Medical Do dreams have meanings? Are dreams visions for the future, a past

[kaitlynnicole]

Do dreams have meanings?
Are dreams visions for the future, a past life?
Or are they just images that our subconscious just makes up?

 

[DaveC426913]

Current understanding is that dreams do not portend the future and that there is no such thing as past lives.

They are - to some extent - an attempt on the part of our subsconscious to process events of our waking lives.

They can lend some insight into what you might be processing subconsciously, but there may be a risk in how much meaning we might assign to them. Some lines of thought carry it to an absurd degree, thinking they can quantify common symbols that span the population (like rivers mean money and trees mean relationships).

 

[kaitlynnicole]

But according to some cultures, they believe in past lives.How can you scientifically PROVE there is no past lifes?

 

[DaveC426913]

But according to some cultures, they believe in past lives.How can you scientifically PROVE there is no past lifes?

We don't.
1] You cannot prove a negative. (eg. It is just as impossible to prove God does not exist.)
2] Science does not attempt to "prove" anything. Science develops theories to match observations.
3] The onus is on the claimant to demonstrate that past lives answer more questions than they raise. No one has come forward with convincing evidence that can be independently verified.

 

[Darken-Sol]

there is a dream documentary on netflix. it states we dream even out of rem. dreams are an evolutionary measure to keep us alive. a sort of simulation. preparing us to deal with different scenarios. fear, sex, conversation. also most nightmares occur during rem sleep.

 

[kaitlynnicole]

Another question:

Can you truly die in dreams?!

 

[DaveC426913]

Another question:

Can you truly die in dreams?!

Well, since a dream is not reality, the literal answer to your question is yes - you could dream of your own death.

But I think the question you are asking is: could you die in real life while dreaming. To which the answer is also yes. You could suffer a heart attack for any of a number of reasons.

That being said, I think the question you are getting to is: if you dream you die, do you die in real life? To which the answer is no.

 

[JaredJames]

dreams are an evolutionary measure to keep us alive. a sort of simulation. preparing us to deal with different scenarios. fear, sex, conversation.

There is currently no accepted explanation for dreams - nobody knows why we do so or why they occur, just many hypothesis.

I do hope mine aren't preparing me for scenarios, if they are, I'm not looking forward to the coming zombie apocalypse.

 

[JaredJames]

Can you truly die in dreams?!

Nothing really to add to what Dave put above, but I will say that anytime I die in a dream I immediately wake up. Sometimes with an adrenaline rush or various other 'symptoms' of high stress situations.

There's no reason I can't see people dying from things like this, particularly stress brought on by dreams.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

They can lend some insight into what you might be processing subconsciously, but there may be a risk in how much meaning we might assign to them.

I regularly am presented with solutions in dreams to real life problems or to riddles which characters in my dreams set me but other characters in my dreams. It always amazes me that I can't think of solutions to problems when I am awake but when I am asleep I can dream about a riddle that I cannot answer then a guy from school that I haven't seen in a decade wanders past smoking a shisha whilst riding a bike and provides me with the answer! Dreams are very interesting but definitely not paranormal

 

[Darken-Sol]

There is currently no accepted explanation for dreams - nobody knows why we do so or why they occur, just many hypothesis.

I do hope mine aren't preparing me for scenarios, if they are, I'm not looking forward to the coming zombie apocalypse.

i dream about zombies alot. i was just pointing out what the documentary stated and that it is on netflix. "what are dreams? nova". its pretty interesting. lots of hypothesis and the tests they are using to draw conclusions. accepted? by who? i accept that dreams are the reordering of the information that i have yet to fully process. jumbled with similar memories and thoughts.

 

[JaredJames]

accepted? by who?

Accepted widely as the current scientific theory on the matter.

 

[Darken-Sol]

Accepted widely as the current scientific theory on the matter.

how widely? and which theories are closest to being that widely accepted. surely there more than one theory being tested. what's the cut off?

 

[JaredJames]

how widely? and which theories are closest to being that widely accepted. surely there more than one theory being tested. what's the cut off?

There are quite a few theories being tested.

By widely accepted, it means the one with the strongest evidence and one that scientists agree upon for the most part.

Of course people will disagree, but until a better and stronger theory is put forward the above would stand.

At the moment, no one has much to go on with dreams.

No cut off, just hypothesise, test, show results - does it all stack up? Yes, then we go with it until something better.

 

[Darken-Sol]

There are quite a few theories being tested.

By widely accepted, it means the one with the strongest evidence and one that scientists agree upon for the most part.

Of course people will disagree, but until a better and stronger theory is put forward the above would stand.

At the moment, no one has much to go on with dreams.

No cut off, just hypothesise, test, show results - does it all stack up? Yes, then we go with it until something better.

what i am asking is how many scientists need to accept a theory before it has some merit. 50%? 12? let's say there are so many theories on dreams out there that the most commonly held idea is like 2% of all theories. is that wide enough?

 

[JaredJames]

what i am asking is how many scientists need to accept a theory before it has some merit. 50%? 12? let's say there are so many theories on dreams out there that the most commonly held idea is like 2% of all theories. is that wide enough?

Again, strongest evidence.

It doesn't matter how many people accept it if the evidence goes against them.

If every scientist turned around and said the theory of gravity is wrong, then it's just tough. The evidence says it's the best out there and so it stands.

The problem at the moment is that it is difficult to obtain evidence on this subject matter and as such there's not much floating around.

 

[Darken-Sol]

well its not that there's not enough data. everyone dreams. even animals dream. it seems there is an issue with the quality of information suitable for testing. for example how would i test what i believe so others could examine the results. to me my dreams seem to consist of thoughts i don't have time to fully process. when i sleep they seem to collect with similar thoughts(like a folder on a computer). e.g. Scary Things or Anxiety. the result is a night mare with zombies, weird dialog, and being late for work. an amalgum of past and future fears and worries.

 

[JaredJames]

You can't test subjective things as you describe there, but you can test the neurobiology of dreaming.

Don't confuse subjective dream content with tests such as above.

We already have a good outline of the brains state during sleep - we're working on working out why we dream, it's causes and it's uses. The content is fairly irrelevant, it's simply what about the brain is related to and creates it.

On these matters, there is limited to no data on the matter. We just don't know and it's extremely difficult to test.

 

[kaitlynnicole]

But like what JaredJames said about him waking up right when or right before he dies in his dream, it always happens. I always wake up from a nightmare right before I die either sweating, breathing hard, or (if I was stabbed or choked to death) I'd have a pain where i was stabbed or choked. It never fails.