Why Do We Dream?

When looking into the meanings of dreams, a variation of things can be found. Most people believe that dreams are a reflection of people’s inner thoughts and feelings. Most of these feelings are too private to be expressed in the real world and that is why they are expressed in a fantasy type way through dreams.

A series of thoughts, images, and sensations that occur during a person’s mind during the time that they sleep is known as a dream. Dreams go way back until the beginning of mankind, even to the BC era during the time that Egyptians and Greeks were the leading force! The Egyptians examined the meanings behind the dreams we have and analyzed the symbols. There are a numerous amount of reasons behind our dreams. People must ask all the time, what is the reasoning behind dreaming? Why do we dream? What is the meaning behind the dream I had? In an average lifetime, approximately six years is spent dreaming. Every single person on this planet dreams and just because one might not remember doing so, it was still done. One might have several dreams occur throughout a normal night of sleep that lasts from about seven to eight hours. Everyone has dreams and each experience is distinctive and personal. Some can contain vivid pictures or memorable illustrations of reality and others can be unreal or abstract. In a way, they all have certain meanings to them and there can be messages hidden that are trying to tell someone something. An abundant amount of people are always curious as to why they dreamed what they did and spend time looking for those answers.

To many people, dreams are the thoughts that occur while sleeping, having almost mystic qualities. For millennia the significance of dreams has escaped even the brightest of philosophers and intellectuals. Many people have speculated about why people dream and what meanings the dreams have but in recent times two theories have gained credibility in answering those questions. The first theory is Sigmund Freuds and the other is known as the cognitive theory of dreams also known as biological determinism.

The article “In the Dreamscape of Nightmares, Clues to Why We Dream at All”, written by Natalie Angier, introduces various types of insight on nightmares and the reasons behind why they occur. Nightmares are dreams, able to jolt you awake. Although few suffer from nightmares so terrifying that help is sought, dreams are a universal human experience. A majority of our dreamlike states are spent negatively. As a result, numerous people have studied dreams and discovered that there may be reasons behind the existence of nightmares and dreams overall.

Dreams are the reader’s view into the minds of the characters. According to the Psychoanalytical Theory, dreams show a character’s subconscious desires because in dreams there are no social rules. This is very prominent in the novel,Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Throughout this novel the main character Raskolnikov endures numerous nightmares. Raskolnikov’s nightmares give the reader insight into Raskolnikov’s subconscious desires.

Dostoevsky shows how characters dreams really uncover how they truly feel in their subconscious but are too afraid to admit. Through the evolutionary, psychotherapy and dreams creating wisdom theories of dreams, it is obvious that Raskolnikov’s nightmares heavily reflect his actions throughout Crime and Punishment. One theme that is common throughout the book, is how Raskolnikov’s dreams relate to his actions. The evolutionary theory of dreams argues that in dreams we are rehearsing fight-and-flight responses

Throughout Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov, a former student who is haunted by a murder he commits, struggles to determine whether his crime is justifiable. Raskolnikov’s dreams closely trace his mental states and the effect of the murder on his conscience. While consciously he believes this murder to be necessary to benefit society, his dreams evoke raw emotions that trace Raskolnikov’s journey towards repentance. Each dream that he experiences represents a step on the path of lifting the burden of this murder from his conscience and accepting his membership in society.

Dreams: Why do we dream By Hannah Nichols, is an article giving insight to why we dream. Why do we dream? Is a hard question to answer because no one knows for sure why we dream. Even though, we all dream, there has only been theories as to why we dream; However, studies have been conducted that tells us what triggers certain types of dream. As a person who often has vivid dreams I often wonder why I had these types of dream, and that is why I choose this article. This article explains what may cause certain types of dreams. Most of the information provided was tested through case studies. Nicole's broke her article up into several sections. Each section explained a different process of dreaming. However, she seemed to focus more on what dreams are, how Senses, and everyday life affect our dream, and dream lag.

