to a 'near death experience'.

Dreams are my favourite subject. They are fascinating. I love to read about them, in an attempt to understand the many mysteries.

Much about dreaming is a mystery, even to scientists.

[Veho]

I too think dreams are fascinating. I don't understand them though - I like to think that they are a reflection of our unconscious desires and have deep meaning but scientific theory about them, whatever it is, is probably the right explanation. I have Freud's Interpretation of Dreams to read when I'm back in possession of it. My wondering about dreams is also the reason why I think Inception is a great film.

[Delta40]

I experience sleep paralysis on occasion which is fascinating. When it first started happening I was unsettled and even spoke to my neurologist about it but I rather enjoy it now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

[Veho]

I experience sleep paralysis on occasion which is fascinating. When it first started happening I was unsettled and even spoke to my neurologist about it but I rather enjoy it now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

I used to get that but not for a long time now - it is really unnerving.

[BookBeauty]

I used to get that but not for a long time now - it is really unnerving.

I've had the same experience once. Was a bit of a panick. :D

[cacian]

The general scientific consensus is that dreams are a side-effect of the various neurological processes the brain undergoes during sleep, with brain scans suggesting it has something to do with memory. Freud's suggestion that they reflect unconscious desires is generally rejected since modern models of neurobiology do not think of the "unconscious" as a repository of repressed desires and thoughts.

In other words Freud did not know what he was talking about and science does not quite know what is going on...well that does not help much.
Unconscious is not the word either because sleeping is not the unconscious it is just sleeping.
Dreams signify something else.

[JuniperWoolf]

The general scientific consensus is that dreams are a side-effect of the various neurological processes the brain undergoes during sleep.

I've never bought that. The brain fires and causes images and sounds because the brain fires? That's like using a word as it's own definition, there's got to be more to it than that.

[cacian]

I've never bought that. The brain fires and causes images and sounds because the brain fires? That's like using a word as it's own definition, there's got to be more to it than that.

The way I interpret it is that we only dream when are asleep because when we are awake we don't.
So dreams are the direct correlation to sleeping patterns and are an indication that in somehow the brain is at different level of activity.
The body when asleep is at a different bilogical system such as not receiving dayligh for example because our eyes are not opened and different type of energy because the body is lying down and so the brain and the all the neurological system has to adjust to some other type of activity which is more or less a copy of what the body undergoes when awake.
Dreams are almost a copy of reality because they involve people and actions similar to what we do when we are awake.
I would say the brain has to work out/adjust a way to still go on doing what it knows best when we are asleep to indicate that we are alive but asleep if you like.
Just because we stop functioning at night does not necessarily mean our brain does and so dreaming is a manifestation that our brain is active at a different pace.
This is how I interpret it.

[Bluehound]

I think sleep and dreams are very important for helping us understand , store, learn and figure out the events of the day we have just had.
I have often gone to sleep chewing over a problem only to wake up in the morning with the answer right there.
It's no coincidence that babies and kids need lots of sleep to help them learn and develop too.

[Kingbob]

No one really knows for sure! It is thought that dreams are merely our unconscious minds replaying the happenings from our lives, although not in a recognizable form.

[Darcy88]

I want to know why I keep having nightmares. I've been feeling happy and not depressed for like six months now but it seems every night I get these nightmares where something in my life goes horribly wrong. I am a model employee, never late or absent, but I've had several dreams recently where I **** up really bad at work. In some I fight with friends and family who I never fight with in my waking life and its always over non-consequential things. I don't know. Just the abject anxiety and terror I often experience in my dreams is no fun and I wish I knew its cause.

[cacian]

I want to know why I keep having nightmares. I've been feeling happy and not depressed for like six months now but it seems every night I get these nightmares where something in my life goes horribly wrong. I am a model employee, never late or absent, but I've had several dreams recently where I **** up really bad at work. In some I fight with friends and family who I never fight with in my waking life and its always over non-consequential things. I don't know. Just the abject anxiety and terror I often experience in my dreams is no fun and I wish I knew its cause.

Lots of nightmares can be related to food or chemicals in food and drinks especially the ones with sweeteners in them.
Indigestion is also another cause for it especially if you eat late and you do not have time to digest the food.

[Darcy88]

I eat before bed always, so that might be it. I get bad hypoglycemia and that's why I eat late. The nightmares might actually be the result of my blood-sugar plummeting. I have a naturopathic doctor I can ask. Thanks for the tip though cacian.

[OrphanPip]

I've never bought that. The brain fires and causes images and sounds because the brain fires? That's like using a word as it's own definition, there's got to be more to it than that.

I think one common explanation would be that during sleep your brain organizes memories (maybe processing them into long term storage) and this process has the side effect of generating dreams. One thing we know is that dreaming occurs in most mammals, and the same brain activity occurs in mice during sleep. I doubt mice are working out issues of Oedipal desires for their mothers during sleep. Of course, it's possible that the process has been exapted for other reasons in humans.

[cacian]

I eat before bed always, so that might be it. I get bad hypoglycemia and that's why I eat late. The nightmares might actually be the result of my blood-sugar plummeting. I have a naturopathic doctor I can ask. Thanks for the tip though cacian.

Hey not at all.
I use to have the samish nightmares where I am always fighting with my sister or my mother. It is quite unsettling and what you have described is very similar to what I get so I started monitoring what I eat, drink, and the food I eat before bed time.
Food is the main reason why we have bad dreams.

[Patrick_Bateman]

I believe dreams occur because the brain requires stimulation even during sleep. What we dream about is a mystery but I have Freud's 'Interpretation of Dreams' still sitting on my shelf so I will read it and let you know.

[JuniperWoolf]

One thing we know is that dreaming occurs in most mammals, and the same brain activity occurs in mice during sleep. I doubt mice are working out issues of Oedipal desires for their mothers during sleep.

Haha, good point.

[Bluehound]

I love to see my dogs running in their sleep , sometimes though they cry out, I wonder what they are dreaming about then ?

[cacian]

I think one common explanation would be that during sleep your brain organizes memories (maybe processing them into long term storage) and this process has the side effect of generating dreams.
Interesting point. Maybe it is a kind of a cyclic regenarative memory.

One thing we know is that dreaming occurs in most mammals, and the same brain activity occurs in mice during sleep. I doubt mice are working out issues of Oedipal desires for their mothers during sleep. Of course, it's possible that the process has been exapted for other reasons in humans.
How does one actually know that mammals dream?