INTRODUCTION (FINAL)

The Influences of Dreams to a Person’s Decisions:

A Diagnostic Approach

A Research Paper Presented to 

Sir Dustin Celestino 

Asia Pacific College 

Magallanes, Makati City 

In Partial Fulfillment 

Of the Requirements for the Course 

RESWRIT – Research Writing 

Melissa V. Llorca

October 2012

                                                                                                                                  

Chapter 1:

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Nature works in ways which are not readily understandable to human minds. An example of these is the evening. The existence of night makes people wonder why darkness has to co-exist with the light. Is it not possible to behold the sun alone throughout the whole day? But the truth revealed itself when men realized that it takes darkness to know the presence of the moon, the stars (without them, science will never arrive at the conclusion that the sun is also a star), and the other heavenly bodies. Without this knowledge, scientists like Galileo Galilee will never come up with inventions which were primarily aimed to witness the existence of the universe, which in his case is the invention of the telescope. And this simple truth paved the way towards numerous discoveries, outer space navigation, and amazing masterworks of science. Truly, every art of nature has its own purpose and reason of existence.

Dreaming is also one of nature’s mysterious masterpieces. It is mysterious because it makes people wander in the imaginative world where the impossible becomes possible, where the unrealistic things seem to be real, where the fictitious appears to be so genuine, and where the vague and uncontrollable events are actually happening. Dreams really do exist and each person can testify to that, but it still remains questionable. Many experts criticize those who labor so much in the study of dreams because they believe that bestowing too much attention to it is vain, that although breakthroughs are foreseeable, still, the application is still standing in breakable grounds—without firm and steady foundation. The critics rebuke that the fruits of the studies of dreams are shakable, that there is no durable explanation and interpretation of dreams that is why the results of the application doesn’t have a harmonized trend. Dreams differ from the perspective of the dreamer, and the effects thereof on the life of people differ. There is no firm basis. In addition, dreaming is a masterpiece. Many believe that the messages of dreams are too symbolic, that they are the answers that nature doesn’t want to reveal directly, and puzzles that only an untiring and persistent man can decrypt. Some people believe that dreams give hints on how to maneuver circumstances that need clear directions, but, oftentimes, they seem so inapplicable because of the intellectual boundary of the minds which limit people’s understanding of their own dreams, if there is really anything that has to be understood. Just like a masterpiece, dreams have to be masked with veil until the time comes when the frescoes have already been completed and when the craftsman is ready to reveal the fruits of his labor. Maybe dreams really have their own purposes which will be revealed in due time: when the time is right and when the people are capable enough to receive the revelation. Although many tried to decipher dreams’ codes, still, it remains a mystery, a case which is still unclosed.

Dreaming is nothing but a world of visuals in which the mind goes through and sees the new realm’s own stories. But how come numerous people put much significance upon it if dreaming is just a trivial field of study? If it is just a simple make-believe dimension that one can only enters when he is asleep? Dreams undeniably penetrate the curiosity of man. Since curiosity is the mother of all inventions and discoveries, these curiosities regarding dreams lead to various schools of thought centered on analyzing how dreams work, how the process of dreaming is being undergone, and how dreams can change lives. The evidences which have proven that dreaming has been given great importance by some experts who specialized in this profound part of living include oneirology, dream analysis, oneiromancy, and psychoanalytic dream interpretation.

From the greek word “oneiros” which means "dream" and “-logia” which means "the study of", oneirology is the scientific study of dreams. Just as the content of dreams can not be taken at its shallow or literal meaning, the actual process of dreaming cannot be taken for granted either. This is the reason why there are researchers who specialize and devote themselves in the study of oneirology. According to the article “Oneirology: Understanding the How, the Why and the What” from http://dreamdoze.com, this systematic study of dreams seeks correlations between dreaming and current knowledge about how the brain works as well as understanding of how the brain functions during dreaming, which may eventually lead to some scientific explanations of how it contributes to memory formation and mental disorders.

