Why Do We Dream?

   Sleep is a beautiful thing and I found myself doing just that in my lecture today. Psychology 101 can be very interesting, but as in anything there are dull moments. That day I would learn why I have dreams and there purpose. 

     
   There are many theories on the purpose of dreams. Of course we need to sleep to help with the functions of our body. Why do we dream though? What are their purpose? The average person spends about 600 hours dreaming in one year leading to 1,500 dreams on average. A psychologist by the name of Freud had a theory that dreams were ‘wish fulfillment’. We dream about the forbidden things we can’t have in real life. He also thought they were sexually symbolic. Like a long cylinder shape in your dream could represent that of a penis. A cave could mean that it was the womb of a women.

    Another theory is dreams play a role in filing away memories. You ever heard if you study something then go to sleep your chances of remembering it are better. This theory is called Information Processing.

   The last theory is that dreams are nothing more than the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural activity. Think about that. You dream about the events that happened throughout your day so your brain can make sense of it. What happens when you dream about something you never experienced though? Psychologists are still trying to figure it out. So why do we dream?

Hambrick, David "Consciousness" Psychology 101.Wells Hall, East Lansing. October 13,2016. Lecture.

C.C