Could dreams just be random?

[Idolfan]

If you think about it, ever since animals started dreaming I see no real "use" of it. I don't think it was ever essensial for life in any way, probably just an accident as far as evolution is concerned. This means that the subconscious mind was allowed to develop freely on some random path while the consciousness was always being sharpened by logic of reality and evolution. This is why in dreams the crazy things that happen seem to make so much sense and so on. Seeing as the subconscious developed without the need for sharpening, why should we interpet dreams? If my theory were true then dreams could just be random... even a reoccuring dream may just be a random thing that the subconscious touches on and panics about. After all although we think it's important dreams were never important for survival (you never know they could have been but the possibilty is slim), so it probably never evolved any logical sense of it's own. Obviously I look at it from a scientific perspective and there is plenty science can't explain, so, any thoughts?

[Merlock]

Well, you seem to be contradicting yourself. "Even a reoccuring dream is random but touches on reoccuring topics that concern the person"? That's not very random. Besides, dreams are greatly affected by our lives. So...they aren't random. Also, I'm not sure what generic dream interpretation is but I see dreams as analysable, not interpretable. If you dream of a tragic event, like someone dying, that doesn't mean any particular event...you can't tie it to such. But it does mean you feel that same tragic feeling for some reason. So you can analyse yourself to find it and its cause. Emotions and conceptual thought are how our subconscious works. Dreams are obviously tightly bound with the subconscious. Thus, dreams are more like a window into the subconscious for those that don't interact with it openly while conscious.

[Idolfan]

I mean people try to interpret dream symbolism. My reoccuring themes are native americans, drugs and immigrants. People would say that native americans means the native me with my origional thoughts and habits while the immigrants are the traits that are invading from elsewhere and my dream is trying to show me which one is safest for me and such (should I stay the same or accept new ideas e.t.c.). Drugs may mean the desire to try new things in search for development and have it backfire. Well, that's all very well but why should I trust what the dream has to say? Spookily enough they are close to my current thoughts but I'd say everybody can relate to the immigrant/native thing in some way or another. Like I said the dream could just be telling me a load of gibberish that never mattered in the past becasue nobody payed attention to their dreams. You're right though it is true that dreams do relate heavily to your life in reality, put putting trust in your subconscious is a different matter.

[Merlock]

Aye, well, that kind of interpretation is based on logical deductions but logic is a conscious trait. So, listening to the emotions in a dream about drugs is one thing. But interpreting hallucinations (what dreams are, technically) like that is rather useless, as far as I see.