One of the most important things human beings do every single day is to sleep.
Without sleep our bodies quickly begin to break down and our minds turn to mush.
It is also true that, while we are sleeping, our brains are doing something completely their own, they dream.
For centuries dreams have been studied, the first proof of this was from 5,000 years ago when archeologists discovered tablets carved with the stories of people’s dreams.
Since then, there have been hundreds of theories as to why our brains do this while we sleep.
While we may still not have any 100% definitive answers, here are a few of the world’s leading scientists’ best theories.
Dreaming to fulfill our waking wishes is one of the more popular theories, it was first brought about by Doctor Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s.
Freud believed that we dream about things in life that we already know, but that these things may have subconscious and symbolic meanings within the dream.
Freud believes that by studying the dream more closely in order to understand what each symbol means, you can then realize what the dream as a whole is suggesting.
Another theory surrounding the reason we dream is that it helps us to remember.
The memory processes that happen when we sleep are so complex that they can’t be done with the waking mind, dreaming about things can help us to remember them as they truly are.
Then on the flip side of that, is that we actually dream to forget.
A study done in the 1980s led researchers to believe that the waking brain is full of all the little ins and outs of life, all the tiny little things that happen but don’t matter.
This theory is that, while we sleep, our brains go through all the information we took in during that day and analyses which information is important to keep, and what can be forgotten.
One of the more simple theories, though with all its own intricacies it is not really fair to call it simple, is just that we need to keep our brains active.
The brain is not meant to not be working for 6-8 hours every day, it needs to be doing something during that time.
Due to this, the brain runs itself through the events of the previous day, week, month, year, or even longer, and analyses that information to decide where to compartmentalize it.
Dreaming to rehearse is another theory, this means that we mentally prepare ourselves for what may come without actually doing so on a conscious level.
What we are preparing for are things that, in all likelihood, probably will never happen; like being chased by a pack of wolves.
However, if that ever did happen, we have mentally prepared for it beforehand and may better understand our own ‘flight or fight’ instincts.
The final theory is that we dream to heal ourselves.
Our brains are able to process traumatic memories and information in a better manner than when we are awake.
It may help us to run through these things, however painful they may be, in our sleeping brains rather than our waking brains.
That way we can still deal with these issues, and move towards healing, without traumatizing us all over again when we are awake.
Watch the video below for a more detailed breakdown of the theories behind why we dream.
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