One of the greatest things about life is our ability to dream. In this fantasy world, anything can happen, even things that are beyond impossible in the real world. There are many theories of what causes dreaming, some of which are more plausible than others.
For decades, the significant theory behind dreams was that they were the manifestations of repressed or suppressed feelings. The proponent of this theory was Sigmund Freud, one of the most famous psychologists in history. Although most of his theories were disproved, he is still widely remembered, and many still believe his theory of dreams to be correct.
Freud distinguished between two types of content in dreams. Manifest content was what really appeared in a dream, such as a gun. Latent content is what the manifest content represents; in the case of a gun, Freud might say it represents a penis, as most of his theories were based on sexual motivation. However, many belief this theory to be incorrect, and point out that maybe the gun is just a gun (Freud himself is reportedly recorded as saying that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar).
The other explanation behind dreams is the activation-synthesis model. This is more science-based, and describes dreams as the brain attempting to create meaning from a multitude of signals being constantly processed during REM sleep. During REM sleep, brain waves are the same as when one is awake, which is why dreams feel so real. Other portions of the brain, such as the emotional lymbic system, are also active, explaining why dreams can be so intense. While the suppressed-feelings model of dreaming has been around for probably centuries, this recent theory has only been around since the late 1970s. It was proposed by two well known researchers named Robert McCarley and J. Allan Hobson.
Although the theory is centered on random brain activity, Hobson has been sure to point out that his theory does not imply that dreams are useless. Perhaps dreaming is a combination of the activation-synthesis theory and some sort of subconscious influence, even if it is not totally sexual as Freud supposed. Also, dreams can be a great source of inspiration and ideas. While the majority of dreams have no meaning and are just like internal television shows, some of them can have a profound impact on how we think, especially during the day following the dream.
To all those dreamers out there, make sure to have a comfortable bed in which to dream in. Even a high quality sleeper sofa will suffice anyone who wants to have good dreams.