Interesting dreams

[ArtemisVale]

Here you can post the interesting dreams you've had and possibly get help construing what our subconscious minds our telling us.

Like last night I basically had a dream that was a cross between sailor moon and highlander.

[Ibrahim90]

OK....

well, there was the one time I dreamt that I was on some sort of secret mission, involving the halting of an invasion of robotic rage monkeys (yes, literally) from space. in the briefing, I was told I was to meet some Arab guy in Fort Collins, Colorado. There he would brief me further and give me what I need for this.

So off I go, and when I reach him,  the floor before his porch collapses, and I am left dangling from a beam for 15 minutes, as I cry out for him to help in Arabic. But not answer comes. eventually he does get out, and sees me there, and helping me up, he is asked by me: "about time! why have you not come sooner?".

he then simply replied: "oh, sorry, I'm Algerian, so I didn't understand what you were saying.". The dream ends with him briefing me further on the rage monkey menace.


then there was another time I dreamed of being in a trailer, much like this that I am in, and as I type before my computer, I am stabbed through the heart from the back. As I die, I hear the voice of a woman. One who, now that I think of it, sounds a lot like the girl I was working with till yesterday. EDIT: just to be clear, I don't think they're the same woman.

[BreadGod]

Here's one dream I had.

I was working with Alex Jones in a cave in the Colorado mountains, but then our place got raided by the government. Alex Jones got away in a UFO and I fled to Mexico.

[dallen68]

I had one recently where my nephew (who lives with me) saw a nickel fall out of my pocket and recognized the nickel (although I knew that it was a common nickel) and accused me of stealing it. He then went on to accuse me of stealing ~$100 a month for him over the last several months.

[AnCap Dave]

I had a dream where I conquered several third world nations in Africa and recorded it for Youtube.

[tnu]

So does anybody know anything abot the psychoogy of dreams or is that just junk science?

[MrBogosity]

So does anybody know anything abot the psychoogy of dreams or is that just junk science?

I think it's mostly junk science. Dreams are your subconscious mind trying to work things out, basically. It plays a role in storage of long-term memory as well. If there is a dream that's trying to "tell you something," you're the only one who can determine what it means. The best a psychologist could do is help you through whatever issues you face to discover the meaning for yourself.

[Ibrahim90]

I think it's mostly junk science. Dreams are your subconscious mind trying to work things out, basically. It plays a role in storage of long-term memory as well. If there is a dream that's trying to "tell you something," you're the only one who can determine what it means. The best a psychologist could do is help you through whatever issues you face to discover the meaning for yourself.

^what he said: it is really for you to figure out.

[Travis Retriever]

I think it's mostly junk science. Dreams are your subconscious mind trying to work things out, basically. It plays a role in storage of long-term memory as well. If there is a dream that's trying to "tell you something," you're the only one who can determine what it means. The best a psychologist could do is help you through whatever issues you face to discover the meaning for yourself.

Makes me wonder about folks like me who rarely (if ever) dream.  And to the people who say, "well, everyone dreams every night, you just don't remember it!" I say:  How do you even prove something like that?  It's like the "man think about sex every 7 seconds" crap.

[Ibrahim90]

Makes me wonder about folks like me who rarely (if ever) dream.  And to the people who say, "well, everyone dreams every night, you just don't remember it!" I say:  How do you even prove something like that?  It's like the "man think about sex every 7 seconds" crap.

actually, that happens to be true: dreaming happens during the REM phase of sleep, and so the associated neural activity associated with dreaming can be measured directly. And as the frontal lobes are often shut off during that phase, memory of the dream is hard to form, if not near impossible.

anyways, here's some reading material:

Hobson, J. H. (1995) Sleep. New York: Scientific American Library.

[Travis Retriever]

actually, that happens to be true: dreaming happens during the REM phase of sleep, and so the associated neural activity associated with dreaming can be measured directly.

Okay, this much I know.  But just because I'm in REM sleep, I fail to understand how that proves I'm dreaming. How do they know it's not something else? *shrugs*

And as the frontal lobes are often shut off during that phase, memory of the dream is hard to form, if not near impossible.

Which might help explain why folks into lucid dreaming subculture who keep a dream dairy/journal, and so forth tend to be better able to remember the dreams.

anyways, here's some reading material:

Hobson, J. H. (1995) Sleep. New York: Scientific American Library.

Okay, Google isn't helping me out here.  Is there a free online version of this available?

[Ibrahim90]

Okay, Google isn't helping me out here.  Is there a free online version of this available?

http://www.gettextbooks.com/isbn/9780716760146 (I'm afraid this answers your question in the negative: I did read it in College, which is how I know of it: it is pretty cheap though).

luckily for you, my google-fu skills evolved to hunt down papers, so I am at least able to get you this for free:

http://www.culturacientifica.org/textosudc/sueno_01.pdf

I suggest reading box 1: it isn't as thorough as you would like I imagine, but it's a start I suppose  to answering the question you raised (which is a good one--got me thinking too).

[dallen68]

I think it's mostly junk science. Dreams are your subconscious mind trying to work things out, basically. It plays a role in storage of long-term memory as well. If there is a dream that's trying to "tell you something," you're the only one who can determine what it means. The best a psychologist could do is help you through whatever issues you face to discover the meaning for yourself.

I actually find that when I have a dream that's trying to tell me something, there's no symbolism involved. It's pretty much straight up, whatever it is.