# Sleep and Dreams > General Dream Discussion > Nightmares and Recurring Dreams >  >  Nightmares: What are they to you?

## Mad Stratter

If dreams are all our fantasies, then how do you explain nightmares?

What do you make of nightmares, really? Is it a manifestation of our fears and worries? Or is it an expression of that part of us that enjoys terror, for example, the part of some of us that enjoys horror movies? Or do you have a different interpretation. I'd love to hear them all, because, get this... _I think they're all valid, even if every last one of you has a different interpretation._

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## tommo

I think nightmares are just fears that your have of people dying that you love or someone hurting you, end of the world etc.
Therefore because you think about it during the day a lot your brain has to work through it during the night.

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## Mad Stratter

> I think nightmares are just fears that your have of people dying that you love or someone hurting you, end of the world etc.
> Therefore because you think about it during the day a lot your brain has to work through it during the night.



Sometimes I have nightmares about things I'd laugh it in waking life, though... vampires, demons, etc. I definately hear what you're saying, and think that there is a certain segment of nightmares were that holds true.

I guess nightmare are as diverse as pleasant dreams, not only in content but in motivation.

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## Licity

> what do you make of nightmares, really? Is it a manifestation of our fears and worries? Or is it an expression of that part of us that enjoy's terror, for example, the part of some of us that enjoy's horror movies? Or do you have a different interpretation



I follow a theory that states that nightmares, as well as all other dreams were originally preparatory tools to help against danger.

Picture your average caveman. He works 16 hours a day to find enough food to keep himself and his family alive and fighting off predators. Efficiency at its best. But, what of this time spent asleep? Here is 8 hours where nothing particularly interesting happens. Why not spend time preparing?

Following this, you could gauge that he would be dreaming of his family and friends being attacked by tigers or some other vicious prehistoric beast. He would fight off the tigers, probably feeling a lot of fear at the same time. When he wakes up, he has learned two things:
1. Tigers are scary. Avoid them.
2. A plan to use to get rid of tigers.

I bet that dreams came about as a type of threat-simulator, in the same vein as flight simulators we force aircraft pilots to use. They help prepare for danger.

There isn't too much danger in today's world that requires constant dream practice. Dreams probably degenerated into a device for the subconscious to vent, or a way to sort out what happened during the day. The nightmares we have are flashes of those first nightmares, intended to prepare. Watching scary movies or being involved in scary situations would recall the fear in those first dreams, making nightmares more likely.

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## Mad Stratter

^ That's an interesting way of looking at it.

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## benTENDO

My nightmare:
http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...369#post955369

I was going to post it here but has nothing to do with the topic.

My nightmare shows that there isn't always a connection between nightmares and fears or preperation for danger.

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## Licity

I agree that many nightmares are so way off-base that they have nothing to do with a threat, but maybe nightmares have to be interpreted like normal dreams to get the full value.

Thinking more about what I wrote:
Maybe, at first, ALL dreams were lucid. Its possible that the first humans knew that they were in a dream situation. Remember that they were not the smartest people at the time, constant switches between dream threats and real ones could easily confuse.

The discovery of farming changed culture for good. Instead of nomadic hunting/gathering, it was possible to farm and save up goods, meaning you weren't constantly in danger. My guess is that there were no more threat-simulations needed on a regular basis, so dreams started becoming the more benign ones that are so common today. Its likely that common lucidity disappeared in the process. Today it only remains in natural LDers. When practice for emergency situations was needed, nightmares came back in full force, or would sometimes go off for no reason (see above post).

Revising my theory would explain nightmares like benTENDO's while still leaving it open to be explained by nature's interest in efficiency.

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## benTENDO

I have a good theory that might explain nightmares.

Nightmares might just be a random things which happens to you while you sleep. Sometimes during the day you might "feel" like you are being watched and might just freak out. This could be due to your body naturally releasing chemicals and hormones which could cause you to freak out. Maybe during the night the same thing might happen, but since we are in a dream scene we freak out and our freaked out mind creates our fears in front of us.

It's a good theory  :wink2:

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## tommo

> I bet that dreams came about as a type of threat-simulator, in the same vein as flight simulators we force aircraft pilots to use. They help prepare for danger.



I agree that this could be a possibility.

Then you kind of went off the wrong way. IMO





> 1. Tigers are scary. Avoid them.
> 2. A plan to use to get rid of tigers.



First you would already know tigers are scary or you wouldn't dream about them.  Ok....




> Dreams probably degenerated into a device for the subconscious to vent, or a way to sort out what happened during the day.



I think that's what they are now, but I don't think they degenerated.  I propose they were (in caveman times etc.) used to work through what has happened in the day.  This was just different to the types of things we work through now.

The only problem with my theory is that it doesn't include random nightmares about Vampires and such which we obviously don't encounter or think about in this day and age unless you're into all that stuff.  So I ask...




> Sometimes I have nightmares about things I'd laugh it in waking life, though... vampires, demons, etc. I definitely hear what you're saying, and think that there is a certain segment of nightmares were that holds true.



Are these the kind of nightmares where you wake up sweating and scared? Or do you wake up, laugh and go wtf?  But then just call it a nightmare because it had 'scary' things in it?

In the former it could just be a child memory type thing, since most if not all people are scared of those things when they are young.

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## Mad Stratter

> Are these the kind of nightmares where you wake up sweating and scared? Or do you wake up, laugh and go wtf?  But then just call it a nightmare because it had 'scary' things in it?



Somewhere in between... I'd wake up with my heart pounding and sweating with a definite feeling of terror, but you're right, they definitely aren't horrifying like my childhood nightmares, I think it's also partly the content that has me lumping them into that category.

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## Snowy Egypt

Okay, people, have fun!  :smiley:  Hope y'all like the title.

If you want me to, I can edit out the things in your posts related to arne's thread.

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## Mad Stratter

Aw, nightmares aren't as fun when I'm not thread-jacking  :tongue2:  I think that maybe you should edit our the Arne-related stuff... it will only confuse new-comers to the thread

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## Snowy Egypt

As funny as the  ::hijack::  was, I'd feel better if this conversation were carried out in it's correct forum. (Cause I really want to keep reading it.)

I shall edit out arne-related talk.  :smiley:

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## Dreamcaster

I think dreams and nightmares are just a way that our unconscious/subconscious mind communicates with us. All my examples revolve around communication. 

One Idea I have in relation to the evolution of dreaming in relation to benTENDO's theory (cool username by the way) and other input on this thread is that dreams and nightmares are humanities way of trying to understand themselves and what goes on around them. By seeking to understand we have evolved from knuckle draggers to an advanced technological society. What distinguishes us from animals is our need to stand up and reach for the fruit on the trees. We need to grasp things beyond us and this need has helped us to evolve. Remember, we haven't always had the luxury of books and science to explain everything for us. For somethings which science hasn't explained we still don't have that luxury.  In addition to being a cathartic form of expression dreams and nightmares our just our ways of trying to understand ourselves and the universe around us. It's our minds way of continuing that evolutionary imperative to grasp that which is beyond us. It's our way of trying to give meaning to the universe. That's why we are motivated to do things beyond everyday survival. We build pyramids and cathedrals and create alphabets and numbers, and write Bibles, to express those things beyond our grasp. I also think our senses are overloaded with sensory info. Not everything we sense registers consciously. Dreams and nightmares communicate those unknowns into info our conscious minds can grasp. 

Sometimes when our mind communicates with us in a way that's pleasant, we take our dream for granted. As a result we neglect the message our mind is trying to convey. Nightmares are a way of getting our attention. It's kinda like if a mother asks her child to do something and he ignores her, then the second time around she might yell at him. This less pleasant form of communication is more likely to motivate the son to do what his mother asks. Dreams work in the same way. Dreams and nightmares help us to process info we might otherwise ignore. It's kinda like how pain forces us to address an injury that we might otherwise ignore. In the same way nightmares do the same thing for the mind. 

Nightmares are also a deterrant meant to warn against those ideas which threaten our survival. Remember that ideas translate into behaviors which can effect our everyday lives. 

Dreams can also act as a virtual representation of the biological processes going on in the body and mind. When everything is functioning properly you dream, but when there's a problem you have nightmares. In essence the nightmare is meant to tell you something is wrong. 

On the more radical end, I also think dreams and nightmares are meant to prepare us for the afterlife. I kinda agree with the fight simulator analogy, but I'd apply the concept to the afterlife. So dreams and nightmares are meant to prepare us for the afterlife. I think that our physical body is meant to act as a template for the spirit and soul. Our time on the physical plane is meant to help us to form a higher body that can function separate of the physical body. Dreams and nightmares are meant to show us the flaws in the dynamic infrastructure of the soul. Dreams show us what works and nightmares show us what isn't working.  If one succeeds in creating a functioning soul they live for eternity in the afterlife and if they don't create a functioning logical dynamic their soul will eventually expire. I think the best comparison might be to a video game. If the game doesn't work well they'll be a lot of hiccups that'll effect the quality of the game. Dreams are meant to help us test the game before it's release.  Nightmares are dreams way of saying there are a lot of problems with the game software.

