Dreams

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I know he's not a dunce. But c'mon, it's pretty well accepted in psychology that dreams do provide insight into a person's life.

I would be careful about absolutes involving other people's dreams. The human brain is a hugely complicated and frequently very individual piece of equipment. I find emotional significance in my dreams but I would not say that is universal.

That is a phenomenon that warrants a wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_awakening

So at least it's common enough to be documented...

Odd, no mention of that in the psychology text I read. Granted, it was only an introductory coverage, but overall I got the impression that serious psychologists are rather dismissive of the assorted varieties of neo-Freudian and psychoanalytic nonsense that include such things as dream interpretation. If they aren't, then I certainly see cause to be dismissive of psychologists.

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." -Freud on dream interpretation, in a rare moment of lucidity

It is dangerous, egotistical and not particularly bright to totally dismiss an entire sector of human exploration on the basis of superficial understanding.

And yet, it is the American Way. In fact, it's the Western Way.

I know this seems like just a snide remark, but the truth is that the West is not very accepting of ideas that might have the possibility of changing the way they have to think. God forbid that maybe some Eastern views of health be right (despite the fact that the rare study on these things proves that, in most cases, they actually do have a positive effect), or that maybe certain religions might actually be different from the Judeo-Christian religions. I've also mentioned before that, when a possible clue to a cure/vaccine for HIV was found in Africa, Western doctors completely ignored it.

People all over the world, but especially in the West, need to learn that they don't know everything and assumptions are not fact.

There's an RA that assumes that I start my laundry at 8:30 pm (the laundry room closes at 9 pm), despite all evidence to the contrary. It's so much easier to wave off evidence that counters their belief as coincidence, or to fit it into their beliefs in an absurd manner that is highly unlikely. It hinders us in every pursuit.

well, I get that psychology is probably one of the most uncertain of studies, one problem would be cultural issues, as it could be said that mainstream psychology seems to be influenced by current western cultural values and philosophies, and that may be a problem about an accuracy of the human condition, as well as with psychiatry, however, I wouldn't be entirely dismissive of it, different disciplines of psychology seem to have shown to be useful in their different areas, and well, if there is a better way to explain and study people's behaviour, reactions, cognition, etc in a critical manner, it would be nice to know, in any case, psychology as developed and uncertain as may currently be, may be the best we have.


About interpretation of dreams, I really can't say, but there seems to be related to personality, our learned experience, our own perception and beliefs somehow, I have noticed few people dreaming about things they believe in, some seem to really feel a religious experience through their dreams, for example, I've heard religious people talking about dreaming about Christ or angels or anything related to it while non-believers would have different types of dreams, so that may be an indicative of something.

Interesting thing is that different people have similar dreams, the 'teeth falling' is one example, which I used to have several times.

I guess you would have to practice hypnosis and dream interpretation before you dismiss it. Freud wasn't some new age guru. He was a very skeptical and rational person. It was through experience that he made discoveries into the dreaming mind. I'm sure he analyzed more people than just skimming through a psych 101 book before he created psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis places much emphasis on dreams.

Oh and btw greenblue, the teeth falling out usually takes place in dreams where people feel like they are aging. yes we are always aging but hopefully you know what I mean...

There are also some scattered and coincidental cultural beliefs that loosing teeth means death in the family. But that is not something I'd put stock into.

There is no reliable technique for Person A to interpret Person B's dreams. People are much better at interpreting their own dreams.

The last successful Dream Interpreter was Joseph the son of Jacob. He got lucky twice.

ruveyn

A crash of drums, a flash of light!
My golden coat flew out of sight
Colors faded into darkness
I was left alone

The stuff of dreams topic

I have no universal answer as to the cause of human dreaming, but I do know in my case dreams to me seem like random firings of neurons involving memories. My dreams are always bizarre, and most have no plot. The few good ones I have had and remembered are fodder for my writings.

Do I also have to practice telekinesis and homeopathy before I dismiss it? Or can I dismiss them on the basis of their inherent absurdity?


Freud may have been an intelligent man, but it is pretty well accepted that Freud was just wrong on many counts. My understanding is that this is the opinion of most psychologists, as the psychoanalytic school of psychology is no longer mainstream.

Freud may have been an intelligent man, but it is pretty well accepted that Freud was just wrong on many counts. My understanding is that this is the opinion of most psychologists, as the psychoanalytic school of psychology is no longer mainstream.[/quote]


There seems to be some conflict in mistrusting psychologists in general and falling in easily with their opinion of psychoanalysis.

I am skeptical of some aspects of psychology, given how subjective the field is and how it sometimes doesn't even seem to be trying to be a rigorous science. If even they are rejecting psychoanalysis as unscientific, that has to tell you something.

Given that it's kind of iffy to open up a brain while a person is living to find anything related to his psyche, we do with what's most socially acceptable. =/

Psychology isn't a hard science because emotions and experiences are subjective to the person. Psychoanalysis gets into the mind of the individual.
We are not machines. Freud's theories may be dated is some respects, but I think he was right at the time. The Victorian people of England are different than modern Americans. This doesn't make his theories any less true. We are better off expanding on his approach rather than dismissing it.

If Freud was so wrong, then why did the US government employ him as well as Edward Bernays to learn about human behavior? Why did the Nazi scientists use his knowledge to learn how to control the masses? Are all of these elites just dumb and new agey? I don't think so. Even if they were just silly for attempting their psychological experiments, the fact is that they worked. Propaganda is a very useful tool. It works on the subconscious level. There is no proof that the subconscious mind even exists, but I think we all have experienced it. It's not a tangible thing, the psyche. But I don't think it is wise to say that it doesn't exist at all based on the fact that you can't dissect it and look at it under a microscope.

If dreams are all just silly rubbish, then why do we have to dream? Why is it that when we are not allowed to reach the REM state it affects our memory, learning abilities, behavior, etc?