Dreams
My question was about dreams and if different symbols in them truly do reveal information about your life. For example the classic teeth falling out dream that supposedly represents anxiety about ones appearance and how others perceive them. If this is true then why does the part of the brain that dreams come from make that connection, not in just a single case but multiple cases, multiple people. Where do the authors of dream interpretation books get there information?
the theory states that the biological function of dreaming is to stimulate threatening events in order to rehearse the perception of threats and how to go about avoiding them.This theory rests on the widely-accepted observations that most remembered dreams are stressful - filled with negative emotions and dramatic conflicts. Revonsuo focuses on this empirical dream content, and has spent the last decade illustrating the patterns of threats in the dreams of children, traumatized patients, nightmare sufferers, and even some contemporary hunter-gatherers for cross-cultural comparison.Theory of Dreams
Freud believed the dream to be composed of two parts. The manifest and the latent content. The manifest content can be thought of as what a person would remember as soon as they wake - what they would consciously describe to someone else when recalling the dream. Freud suggested that the manifest content possessed no meaning whatsoever because it was a disguised representation of the true thought underlying the dream.
Dream analysis (details are provided in the quoted book) reveals Freud's feelings of guilt towards Irma, one of his young patients, whose treatment had not yielded the expected results. Freud defends himself from these negative feelings in his dream, blaming his very patient who, apparently, were not a submissive and compliant patient, or dr. Otto, one of his colleagues, guilty of a careless medical intervention (an injection with an infected syringe).
After analyzing his dream, most coherent as it proved, Freud justly declared that dreams "are not meaningless, they are not absurd; they do not imply that one portion of our store of ideas is asleep while another portion is beginning to wake. On the contrary, they are psychical phenomena of complete validity - fulfilments of wishes [our emphasis J.C.]…" Dreams therefore require integration into the range of intelligible waking mental acts; "they are constructed by a highly complicated activity of the mind". (op. cit., chapter "A Dream is the Fulfilment of a Wish".)
Comments
This is such a good
This is such a good question/topic!
Dear kmckown: I thought
Dear kmckown:
I thought your post, "Dreams," was fascinating because I too have thought about the importance of dreams and the meanings behind them in relation to everyday life. I have often woken up after a strange dream, and wondered if my unconscious is trying to express something important.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: "Where do the authors of dream interpretation books get there information?" I think this is a good question because I too wonder how these experts really know what they are talking about. Are they only making assumptions and hypotheses? Have they tested their hypotheses with concrete testing?
Another sentence that I liked was: "why does the part of the brain that dreams come from make that connection, not in just a single case but multiple cases, multiple people" This stood out for me because I have found that some people have experienced the same dreams and a connection in their dreams. I have wondered how this phenomenon occurs.
Your post reminds me of something that happened to me. One time I had a dream, where my mother took a pair of pliers in hand, and began to pull out my teeth one by one.
Thanks for your work on this. I look forward to seeing what you create next, because I have found your post intriguing and I too want to know these answers.
Dear Kal, : I loved your
Dear Kal, :
I loved your post, "Dreams," because I have been having the weirdest dreams lately, and have been wondering if they mean anything. A lot of the questions you asked I have also been curious about, such as if dreams truly reveal information about your life, and if so, what are they saying?
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: "If this is true then why does the part of the brain that dreams come from make that connection, not in just a single case but multiple cases, multiple people?" I think this is a great question because or brain is a crazy place and it does unimaginable things.
Another sentence that I related to was: "Where do the authors of dream interpretation books get there information?" This stood out for me because it is something that I have always wondered. What kind of studies do psychologists do to understand what means what in a dream? Are they ever sure of their data?
Your post reminds me of something that happened to me. A few days ago I had the most confusing dream. It involved everyone on the volleyball team and we were all being held captive at a swimming pool where we were forced to be lifeguards. We finally escaped on motorcycles and for some crazy reason ended up at the zoo in the middle of the night. I have no idea what to make of this dream or why it was so vivid for me.
Thanks for your work on this. I look forward to seeing what you create next, because this is a topic I am seriously interested in this subject and you made some great points!
Dear Kallie:This post raises
Dear Kallie:
This post raises a great question with no clear answers. In my own experiences, objects that I dealt with the day before appear so frequently in my dreams that I have difficulty believing they have symbolic importance. I'm interested to see any conclusions you reach.