Due to research on dreams, dreams serve different purposes. There are various meanings as to why individuals dream. In ancient culture's, the purpose of dreams was that cultures could communicate with their gods. Mostly all of the ancient culture's dreams were related to their gods. Some cultures believed their dreams were messages from their god. On the other hand, the Romans believed otherwise, they thought their dreams were to expand the Roman Empire. However, dreams due to psychology were meant to play out inner, deepest wishes a person has, which is then played out in the person’s dream. In addition, dreams are meant to prepare an individual later in life, because dreams produce problems that an individual needs to resolve; which then

Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment contains an abundance of confusing scenes that are frequently left up to the interpretation of the reader. Many of these scenes are focused on Raskolnikov and the fact that he often blurs together his conscious and subconscious states. Therefore, the reader is left to contemplate the validity of certain situations. When reading a novel as hefty as Crime and Punishment it is important to pick apart some of the many subtleties in order to gain more insight to both the novel as a whole and the psyche of Raskolnikov. In an attempt to better understand Raskolnikov’s disorientation between his conscious and subconscious states, it is helpful to break down and analyze Raskolnikov’s third dream and some of the

Why do we dream? I see dreaming as benefiting humans by helping our conscious and subconscious minds shake hands and come to an agreement, so to speak. Our brains operate on conscious, subconscious and unconscious levels, and I believe there is a strong link between our subconscious minds and our dreams. Perhaps the information we store in our subconscious minds during waking hours manifest into these hallucinatory pictures while we sleep. The part of our brain which operates on a conscious level is significantly diminished when we are asleep, which gives the subconscious part of our brain more energy to process what it’s learned or stored.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment, reveals through both Raskolnikov’s and Svidrigailov’s character that dreams are based off of unfiltered desires, thoughts and knowledge.

Dreams have been around as long as the first civilization came to be and have been a normal part of human existence. One third of your life is spent sleeping, and of that third, on average you will have spent a total of about six years of it dreaming. Most people dream on average two hours every night, but you can have anywhere from four to seven dreams in one night. According to research, the most common setting for a dream is in your own house. In our dreams we can do anything we want and be whoever we want to be. Our dreams are an escape from reality. While we dream we are unable to control our actions and choose our surroundings. We let our minds take over. Sometimes dreams can be understood in the context of repressed thoughts. Dreaming serves as an outlet for those thoughts and impulses we repress during the day. When we go to sleep at night and slip into our dream state, we feel liberated and behave in a manner that we do not allow ourselves to in our everyday life. Visions and ides can come from your dreams. Often, authors, screenwriters, and even poets turn to their dreams for inspiration. The think quest oracle library goes on to tell about the most well-known of the modern dream

Why 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 to acquire understanding about ourselves and the workings of our minds. This desire has lead to a great deal of research and speculation on the topic. It is a common belief among many cultures that the content of one's dreams is a reflection one's character, mental state or even one's future. Some believe that dreams are a collection of entirely random electrical brain impulses pulling thoughts and images from our memories. Others believe that dreams are an alternate reality. However after much research, science has proven that dreams are in fact a function the mind utilizes to manage it's self and sorts through knowledge, emotions and experiences it already possesses in order to retain what it deems necessary and eliminate what is not.

Crime and Punishment is highly symbolic in the sense that places, people as well as objects have a lot in common with the novel’s events. Dostoevsky’s main concern is make link the symbols and objects to people and their feeling. A case in point is the cross that Sonya gives the protagonist following his confession to her. The cross is a symbol of redemption. It also implies that Raskolnikov is psychologically broken as he thinks of the crime and the possible penalty. It is very important to point out that the dream that he has a connection with his state. Such clue reveals that he lives constant anguish. He says “Is it still a dream?’ he wondered and again raised his eyelids hardly perceptibly“; (Planet PDF, part 4, cha6, p 639). A close reading to the novel, would reveal that the dream he has is the turning in Raskolnikov’s life. He becomes certain that someone knows about his crime and, therefore, his self-confidence seems to fade away. He becomes suspect and doubts his behavior metaphorically as if he is waving and saying that he commits the