Thread: Define a dream or dreaming

The word "dream" has multiple meanings in language so it needs multiple definitions. Using only one definition for all the different meanings would lead to equivocation fallacies.

I like Google's definitions for the word "dream":
noun:
-a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.
-a state of mind in which someone is or seems to be unaware of their immediate surroundings.
-a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.
-an unrealistic or self-deluding fantasy.
-a person or thing perceived as wonderful or perfect.

verb:
-experience dreams during sleep
-see, hear, or feel (something) in a dream.
-indulge in daydreams or fantasies, typically about something greatly desired.
-contemplate the possibility of doing something or that something might be the case.

You're right! Of course I was interested in the one in the top definition.

I agree that, depending on your definition of sleep, the top one is a good and practical definition for most purposes. And it's hard to misunderstand, (which I can't say about my own definition.) I could argue that google's definition might be a bit too wide, I think there can be thoughts and sensations during sleep which are not "dream".

It might also be too narrow for some other purposes... limiting a dream to only be possible from sleep, and only from within a persons mind...

But all in all, a good and practical definition!

If I remember correctly, dolphins only sleep with half of their brain at once... do you dream?

Personally, I consider dreaming an “open concept”—that is, I think any definition we tried to give it would inevitably exclude dreams that may be unusual, but no more unusual than some dreams that it does encompass.

There are contexts where some kind of definition is necessary, like sleep lab experiments, where scientists need a criterion for which dream reports to accept, but I think an attempted “universal” definition would probably be useless to them anyway, and to just about everyone else. It’s better just to formulate a criterion that reflects the purpose at hand than to argue over which features are essential to a dream and which aren’t.

So the question, then, is why are you looking for a definition? If it’s to improve the way we think about them, I'd say that some sort of typology would probably be way more helpful.

How's this?

A dream is a brief moment of contact, or exchange, between your conscious and unconconscious minds, in an environment whose only stimuli comes from the exchange itself, and not the physical world. A lucid dream is the same thing, except that you are able to recognize this exchange and tap the limitless potentials of a world that you know is based purely on your own imagination.

It’s very hard to corral dreams in a definition and maybe we shouldn’t really go too far in trying to do so, but here is what I believe they involve:

“Dreams/Dreaming consist of a communication which comes from the deep levels of the psyche and which is natural, direct and spontaneous, using images (i.e. a pictorial, sensual, pre-logical language) meant to advise, correct, punish (e.g. nightmares), comfort, heal and warn the dreamer in an attempt to further her/his self-knowledge which can in turn stimulate the creation of an ongoing psychological equilibrium and overall self-development of the personality over time”.

This process mirrors the automatic physical “balancing” of various bodily functions (e.g. temperature, level of bodily fluids etc., etc.) without the ego’s involvement except in the need, for example, to pay attention to any unusual symptoms and to take appropriate conscious action when necessary.

Taken together, this suggests a basic demand for the human ego to be “connected” to and aware of both the body and the deeper layers of the mind, something which is becoming ever more difficult in modern societies. The overall necessity could be viewed as the requirement for loyalty to a “religious attitude”, not necessarily involving the practise of an organized religion, but instead at least some kind of “connection”, “bond” or “reverence” to the body and psyche as hinted at in the roots of the word “religion” itself (e.g. Latin “ligare” = to bind, “religio” = obligation, reverence). Learning to understand what our dreams are trying to say would go a long way to build this link to the body and the mind because it’s known that not only psychological issues appear in dreams, but as well, hints about potential serious bodily illnesses and even approaching death.

Unfortunately, this is all pretty dry and doesn’t get across the living and symbol-producing nature of the psyche, but I hope some of these ideas can add to your search for a definition of dreaming.