Dreams - what do they mean?

[Phrossack]

I constantly dream of my teeth falling out or getting knocked out. No idea why. Various websites say that it's "symbolic" of fear, anxiety, and depression, but they seem to be pulling that out of their hindquarters.

 

[Kyriakos]

I constantly dream of my teeth falling out or getting knocked out. No idea why. Various websites say that it's "symbolic" of fear, anxiety, and depression, but they seem to be pulling that out of their hindquarters.

Curiously you did not note what sense it gave you. Most people would feel dread at such a prospect, but in a dream an object is primarily a symbol and not an object as in the external world. Eg teeth usually symbolise ability to be violent, so losing teeth can symbolically mean losing power to be destructive. Therefore one has to examine more parameters in the dream, not just some objects there.

Should be noted, of course, that relations between terms in language itself are likely not finite. A simple other parameter with teeth, for example, is that they tie to the metaphor for being intelligent, as in "sharp". Etc.

 

[sophie]

Curiously you did not note what sense it gave you. Most people would feel dread at such a prospect, but in a dream an object is primarily a symbol and not an object as in the external world. Eg teeth usually symbolise ability to be violent, so losing teeth can symbolically mean losing power to be destructive. Therefore one has to examine more parameters in the dream, not just some objects there.

Should be noted, of course, that relations between terms in language itself are likely not finite. A simple other parameter with teeth, for example, is that they tie to the metaphor for being intelligent, as in "sharp". Etc.

Again. Dreams don't symbolize anything. At least not in real life. Freud is mostly bull[feces], psychologically speaking.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I was going to say exactly this.

But how do we know that we're dreaming? I very seldom realize that I'm dreaming when I am. And therefore I very seldom interpret my dreams to mean that I'm asleep. And if I do, I very quickly wake up.

So more exactly, I'd say if I'm awake and remember I've been dreaming I always take it to mean that I've been asleep. But having just woken up, I think I know I've been asleep anyway, whether I've been dreaming or not.

Anyway, I don't think dreams mean anything at all, generally. It's just a mish-mash of half-remembered stuff, word associations, and flights of fancy, imo.

Recurrent dreams, though, are probably a sign that your subconscious is trying to tell you something (though that's a rather strange way of putting it, come to think of it). But only you are in a position to say what that something is.

More accurate, but less concise. I score this eight out of ten.

My main curiosity though is what tells Owen that such authoritative responses are warranted. My previous impressions are apparently mistaken if it turns out we are in the presence of Bickhard or Campbell, but I thought you were a student of some sort.

 

[trader/warrior]

I had recurring dreams of my teeth falling out for a while. At the time I had been putting off going to the dentist even though I knew I had dental problems.

After I got my teeth fixed they haven't come back.

 

[sophie]

My main curiosity though is what tells Owen that such authoritative responses are warranted.

Because stuff like this:

but in a dream an object is primarily a symbol and not an object as in the external world. Eg teeth usually symbolise ability to be violent, so losing teeth can symbolically mean losing power to be destructive. Therefore one has to examine more parameters in the dream, not just some objects there.

Should be noted, of course, that relations between terms in language itself are likely not finite. A simple other parameter with teeth, for example, is that they tie to the metaphor for being intelligent, as in "sharp". Etc.

Is really unhelpful and could be quite harmful to someone who sounds like they're genuinely asking for help or advice. It's giving your subconscious WAY too much credit. You really shouldn't read too heavily into your dreams. They aren't the grand prophetic subconscious soothsayers that Freud and his ilk made them out to be.

Unless you're getting into narrativist analysis. Then read as heavily into dreams as possible because the content creator definitely put them in there for a reason.

 

[Kyriakos]

Again. Dreams don't symbolize anything. At least not in real life. Freud is mostly bull[feces], psychologically speaking.

Owen, you had been quite confrontational since forever, but lately your attempts seem something ranging from bizarre to even worse things.
For the record, i don't care either way, but it is even more pointless to discuss when you do your thing above, so maybe don't post just so that you have something to say against a post by myself, given i really don't give a crap about you or your strange posts?

"Again. Dreams don't symbolise anything. At least not in real life", is really difficult to name otherwise than a really dumb progression of sentences, even if i have to attribute most of it to attempt to antagonise (cause elsewhere it seems a lot dumber). (the strawman reference following that at least is just a strawman).

