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Do you think dreams have any real meaning?

So, do you think our dreams have a subconscious meaning?
Can we interpret anything meaningful from them?

silvereyes 8 Dec 4
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8

I do things in my dreams that carry over to other dreams. These are the things I dream about the most:

       1. I'm in a play and I don't know my lines-I usually adlib.
       2. I'm in school and I can't figure out my schedule-which class is next?
       3  I have the capability to fly in my dreams.  I hear that can be common.
       4. I sometimes feel myself falling in my dreams and when I land I wake up.

I had a few dreams that came true. One when I was a child I dreamed of cupcakes and when I woke up there were cupcakes in the cupboard. I also dreamed of people from my past coming back in my life and they did 5 years later and 28 years later.

7

If there's any meaning, I think it's probably only that we dream about some things that are already meaningful to us — but trying to distinguish between the important things and the bizarre nonsense that runs through our minds seems futile, and we may be looking for symbolism or patterns that just aren't there.

Ah, yes, I think there's a bit of value in that, @silvereyes. It seems that dwelling on a problem can interfere with our ability to find a solution, and our brains continue working on the problem when we're not consciously thinking about it. I remember years ago having a problem with a web program that wasn't working, and I spent literally hours looking for the problem. I went to bed that night and woke up with the solution — somehow I was able to "see" that I'd forgotten a semicolon in my code, and sure enough that's exactly what it was in exactly the spot I thought. The brain is a weird organ.

I think the brain can find answers when we let it relax.....sleep!

4

I think they have plenty of real meaning.

I don't know how anyone else experiences the world, but even during hours of consciousness, I can completely forget about something and some subconscious thread is working on problems that I am "not even thinking of". I think there are portions of my brain that are subconsciously processing everything I see and only alerting my conscious mind to things of interest and I am pretty sure research confirms this. I was just watching a video on free will where someone watching an FMRI was able to correctly guess the choice that a person would make 5 seconds before the person was aware of having decided. The brain is different from, but just as complicated as the mind.

I believe dreams are just what happens when your consciousness stumbles into some of these streams of thought. I don't know that we will ever be able to interpret most dreams from our conscious perspective, but my inability to understand the meaning does not mean there isn't one. I think sometimes, when these streams of thought are close to resolution, we experience symbolism that is closer to reality, but everything else is based on billions of interconnections and dependent on which memories are stored closer to each other, so the abstract symbolism probably means nothing to outsiders and even to ourselves.

What video was that? I've heard of the study, Sam Harris talks about it, but I've never seen the video.

@Eazyduzzit I apologize for not speaking clearly. It’s a video where they talked about it and was probably Sam Harris. It agreed with my pre-existing view, so I didn’t dig too deeply.

Article with more details on study
[wired.com]

4

They more than likely stem from a small trickle of DMT that is created and released by the pineal gland.

3

Dreams are strange occurrences. I dreamed that I could fly. That I could jump to the moon. That I floated out beyond Jupiter. That I walked into a shoe store that had thousands and thousands of shoes and each pair was different. That I witnessed the earth being born on the back of a turtle. That my grandmother lives in my childhood home as a beautiful ghost. I've had problems solved in my dreams. Including equations. I dream that my long gone dogs jump up on my bed like they used to when they were alive. Lots of strange dreams but I never dream of anything that I don't already know.

3

Sometimes when I'm having problems figuring something out the answer comes in a dream. Sometimes I have "nice" dreams and I do enjoy those. Most I forget.

gearl Level 8 Dec 4, 2017
3

Your dreams incorporate fragments of your thoughts and memories, so in that respect they have some relevance to you. There is evidence that animals dream, and dreaming must perform some necessary function for the brain, otherwise it would not exist. But I don't believe it has any function associated with seeing the future.

3

I never can remember my dreams. I take a medication for night terrors, and I don't remember any dreams I've had.

Ikr? Every now and then, I'll have a nightmare.

3

I sure dream a lot...
I've never been able to find out what they mean.
And especially I haven't been able to use them to pick winning lotto numbers...lol

3

I don't think so. I was told when I was in high school that dreams are mostly just your brain's way of processing the information that was gathered throughout the day. I haven't done any outside research on the matter, but it seems like a pretty plausible explanation to me.

3

I really hope not. The dream I had 3 days ago. I died. So... Yeah that sucked. I just think the more tired you are, the crazier dreams you have. But, I might be wrong.

MoniB Level 6 Dec 4, 2017

Dreams are said to have different meanings often opposite..
From what I've been told ?

SteveB after I died, it was just darkness for the longest time. Until my alarm went off.

Silvereyes, I remember a lot of mine. I have 6 notebooks full of them. I only write down the crazy ones.

3

Geeze I hope not. I was able to fly. Just me. No nothing helping me. My wife has terrible running dreams. I have to confer her.

2

I believe dreams are an unexplored universe. I think they can have a lot of meaning, and none at all. I think it is our subconscious mind trying to speak to us.

2

Short answer: No.
Long answer: Nooooooooooo.

d_day Level 7 Dec 4, 2017
2

Sure, I think dreams have meanings. What are they? Not sure. My dad loved dreams and loved interpreting them. Once, when I went to visit a school, he asked me what I thought when I got back home. Instead of just asking how it was, he asked me to describe what sculpture I would build there. That's sort of the way dreams work.

My father was a minister. 😕

@silvereyes You obviously don't look at my profile as often as I look at yours (😉)

2

I think so. I think a lot about dreams has something to do with our brains and the consciousness. Sometime our subconscious mind have a way to effect the dreams we have by thinking things that we are completely unaware of. Just a thought, though.

2

Maybe, I've never learned anything meaningful from mine, but I can only remember them for a little while after I wake up.

1

Dreams, some are helpful, some are not and most are forgotten.

Betty Level 8 Dec 5, 2017
1

Absolutely...the depths of self conscious is vast and we dream of shit our brains are trying to work out...I have wicked vivid dreams all the time

1

Random thoughts is all. I once could have some control over my dreams but that was a long time ago. I don't much remember my dreams these days.

1

I would love there to be some deep meaning in dreams that would maybe reveal things about our future or something. Do I believe it? Nah.

1

Great topic !!! 🙂

0

Yes, as our brains and minds are in constant activity. Dreams are like abstract paintings at certain levels. The process is a way of internally sorting out data, experiences, feelings, etc.

0

I had a dream withing the past week that I've looked at from different perspectives. In the dream, women were arranging a boxing match with me as one of the combatants. I'll not go into the rest of the dream, because this part of it got me wondering "Why were WOMEN setting up a boxing match, ie. a fight, between me and someone else?" Was it my mother who secretly found a satisfaction in my not getting along with my father as a teenager? Did she derive pleasure in someone else doing what she couldn't do for herself? Namely fight the "bully"?

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