Thread: Psychology Project

Hiya there, Jellyfishgamble. Good post, and something I have a few opinions on.

Originally Posted by jellyfishgamble

I'm doing a psychology project on "what makes people dream". Aannnd...I didn't realize, until right now, the night before it's due, that I have to conduct an interview with an expert on my topic. And I figured, what better than to ask a whole community of dreaming experts?

I have a couple of questions, but if you have any information you think could help at all, it would be amazingly appreciated. And don't worry about when you answer; I probably won't end up turning it in tommorrow anyway knowing me.

First, from a psychological point of view, why do you believe we dream?[/b]

I had a good chat about this to my psychology lecturer, last year sometime. He said, and I am inclined to believe him, that the theory that makes the most sense is that dreaming is part of the allocation and filing of things into and within long-term memory, and the brain testing out new connections, through the hippocampus, the part of the brain which plays a big role in memory allocation. This also explains why dreams draw on so many episodes in our memory, and also why you tend to get random elements - the brain is trying to find the right place to file a memory, and occaisionally it opens the wrong "drawer" and something random pops out.

Originally Posted by jellyfishgamble

Do you believe that there is anything dangerous about a facination with dreams or lucid dreaming?[/b]

No to both.

Originally Posted by jellyfishgamble

In one sentance, what do you believe is the most vital thing to know about dreaming?[/b]

It's all in your head, and nothing can harm you - you can only have fun.

Originally Posted by The

I had a good chat about this to my psychology lecturer, last year sometime. He said, and I am inclined to believe him, that the theory that makes the most sense is that dreaming is part of the allocation and filing of things into and within long-term memory, and the brain testing out new connections, through the hippocampus, the part of the brain which plays a big role in memory allocation. This also explains why dreams draw on so many episodes in our memory, and also why you tend to get random elements - the brain is trying to find the right place to file a memory, and occaisionally it opens the wrong "drawer" and something random pops out.
[/b]

That actually makes a lot of sense, seems like a really good theory about dreaming!

So anyways,

Question 1 (at least from before I read Blue's post...):
Dreaming is just a way to sort out all the stuff that happened in the day and to help memorize it. I think we dream just to avoid going insane, sort of just like shutting down and processing/picking out moments of the day to remember.


2: Physically dangerous not really, especially with normal dreaming. With lucid dreaming, possibly, like screwing up the memorization process of your mind or whatever, but I haven't had any problems that I know of nor heard of anyone having them.
Psychologically, becoming too obsessed with dreams / lucid dreaming can be seen as dangerous/unhealthy.

3: They are generated only by your mind and each element can be "traced" back to something you've felt, wanted, or experienced.