 

[Narz]

So many seem to think dreams mean nothing. That doesn't make much sense as a person who could glean wisdom from their dreams would have an evolutionary advantage over one you couldn't (in other words, I plan to spin tales about wisdom gained from my dreams in order to get laid).

At least in my experience when I process information from my dreams it does not seem random. Generally dreams express fears & wishes with a bit of mindless entertainment thrown in to help you remember.

Dreams are amazing, real life is a boring pile of crap by comparison. My dreams pwn the daylights out of any blockbuster movie.

 

[Triewd]

My dreams have been increasingly thematically accessible lately. Last night was a slow motion freeway gun fight. A few nights ago I fought ninjas in a subway terminal while giving this gal I'm seeing a piggyback.

Ok the second is very thematic yes, quite easy to analise.

Ninjas are basically glorified stealth assassins. And you giving her a piggyback is you supporting her, so you are supporting her and fighting sneaky assassins at the same time.

Can't help you with the rest of your dreams though

 

[Triewd]

http://www.auntyflo.com/dream-dictionary/spider

quite helpful actually

 

[Borachio]

So many seem to think dreams mean nothing. That doesn't make much sense as a person who could glean wisdom from their dreams would have an evolutionary advantage over one you couldn't (in other words, I plan to spin tales about wisdom gained from my dreams in order to get laid).

At least in my experience when I process information from my dreams it does not seem random. Generally dreams express fears & wishes with a bit of mindless entertainment thrown in to help you remember.

Dreams are amazing, real life is a boring pile of crap by comparison. My dreams pwn the daylights out of any blockbuster movie.

Oh I totally agree with the bolded part.

But dreams aren't all they're cracked up to be. I read of a guy who trained himself to remember his dreams and wrote them down methodically. He ended up spending all his waking hours writing down his dreams. Now, that's not a sensible thing to do, imo.

 

[Narz]

Did he make any money off that project or it was just some lame blog?

 

[Seraiel]

Dreams often have to do with the happenings on the day before, and saying they don't mean anything is plain stupid. I'm close to Psychology with having been in therapy for about 10y and because I study medicine, and I often can interpret my dreams without too much difficulties. Question is, do I want to get closer with my sub-conscious or do I not need it currently because I reflect quite a lot during daytime already.

 

[Borachio]

Plenty of things that happen to me during the day have no meaning that I can fathom (I won't bore you with the complete list). Why wouldn't most of my dreams be equally meaningless?

 

[Seraiel]

I forgot: I'm aware of that I dream when I dream. If dreams get too ugly, I wake myself up to get a new, better dream. Sometimes, dreams are so exciting and interesting, that I really feel joy while experiencing them. If dreams are boring, I usually wait and stay asleep hoping the dream changes to something better, it often does.

Still, I have stopped with analyzing my dreams mostly, because there are reasons why unconscious things are unconscious. Knowing too much is a curse.

 

[Narz]

Plenty of things that happen to me during the day have no meaning that I can fathom (I won't bore you with the complete list). Why wouldn't most of my dreams be equally meaningless?

Well dreams are meaningless is the same way everyday life & human existence & everything in general is meaningless. Within the context of human existence however they are not meaningless.

Still, I have stopped with analyzing my dreams mostly, because there are reasons why unconscious things are unconscious. Knowing too much is a curse.

It's hard to change when there are unconscious barriers.

 

[Seraiel]

Well dreams are meaningless is the same way everyday life & human existence & everything in general is meaningless. Within the context of human existence however they are not meaningless.


It's hard to change when there are unconscious barriers.

Unconscious barriers can also be realized by daytime reflection, and a strong will can get onesself over them too. Analyzing certain, for example re-occuring dreams ofc. makes much sense, I just wanted to write that I went away from remembering and analyzing every dream.

 

[Narz]

Makes sense, the time it takes probably doesn't justify the reward.

 

[Seraiel]

Makes sense, the time it takes probably doesn't justify the reward.

It's more, that one gets punished for doing it on a regular basis, because one becomes conscious of thing, one shouldn't know. One also easily falls into the trap of forgetting, that dreams are highly unrealistic and that noone understands them fully.
A Prof. of psychology once said to me “dreams are about fear often, and dreaming of fear supresses fear when being awake. When analyzing to much, one brings the fear from dreams in the everyday life, that can lead to becoming fearful and decompensating.

 

[CivCube]

Dreams are our emotions processing themselves. It's the tone that you should look out for.