Hello,
Dreams and dreaming have long attracted the fascination of mankind from time immemorial to the present.Psychologists believe that a dream constitutes a set of images, ideas, feelings , and sensations usually occurring involuntarily in the mind during the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. People's reactions to dreams and dreaming have always been multivarious. However, many people agree today that dreams and dreaming offer many advantages. Two statements by two great writers may help clarify the point further. The first is Ralph Waldo Emerson who states, "dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” and the second is Henry David Thoreau who defines dreams as " the touchstones of our characters." Notably, there are many theories explaining the causes of dreaming. Hopefully, the following link can present a realistic account of what such causes are:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5b09/fb1f43250cd7830dd0cb35919bfa29637759.pdf
Best regards, R. Biria―
It would take entire books to answer that question. Check out the resources on the website for the International Association for the Study of Dreams at https://www.asdreams.org/
Hello,
Dreams and dreaming have long attracted the fascination of mankind from time immemorial to the present.Psychologists believe that a dream constitutes a set of images, ideas, feelings , and sensations usually occurring involuntarily in the mind during the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. People's reactions to dreams and dreaming have always been multivarious. However, many people agree today that dreams and dreaming offer many advantages. Two statements by two great writers may help clarify the point further. The first is Ralph Waldo Emerson who states, "dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” and the second is Henry David Thoreau who defines dreams as " the touchstones of our characters." Notably, there are many theories explaining the causes of dreaming. Hopefully, the following link can present a realistic account of what such causes are:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5b09/fb1f43250cd7830dd0cb35919bfa29637759.pdf
Best regards, R. Biria―
Contemporary psychology generally describes dreams with the, "activation-synthesis hypothesis." Whether we’re awake or not the Pons, in the brain stem, send signals to the brain (activation). When awake we interpret the activation as about the world, but when asleep we interpret the random signals (synthesis) and these become our dreams. There is a considerable body of research on how contextual forces, from culture to the activities we engage in prior to sleep, shape the content of dreams. Here’s a webpage to start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activation-synthesis_hypothesis . As Hendrika points out, there are many books to explain in greater depth the science behind dreaming and different states of consciousness. Hope this start helps, Kirk! ~ Kevin
Mind keeps working on. we dream because of wishes, willingness, fears, day today problems and happenings never allow us to be in peace of mind which leads to dreaming as well.
Anxiety in life catalogued in diverse forms is the chief cause of dreaming
Maybe once in 1 or 2 years I have a dream that I write down, as far as I remember it, because it proves the astonishing capacity of our brain, even while we are asleep. In these instances more than processing of random signals take place. The nightmares of my youth gave way to cognitive processes, like carrying out calculations ( rare, though ).
Dear Dr. Kirk MacGregor, interesting and debatable issue. Dreams are essentially the result of our brains entering an altered state of consciousness. The mystery is why our brains create stories and sometimes vivid hallucinations while we are in deep sleep. This has been studied for decades, but there is still no concrete answer as to why dreams occur. Personally, I believe they are an extension of our subconscious that reveal truths which our conscious minds refuse to accept. however, this is strictly opinion. When the sleep is not deep. Stored information from the subconscious comes up often creating it's own screenplay. Hilarious sometimes, scary at most others.
There is a conscious part and a sub conscious part of our brain. The conscious part keeps track of our recent memories and the sub conscious part keeps track of suppressed memories of our past. While we sleep it is the sub conscious part of our brain that shows us random images of long lost suppressed memories.
Dreams are essentially the result of our brains entering an altered state of consciousness. The mystery is why our brains create stories and sometimes vivid hallucinations while we are in deep sleep. This has been studied for decades, but there is still no concrete answer as to why dreams occur. Personally, I believe they are an extension of our subconscious that reveal truths which our conscious minds refuse to accept. however, this is strictly opinion.
Dreaming is a process of re collectting your memories. Dreams are created by brain but objects or persons in dreams are from your subconsious mind. Everynight brain will earse it's temporary storage. So it will look for unwanted items from your memory. Brain will try to match the object which is from subconscious mind and the tempoary memory. if the temporary memory doesn't match with your s.mind objects brain will remove them. Brain simulates many ways to get a match between memory and objects. That simulation is called dream....
Dreams provide life-supporting answers we can use to our benefit, once we understand that they aren't literal. We have to take into consideration they are analogies, metaphors, anagrams and plays on words once you write them out as you saw or experienced them. Then you have to reason and make some choices as to how to apply the hints and suggestions.
Different motives, quality of the dream and expression, according to the stages of sleep, have been analyzed and study the dream over the ages, different interpretations, to be a breath of daily troubles and comfort of the brain in the roaming or away from reality, why not
Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be interesting, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening and sometimes bizarre.
Possible explanations of why we dream are as follows:
1. to represent unconscious desires and wishes
2. to interpret random signals from the brain and body during sleep
3. to consolidate and process information gathered during the day; and
4 to work as a form of psychotherapy.
Dear Kirk MacGregor,
Please also have a look at these useful ResearchGate links.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_we_dream5
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_we_dream4
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_we_dream3
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_we_dream2
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_we_dream
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_a_dream_There_are_scientific_basis_of_a_dream
Good luck!
