Why Do We Dream Essays - 631 Words

Why do we Dream? It has been said by researchers that everyone dreams during sleep and it is thought to be a universal psychical feature of our human lives. However, many of us are unable to recall vividly what happens throughout our dreams, if anything at all. Due to this clouded unique nature that is dreaming, most of the knowledge why we dream is largely inconclusive. Nonetheless, after many years of theoretical debate on the subject, three arguments have remained prominent of which I will I will be discussing. Perhaps the most renowned theory of dreaming comes from the famous psychologist, Dr Sigmund Freud. He proposed that our dreams were likened to a ‘royal road (Plotnik 2005) to our unconscious thoughts and desires. In this†¦show more content†¦Many have creditably theorised that dreams are extensions of our waking life. It is believed that this close link between our daily lives and that of our dreams acts as a restorative function deeply analysing our current ‘thoughts, fears, concerns, problems and emotions. Researchers have also discovered that our dreaming can exhibit various other tasks including problem solving and the enlightening of creativity. Such occurrences have been proven with musician Paul McCartney having written the famous dream inspired hit ‘yesterday. He recalls ‘I just woke up one morning and I supposed Id been dreaming or something and Id got this little tune in my head (www0.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/indepth/yesterday.shtml). Dreaming can also be viewed in a more biological sense known as the activation-synthesis theory, in which areas of our brain that are usually inactive while awake, are activated when asleep. The areas stimulated have been found, due to Hobsons brain scans or the 1970s, to be that of visual (visual cortex) and emotional (limbic system) areas of our brain. Such theory explains the random, hallucinatory images induced by dreamers and the disorder of events remembered due to the inaction of thought processing areas (prefrontal cortex). In all, dreaming is a phenomenon that can generally be argued as serviceable to our being and is certainly fascinating, however its clear purposes remain uncertain.Show MoreRelatedWhy Do We Dream?1356 Words   |  5 PagesWhy do we dream the things we dream? What dictates the content of the movies for one that we watch when we fall asleep? This is a question that nearly everyone has pondered at some point in their lives and humans have been studying in an attempt to answer for thousands of years. Humans spend approximately one third of their lives asleep, and the idea that such a great portion of our time is spent in a state that we do not fully understand is bothersome to many. As humans, it is a natural desire toRead MoreWhy Do We Dream?2205 Words   |  9 PagesWhy Do We Dream? By William Allan | Submitted On February 06, 2011 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Expert Author William Allan The question as it was posed; Your write up is like a journey in itselfRead MoreWhy Do We Dream?2460 Words   |  10 PagesWhy do we dream? What do our dreams mean? Dreams are a sequence of images, ideas, and feelings that involuntarily occur most commonly during the REM stage of sleep. They come in a wide variety of types, from the peculiar to the downright terrifying; the dreamer has no control over what they experience in their dreams. Though neurologists have been studying the human brain for decades, we still don’t fully know why we dream or what their significance is. Some psychologists theorize that dreams areRead MoreWhy Do We Dream?2019 Words   |  9 Pagesis known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep; REM sleep at one stage was thought to be the primary dream period. However recent research and empirical evidence has shown that REM sleep does not have a direct relationship with dreaming, it is however purely and simply the stage of sleep which allows better recall of dreams. This is supported by Nielson (2000) who presented empirical evidence that dream recall during REM sleep in adults was as high as 60-90% after waking, whereas when individuals passedRead MoreWhy Do We Have Dreams?790 Words   |  3 PagesThe reason behind dreaming has still not been scientifically proven, but there are many theories and religious beliefs as to why people dream at night. Theorists, such as Sigmund Frued, devoted their time to peoples dreams and observing them while they dream and sleep. These scientists have discovered that people are most likely to dream during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep than any other stage because the mind is more aware then. There are theories that say that dreaming can predictRead MoreEssay on Sleeps and Dreams: Why Do We Sleep and Dream?741 Words   |  3 Pagesabout the Sleeps and dreams topic. It will be segmented into different parts, but I will first describe the basics of the sleeping and dreaming, why it happens and how. After that I will d escribe the different types of sleep which are REM (Rapid eye movement) and NON-REM. Other topics that will be discussed are the biological clock, consciousness and alerted, how much sleep does the body need, treatments and problems such as insomnia, sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Firstly, why do we need sleep? Our body’sRead MoreDreams: Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud Essay1174 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Dreams are a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.† This is the true definition of what dreams are according to Free Dictionary.com. Although many people are unaware of how dreams actually work there are two psychologists that have been able to pinpoint the true meaning of dreams. These two men are Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. There are many different perceptions on how people dream, what dreams mean, and why peopleRead MoreDreaming from Various Sources1456 Words   |  6 Pagesthe usefulness of dreams. This paper will also take time to explain what a dream is, when dreams happen, and what their potential purposes may be. To start this paper, we first must understand what a dream is. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a dream is a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep. Dreams take the things we see during our waking hours and translate them into unique, sometimes horrifying, and possibly meaningful ways. Dreams could also be representationsRead MoreDreaming Is Something We ve All Experienced While Sleeping1565 Words   |  7 Pagessleeping. Our dreams are produced by an altered state of consciousness, in which images and fantasies become mixed with reality. We all experience dreams that range from the pleasant and the not so pleasant or nightmares. Dreaming is still largely a mystery to science, as experiments are conducted to figure out why we dream and how dreams function. We do know one thing for sure, that everyone dreams unless in the rare case they are prevented by meditation or a brain injury. Dreams occur in twoRead MoreThe Purpose of Dreams1235 Words   |  5 Pages 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