On the other hand, while oneirology aims to quantitatively study the process of dreams, dream analysis is greatly focused on analyzing the meaning behind them. As described in the medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, dream analysis is mainly centered on the explanations which can comprehensively describe the symbolic messages of dreams. This field of study often offers some advice to people regarding the problems that they are facing. It also helps people come up with decisions whenever they are bothered with numerous choices and worries.

Another evidence of a person’s passion towards dreams is the oneiromancy. Oneiromancy refers to using dreams for divinatory purposes. This is greatly concerned upon seeking the voice of God through one’s dreams. As stated in the article “Oneiromancy: Prophetic Dream Interpretation” from http://www.here-be-dreams.com, those who practice oneiromancy believe that dreams were of the supernatural element and frequently have stories of dreams with divine inspiration. In this field, people thought that divine intervention usually occurs in dreams and that God freely reveals his message in dreams. This often leads to answers that people are consistently seeking and helps them come up with strategies that they have to take for a particular undertaking.

Lastly, psychoanalysis, which was developed by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, has a subdivision which is centered in dream theories and interpretations, and explains how dreams become the manifestations of one’s deepest desires and anxieties, often relating to repressed childhood memories or obsessions. The article “What is Psychoanalysis” from http://www.freudfile.org added that Sigmund Freud's theory further explained that the content of dreams is driven by unconscious wish fulfillment and that these unconscious desires often relate to early childhood memories and experiences. Also, psychoanalytic dream interpretation states that dreams describe truthfully who a person is and reflect the predicament that the dreamer is undergoing.

These dream-centered fields of study are all rooted in two simple truths: curiosity and necessity. People are greatly perplexed on what these imaginative visuals mean and what they purposely convey. This curiosity leads to a supposition that maybe those dreams wanted to teach, to inform, or even to remind of some important things. And these suppositions boil down to a very vital part of living: formulating decisions. There is a possibility that most of the solutions that dreams offer contribute to the factors that one considers in making a decision. There has been a study conducted in order to prove that dreams are offering solutions to currently occurring problems. According to the article “Dreams Can Solve Problems” by Miranda Hitti, dreams can possibly offer answers to problems within a week after the trouble starts as the researchers say. Two judges were tasked to decide whether the dreams incorporate solutions to problems arising from various events. The bottom-line is that dreams really do try to offer solutions.

In line with the stated study, dreams can really give hints on how to solve one’s problems and on how to come up with decisions that are significant in the problem-solving scenarios of a person’s life. How dreams affect a person’s decisions is barely given much importance. Most studies are frequently focused on how dreams affect a person’s way of speaking, doing things, and viewing every circumstance. Rarely can one read articles that concern about the ways dreams affect decisions.

Decisions are important because they are the stepping stones towards all of the great transitions of one’s life. They are the causes of such vital transformations. The success or the failure of one’s life is primarily founded on his decisions. These are the bases of every man’s undertaking. Whatever a person decides on can be a fatal measure of his own future.

Poor decisions result from one’s lack of vigor to seek hints from his environment. Often times, one’s awareness of his own intellectual limitations hinders a person to come up with powerful decisions. This urged some people to consult their imaginal self: their own dreaming self. People ran to their dreams to seek refuge. Some believe that dreams may give some advice regarding their difficulties and, thus, be able to form reasonable decisions. There are also some people whose decisions are being shaped by their dreams without even knowing it. And this is the very reason why this paper has been made.

This research aims to provide clear determinants on how dreams affect a person’s decisions, and to diagnose whether most people’s decisions are often derived from their dreams or whether their dreams have become one of the contributing factors in formulating one’s decisions.

B. Statement of the Problem

This research paper aims to answer this question:

“In what ways do dreams affect a person’s decisions?”

