Often we wake up stunned for seeing something unusual in our sleep. Things might stir imaginations, boggle your mind, make you happy for achieving something unexpected or even sadden you. Have you wondered why you have been dreaming? Here are a few possible explanations as to why do we dream, and what facts has science established:
Medical News Today states that we dream :
- to imagine that which we unconsciously desire.
- to run all the information that we have gathered throughout the day.
Some amazing facts about dreams are as follows:
- You can tell you are dreaming if you are unable to read in your dreams or are incapable of telling the time. Lucid dreamers state not being able to see the hands of the clock moving.
- Blind people tend to dream more than those possessing the gift of sight.
- By the time you are out of your bed, you will have forgotten around 95% of that you might have dreamt about.
- Dreams have gendered differences. Women tend to dream more about the family and issues centring them as compared to men. Men have more aggressive dreams.
- Some of the greatest inventions of mankind have been inspired by dreams. Noteworthy among them are, Dimitri Mandeleyev’s Periodic Table, Larry Page’s Google.
- Dreams can predict the future. Some people have reported things actually happening to them, that which they had dreamt about long back. Some of the premonition dreams have been quite famous: the submergence of the Titanic was verified by 19 people, Abraham Lincoln had dreamt of his assassination.
- People are quite often attacked by Sleep Paralysis. Some people associate it with the devil overpowering your body. It feels more like a real experience than a dream. Sufferers complain of not being able to move their body during the attack. You are immediately filled with a sense of fear and anxiety.
- Sleepwalking is a pretty rare and dangerous experience where people tend to act what they dream of in their sleep. Examples include, having sex with strangers during sleepwalking, drawing amazing portraits, walking out of your house and finding yourself in a strange place when you obtain consciousness.
- Dreams can be black and white too! Around 12% of people have uncoloured dreams.
Anushree Ghosh
