What exactly are dreams??

Question

why do they have them?

how are they interpreted?

Answer 1

Your brain has to sort and store information that it collects throughout the day in logical order.  Information doesn't necessarily arrive that way. Moving the information into a format where it can be readily accessed by your memory takes energy.  In fact the path from chronology to logic uses a similar amount of kinesthetic energy as passive breathing or light digestion through REM.  It's similar to the way a computer defragments, but I assure you the phrase "let me sleep on it" was around long before computers.  Dreams are the active emotional and rational activities that run independently without real world consequences.

Answer 2

Sweet question. There are three major theories to why we dream. I agree with two of them. Sigmund Freud said that dreaming is a special state in which normally repressed desires rise to surface of consciousness, like wish fulfillment. An example could be when a lonely person dreams of romance, or an angry kid dreams of getting even with the bully who put ants in his pants. This is called the psychodynamic view. The other theory just says dreams are information processing. The brain has to  sort our everydays experiences and thoughts while asleep. Maybe this is why some dreams make no sense because the brain is still organizes your thoughts. I accept this cuz I've had some weird dreams before.

Dreams can be interpreted in so many ways. But if you accept Freud's view, you can kind of figure out what your dreams mean by yourself. Of course, your interpretation would be subjective. If you accept the second theory, then dreams are just meaningless.

Oh, you should get into lucid dreams. It is basically dreaming with you knowing you're dreaming. It's awesome cuz you can have total control what is going on in your dream. I once had myself like land on the moon to experience no gravity and visit heaven to speak with the big boss. It can be something to look forward to when going to sleep.

Answer 3

Dreaming is defined as the subjective experience of imaginary images, sounds/voices, thoughts or sensations during sleep. Dreams represent a world of imagery in which our darkest fears, deepest secrets, and most passionate fantasies break out from the unconscious mind and only at this time become present to our own consciousness. There are several key questions that need to be addressed; for instance, "Why do we dream? What do dreams mean? And, where do dreams come from?" The answers to these questions are not that simple; however, recent studies and research has come a long way into divulging the human psyche and what dreams really are.

Dreaming usually occurs in the R.E.M. stage (rapid-eye movement) of sleep, in which brain activity is high and signaled by rapid horizontal movements of the eyes. Sometimes dreams occur during the other stages of sleep; however, these are much less memorable and less clear. They can sometimes last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes. Dreams are a symbol and link to the inner core of the human subconscious. They can vary from normal and mundane, to surreal and bizarre. Dreams can often times drive creative thought, or provoke a sense of inspiration. Scientists believe everybody dreams, but sometimes we forget. We tend to forget when we naturally pass out of sleep through the traditional cycle. If a person is awoken directly from REM sleep (i.e. by an alarm clock), they are much more likely remember the dream from that REM cycle. Although it's most likely that not all dreams will be remembered because they occur in REM cycles, which are interrupted by periods of “delta sleep” which in turn have a tendency to cause the memory of previous dreams to fade.

Answer 4

Interesting question. I'm not sure why we have them but it's really a phenomenon.