C. Significance of the Study

To the Dream Fanatics

This study gives comprehensive explanations and analysis about dreams which are aimed to satisfy those people who view dreaming as a very interesting art of nature. These people include those who are taking notes of their dreams and persistently observing the progressive relevance of these dreams to their lives. Dream fanatics include those who find it worthwhile to record their own dreams and to seek their dreams’ correlations with the reality. Also, this research paper gives additional insights to people who are frequently browsing dream interpretation sites in the internet and untiringly appreciating every article that appears in front of them.

To People who are frequently bothered by their dreams

This research paper aims to lend a hand to those people who are frequently visited by curiosity about their dreams. These people include those who are desperately formulating rationalizations out of their dreams and seeking resemblances between their dreams and the reality. Also, this paper aspires to help those persons who are often recalling their dreams while doing their daily routines. These people also include those who are undergoing a dream and reality confusion. They are behaving in a way that they are dwelling more on their dreams rather than what is ahead of them during the waking state.

To People who have been affected by their dreams in particular ways

This study wants to provide a thorough explanation of dreams, either from the scientific or from divine-related point of views. Real life accounts from famous personalities are also provided in this paper in order to exemplify real life experiences to those who have also been affected by their dreams. These people who have been influenced by their dreams include those who have undergone transitions in the way they think, act, decide, and relate to other people. Persons who achieved changes in their religious beliefs, goals, and lifestyles are one of the target readers of this paper. This paper also dedicates its dream-related researches to those who had experienced realizations of some of their dreams. And ultimately, this research greatly focuses on people who often rely on their dreams when coming up with their own decisions. Also, this research also targets those people whose decisions were somehow affected by their dreams.

To the Readers

The information presented in this paper may contribute to one's own knowledge about dreams and can be an additional tool to all the readings that the readers may have done so far. The articles and findings included in this research can serve as the valuable measures of how dreams may have influenced one’s decisions.

To the Future Researchers

This paper can serve as a reference to the emerging studies and researches that are going to be conducted about dreams. This can serve as a guide towards new findings on how dreams may have affected a person's resolutions towards various problems.

D. Scope and Limitations

This study focuses on ways how dreams influence a person’s decisions. This is centralized on the dream-related factors that contribute to one’s considerations in making decisions.

In order to emphasize this study’s topic, this research only includes information that has to do with dreaming and its effects on people’s formulation of decisions. Other studies which are included in the schools of thought featured in this paper have been excluded in order to clarify the essence of this research, and to avoid unnecessary ideas which may only result to ambiguities as to the primary objective of this paper.

This study will no longer discuss the other subdivisions of psychoanalysis and oneirology which have nothing to do with the explanations on how dreams affect decisions, and the other dream-related studies and articles which are not related to the topic of this paper.

E. Methodology

This research makes use of the descriptive and analytical methods since researchers in this field of study aim to interpret what dreams mean, how dreams work, how the human mind play a very significant role in creating dreams, and in what ways these dreams take part in the formation of decisions.

This research will also make use of surveys and interviews in order to confirm the results of this study. Books, documentaries, and electronic media were also used for the completion of this paper.

F. Terminologies

Oneirology. This refers to the systematic study of dreams within a scientific framework. This is the science and interpretation of dreams.

Dream analysis. This is a process of gaining access to the unconscious mind by means of examining the content of dreams, usually through the method of free association. This technique aims to analyze the meaning behind dreams instead of quantitatively study their processes.

Free association. This is a method of exploring a person's unconscious by eliciting words and thoughts that are associated with key words provided by a psychoanalyst.

Oneiromancy. This is the ancient art of dream divination. Usually such dream interpretation was of a prophetic nature as opposed to the modern psychological analysis whereby dreams are often seen as clues to the present state of the dreamer.

Psychoanalytic dream interpretation. This is a subdivision of dream interpretation as well as a subdivision of psychoanalysis pioneered by Sigmund Freud in the early twentieth century. This is the process of explaining the meaning of the way the unconscious thoughts and emotions are processed in the mind during sleep.

Consciousness. This refers to your individual awareness of your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and environment.

Unconscious. In Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness.