What are Dreams?

By: I. Mizne

People have been trying to decipher the mystery known as dreams for centuries. Even in Ancient Egypt, there is said to have been a pharaoh who once had a dream about seven fat cows and seven thin cows and wanted to decipher what it meant. So, he asked Joseph (a prisoner known for interpreting dreams) to tell him what his dream meant. Joseph told the pharaoh that his dream meant that Egypt would have seven years of good crops followed by seven years of famine. Because of this, the pharaoh stored food for the years to come, and Egypt was not starving during the seven years of famine.

As you can see, interpreting dreams have always been a present desire in humans, but scientists are yet to determine the age-old question: Why do we dream? So far, they have only created theories as to why we might dream, which can include: experiencing daydreaming, reflecting on emotions that were experienced during consciousness, or reflecting on emotions that are too hard to bare whilst in consciousness. However, there is no conclusive evidence that suggests that dreaming, directly affects a person’s emotional state.

Dreams are a series of images, thoughts and senses. Some people may remember a fragment of their dreams, whilst others can’t remember any part of them. They are a type of mixture between highlights of the day. For example: you could watch snow white, and a cop movie, and your dream might be of a witch breaking into your house. Dreams may occur as a way for the brain to process information as a memory, a person may not remember their dreams upon waking up because they can no longer process the information whilst they’re awake. If you write down every morning the dream you just had, then memories of your dreams can be remembered more easily.

Although we might not remember all our dreams in vivid details, we may remember them several years later. Dreams remain a mystery still, because even though scientists can analyse brain activity during sleep, they cannot yet determine what is the content being shown in a dream and why it is being shown. Even then, scientists do believe that to understand dreams better, they must find a deeper understanding of sleep. Sleep is a vital part of living- most people sleep for one-third of their lives! It is also a very important part of physical health and well-being.

This further development in research regarding sleep is allowing scientists to have a deeper understanding of dreams, and one day, we may finally fully understand why we dream and the connection between dreams and our daily lives.