Discussion:What are dreams?

[LecktheTech]

I was reading another post her, and then saw that TCG stated that he thinks dreams are mostly what you think about all day. I would disagree, because I have had dreams that had literally nothing to do with what I was thinking about all day. So, I thought I would start a thread on it.
What do you think shape the dreams we have?
(TCG, I wouldn't mind hearing more about what you think)

[Nate]

Dreams can be shaped by our experiences throughout the day, but also can be influenced by other factors, such as our body's current state of being, our past, and our desires.

For example, I was in the Navy for six years, from 1998 to 2004. It has been 12 years since I've been in the Navy, yet I frequently continue to have dreams where I am either still in the Navy or have rejoined it. I rarely think about my time in the Navy during the day, but because it was a big part of my life, my brain obviously likes to continue using the Navy as a setting for dreams.

Likewise, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, I've often had dreams where I'm in a restroom and there's toilets everywhere and I have to pee real bad, and I'll wake up and be like "Oh man I gotta go to the bathroom." I don't know that it's exactly a matter of my mind trying to tell me to wake up and go, but it could just be a situation where the body uses that feeling (even if we're not awake to experience it) of having to go really bad as a setting for a dream. Same thing with dreams where you're in a very hot location (because your body is feeling hot) or a cold location (because your body is feeling cold).

[K. Ayato]

Or your mind mulling over things you've read or seen.

[TheChocolateGamer]

Your subconscious mind also effects dreams. If you dream highly desirable, your mind shapes the dream according to that desire. You may not have thought about it, but you have a subconscious thinking, too.

[Rusty Claymore]

I think there are different kinds of dreams, which mean or come from different different things. I know people who love dreams and can't wait for the next, but I really dislike mine and what goes on in them.

To me it seems that dreams occur when a rift comes in between your soul and your mind, with an effect sort of like driving your car with your feet only. The mind starts working on things, but your rationality can only just interject upon what is happening, if even that. In that space or void, raw emotions, memories, and desires surface and you have to "reach through" those to operate. They could be part of who you really are, or rogue data, or another's interference. I don't like what any of those infer.

Environmental or condition based dream attributes are safe enough though. >_<

[IPv4]

There is a movie called inception that is about having dreams inside dreams

[TheChocolateGamer]

:eyebrow: There is a movie called inception that is about having dreams inside dreams

I actually had a dream where I was in class and dreamt inside it.

[IPv4]

I once dreamt that I had a horror dream and then I woke up in the dream but gradually found out that the dream
happened in reality....! (In the dream)

[Furen]

I once dreamt that I had a horror dream and then I woke up in the dream but gradually found out that the dream
happened in reality....! (In the dream)

That's pretty trippy

I've had a looping dream, and one that was just kinda endless in progression. Neither were special. Though one was the only nightmare I ever remembered. In hindsight, it wasn't that creepy.

[LecktheTech]

I know people who love dreams and can't wait for the next, but I really dislike mine and what goes on in them.

I fall into the first class. For a while, when I was little, I would have nightmares. But as I got older, I had less and less of them till they are forever gone.

One interesting thing about the sharpest, clearest, and most sensible of my dreams is that they are always set in a fantasy setting. Never anything else. It's always been that way. Not that it's a bad thing, just interesting.