The exchange of sensations and thoughts between the areas of the conscious ego and the unexplored domains of the personal unconscious as well as the collective consciousness is never finished and we can not stop it. In this sense, we have no choice but to dream. According to some beliefs the state of a conscious mind is only an illusion and the real existence is happening in the sphere of dreams. The entire field of dreams is still far from being understood. The beautifully presented exploration of this subject was presented in the The Red Book: Liber Novus by C. Jung (published in 2009 by W. W. Norton with an English translation).
The dream is always related to some activities in our life. Maybe it's related to some idea or activity saved by our mind.
Human = body + soul.
Body: the source of our body is the earth. It nourishes from the earth, It lies down on the earth during our sleep and at the end (death) It turns towards the earth.
Soul: source of our soul is X (above the earth). It feeds from the God . It swims in X high during our sleep and at the end (death) Ie is looking upwards. so, * The soul swims during our sleep and it sees and meets other souls, visits countries and places, adventures, It cries and laughs ... etc that's the proper sense of the dream.
NOW your question: Why do we dream? the answer is becauce *
According to a Relegious point of view. Human beings die temporarily during their sleep. The soul moves around and travel across the world through the boundaries of the heaven. Whatever it meets within the world is a false dream, whatever it encounters within the heaven is the positive dream that can be accomplished in real life.
This is a fascinating discussion. I wonder if any insight may be garnered from inverting the question? For example we might ask, "What would life be like if all dreams (conscious and unconscious, remembered and forgotten) did not occur?" To begin, we would be without all the physiological and psychological (and other) benefits of dreaming identified in the literature and the preceding answers. This condition is so removed from our experience that it not only represents an unknown territory but it raises existential questions about "being." Does anyone have any thoughts to add?
Dream has both physical and spiritual dimensions. In many cultures, sleep (dream) was treated as a prophecy. Technically, the brain functions all the time. Sleep dreams are projection of certain visions. Learning about dream is very extensive. You can devote this subject to your research activity.
I have been working quite some time on an explanation for the operation of memory and the one of the implications of this extends to dreams, albeit my answers are speculative and briefly, as follows. Recently born babies have to sleep much of the time because they have everything to learn about development and survival. Everything of recent experience has to be played through again when they next sleep, probably intially in every deatil albeit at a very basic level, and then at a subconcsious level their brains will weed out those impressions that have not been useful to them, but retain in very primitve memory form, those that have produced a useful result. Initially they have to learn about control of their limbs, facial expressions, bodiy functions etc. Any parent will tesify that when asleep babys' heads burn with surprising heat. Then later, they start to become a little more rational as their memory develops, above mere bodily functions so that there is much less information to accomodate and commit to memory at an innate level to improve chances of survival.
In short there is less to learn and thus diminishing need for sleep over the years. So what has this to do with dreaming? My conjecture is that the brain is working flat out when asleep processing the previous day's experinces and recording those that have made deep impressions, probably storing them physically in the brain as DNA molecules, or something very similar, which can hold huge amounts of information. Less useful experiences are discarded. This will be quite taxing for the brain and every now and then it requires a break in the process so that the mind is then set free to wander where it wants for a while before it starts on another bout of hard processing work and committtal to memory at a subconscious level. In short dreaming is a necessary form of R&R (relaxation and recreation) in between bouts of the hard labour of memory storage required to survive. How much reference from past or even future experiences might be given to the content of such dreams is another question for which I have no definite answer, unlike Freud and other experts, all of whom disagree amongst themselves. This is not too surprising really if they have no idea of the mechansim of the mind's operation in the first place.
But it seems to me obvious that events experienced in the past will figure quite often, mixed in with wishful thinking for the future and regrets/achievements, perhaps disguised in the bizarre ways that minds seem capable of acting occasionally. What my papers explain in some detail is how my view of memory operates. Once stimulated by a few stored memory structures as DNA molecules, these are able to bring about or precipiate a sequence of past events in the mind which might have some beficial or addvantageous relevance to what is actually happening to the individual concerned in the present.
This is done via a system of resonance across time of similar structures of firing neurons and synapses (thought patterns) and which is based on principles of quantum entanglement and their possible application. This latter subject is currently under going a great deal of well funded research since it is crucial in the operation of quantum computers. The much sought for break through has not yet been achieved but is anticipated, whereafter I trust we shall be better infromed about the mechansim behind mind and memory.
My five papers on memory are on Reserch Gate and my website www.mindandmemory.net although thelatter needs updating. Finally Some of my proposals are remarkably similar to those of biologist Rupert Sheldrake but from a very different approach.
Since many decades now we try to find out scientifical explanations or try to specify our knowledge in the time-according/&bound way to understand old traditions or believes "better".
Dreams touch now many fields of the union of body, mind and soul.
So all cultural traditions have been busy by giving interpretations to them.
Still it is a big puzzle, as we lack to many parts nowadays Sciences think it is dedaining or not worth while to be busy with - means they take a NON-Scientifical Attitude towards great parts of this subject.
This is clear to be seen, if you compare nowadays and traditional approaches.
To come closer to their meaning would show us that we start to adapt a new paradigme in our Sciences, which i rarely see untill now.
Follow this link
https://www.keen.com/articles/spiritual/wish-fulfillment-dreams
regards
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