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## tommo

> I agree; unless you leave it up to the dream to decide (when you're lucid) then you will just be able fabricate your own answer.
> However thinking or trying to make the 'dream do it' itself would be pretty hard lol.  Kinda just have to let it happen.



Might wanna take out that and the quote above that then egypt.  thanks mate.

Dreamcaster you definitely have a way with words.  It actually made me consider your afterlife take on it.  Although I don't believe in any of that.

But the first bit definitely grabbed me.  That nightmares grab our attention more.  Maybe the fact that I pay attention to my normal dreams makes me have less nightmares?  Although I don't always do what they/I tell myself so that would cause the few nightmares I've had in the past couple of years.  I might experiment with that.

If I have a dream I feel is telling me to do something I will do it.  See if any nightmares come anyway.

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## Snowy Egypt

Woah...how'd I miss that???

Fixed.  :smiley:

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## tommo

hehe, dunno, maybe those damned google ads distracted you.  ::lol:: 

I had another thought on this topic last night and I've forgotten it again.  I do that so much, I'm like "I'll write it down, nah I'll remember, no I say that every time and then I forget, no this time I will remember, I said that last time too though, ok this time I WILL remember".
Wake up, forgotten.

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## seeker28

I think that many nightmares are our minds preparing us for emergencies, dissapointments, and difficulty.  Read this.  I also think nightmares can be our minds working to deal with difficult info or events.  Or they can also be random weirdness.  I think dreams of all kinds have many diffrent functions and reasons.

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## Ilumirath

Nightmares are adventures in my own mind created by my greatest fears wich creates the ultimate experience of fear, wich i thought i coud barely imagine

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## tommo

> Or they can also be random weirdness.  I think dreams of all kinds have many diffrent functions and reasons.



Yeah, they can definitely be just random, same as normal dreams.

EDIT:  OMG Seeker you f'ing champion.  I just figured out what I was thinking the other night but then forgot.
Basically I was thinking.... Do other animals that dream have a conscience?  Because if nightmares are, as some people have said here, a way of telling you that you're doing something wrong, then animals that dream must also have a conscience right?

Just thought that was an interesting point of argument.  Because a lot of people say that only humans have a conscience.  So if that is true then other animals wouldn't dream or have nightmares.  But if they do then they do.
And I think it's pretty safe to assume that if they dream they also have nightmares.

Also I'd like to know how old those rats were.  Because it could explain why you have less nightmares as you get older; because you already know how to deal with a lot of situations.  However that still doesn't explain why dreams are still there every time we sleep without fail.  So for that reason I'm not sure the explanation in that link is completely correct.

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## seeker28

> However that still doesn't explain why dreams are still there every time we sleep without fail.  So for that reason I'm not sure the explanation in that link is completely correct.



That is one of the reasons why I think dreams have multiple functions.

I also think that many animals have a consciousness and can feel regret or guilt.  Just look at my dog when I come home and he's taken something out of the trash!  Even before I find the evidence I know he's done something from his behavior.  He knows he did something wrong and that it will upset me!  So he has examined his actions, imagined the future consequences of those actions, guessed how I will react, and then starts his sorry puppy routine!  I'm not a biologist, but to me that kind of future thinking and postulation indicates he is more than just an atomaton!

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## tommo

LOL I know that exact situation.
Yeh a lot of people think they are just basically robots though.  I don't think that's even a possibility.

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## Dreamcaster

> Might wanna take out that and the quote above that then egypt.  thanks mate.
> 
> Dreamcaster you definitely have a way with words.  It actually made me consider your afterlife take on it.  Although I don't believe in any of that.
> 
> But the first bit definitely grabbed me.  That nightmares grab our attention more.  Maybe the fact that I pay attention to my normal dreams makes me have less nightmares?  Although I don't always do what they/I tell myself so that would cause the few nightmares I've had in the past couple of years.  I might experiment with that.
> 
> If I have a dream I feel is telling me to do something I will do it.  See if any nightmares come anyway.



Thank you. I'm glad my post made an impact.  ::D:

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