Dreaming

Dreaming is a natural phenomenon experienced by all living creates across the globe.  Humans dream every night whether they remember it or not.  Dreaming is vital to success in life because it is speculated that dreaming has an impact on memory.  It is hypothesized that dreaming actually helps sort out and process events from that day, which leads to a much stronger long term memory.  This helps explain why studying right before going to sleep may in fact be the best time to study.  If a person studies directly before going to bed, it is likely that the mind has an easier time sorting all of the information, and processing it in a way which will allow for a more successful long term memory.  I have read articles on the internet which make all sorts of claims about dreaming and what they might mean in your life.  One thing I read was that if someone was in your dream it means they missed you; I really never believed this because it just seems like something totally random which makes no sense.  After talking in class about how little we know what dreaming actually means, it is probably safe to say this statement is a lie.  On average I would say I remember a couple of dreams every week.  I remember in class we talked about lucid dreaming and how it involves realizing you are asleep, and then proceeding to control the rest of your dream.  While I have never actually controlled my dream as I slept, I have before realized I was dreaming and then promptly woke myself up.  This would typically happen when I realized a dream was just too ridiculous to be true.  It has only happened to me a handful of times in my life, but when it does happen it’s a very awesome experience.

4 thoughts on “Dreaming

  1. Carl Raymond Nerthling

    I have substantial first-hand experience with improving memory through dreams. In high school, my football coaches would stress a technique they called “visualizing.” In summary, they wanted us to vividly imagine exactly what we needed to do during every different play as we prepared ourselves to go to sleep every night. When they first told me about it, I thought they were absolutely off their rockers. However, I soon found that I was instinctively doing the correct steps and blocks during every play without having to think about it. The coaches asked if I was studying my playbook harder (I wasn’t), and my only explanation was that dreaming about doing the plays correctly was leading me to actually do the plays correctly. It’s pretty crazy how that all works out.

  2. Collin Pasch

    I have always had an interest in the subject of sleep and dreams, most likely due to the fact that I have a sleeping disorder. This disorder causes me to have very jumbled sleep structure and messes up my sleep schedule. No matter what though, I always dream. And most of the time you could categorize them as nightmares. Eventually I would like to know the reasons behind my dreams, so this post really speaks to me.

  3. Patrick Michael Wagner

    This post is really relevant to me. After reading it, I realized that when I study just before going to sleep, I tend to do better on exams. Often times when I study just before bed, I remember dreaming and parts of the dream that had happened to me the previous day. I remember most dreams that I have just before I wake and can often times relate them to what I did the day before. Although they seem simple and insignificant dreams actually seem to help a lot with memory.

  4. Ryan Joseph Fritz

    After hearing about the possible reasons for dreaming, the possibility that dreaming helps to organize memories also seemed to make the most sense to me. I liked this option the best because I can see it in my life. After having a dream, often times the next morning, if I remember it, I can pick out parts that came from what I had done the day before. This process seems to allow me to remember things that I would not have without the dream. I don’t know, however, if not remembering a dream has any effect on my memory from the previous day. Dreams could be helping us all when we don’t even know about them.

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