Importance of Dreams Essay Example

One of the astounding things we have been gifted with as humans is the desire to have dreams of a greater life, and the ability to establish goals to live out those dreams. We can look deep within our hearts and dream of a preferable situation for ourselves and our families; dream of better financial lives and better emotional or physical lives; certainly dream of better spiritual lives. But what makes this even more powerful is that we have also been given the ability to not only dream but to pursue those dreams, and not only to pursue them but the ability to actually lay out a plan to achieve those dreams. Dreams are a mysterious discovery, and I have done an extensive amount of research to tell you about them. 

Let’s start out with the basics, why do we dream? Now, no one actually knows why we dream, but there are multiple theories on why. The first one is the Activation-synthesis theory. The theory was based on the work of Harvard psychiatrists J. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley, and it was proposed in 1977.  This theory suggests that dreams occur when there is a simulation in our brains that brings thoughts to our awareness. The next theory is called the Threat-simulation theory. This theory was presented by a Finnish cognitive neuroscientist. This is a theory that suggests that dreaming is preparation for real-life events that may pose threats. This would be more popular with people who face physical and physiological trauma or threats throughout their daily lives. The next theory is Biological response to life circumstances. The developer of this theory is unknown, but she said “It could be an evolutionary and biological response, perhaps based on different life experiences.” Throughout our day we respond to things in our head or we think about what has happened throughout our lives and progress through situations in our head or just random thoughts.  The developer thinks that that is what our dreams are based on. The last of the theories is called the Organization of knowledge and memories. This theory was developed by Dr. Butler in 1985. He thinks that the purpose of dreams is to organize knowledge and form connections in our brains. This theory suggests dreaming is an opportunity for the brain to problem-solve, and make decisions and prioritize. 

There isn’t much that we know about dreams, but what we do know is that when we dream we advance through a process called R.E.M. R.E.M is one of four stages that we move through while we sleep. This usually happens in the first 90 minutes that a person falls asleep. During this stage, our bodies go through numerous physiological changes. That includes muscle relaxation, eye movement, faster respiration, and increased brain activity. In most cases, dreaming should not affect our sleep, in fact, it is perfectly normal to dream, but nightmares are the exception. Due to the fact that nightmares involve awakenings which causes distress in our spelling patterns.