Random Firing

I was disappointed we could only spend one class period on the debate between Allan Hobson and Mark Soames about Freud’s theories on dreams, because I found it very interesting. I found Hobson’s argument to be scientific, yet very strong. I partially agree that our dreams are random firings, but I also agree with Soames, that Freud was correct in believing that dreams explain a lot about our lives. I sometimes think that dreams are random because when I try to recall my dreams they seem to be very random and they don’t make a whole lot of sense. Also when recalling dreams, I have a hard time remembering the entire dream because various parts are missing. So I am torn between Hobson’s and Soames’s beliefs on dreams, I would like to believe that they have meaning and are not completely random. I do not believe that reoccurring dreams or the dreams I have that reflect on my day’s experiences are random at all.

Hobson exercises the notion that we are story loving creatures and argues that we make sense of these random firings through stories. But I have always believed that our dreams are thoughts that are trapped in our self-conscious and make their way through our dreams. We save ourselves from ourselves through dreams by confronting our demons in our dreams where we are safe. I think about the dreams that I have had that stick out in my mind, and I can see all of the different demons that show up in my dreams. Now, these are not monster demons, but fears that I have as a human being. One of the biggest fears that I have is death, much like the rest of the human population. Many of my dreams I have had to decipher in order to better understand them, like Soames suggests that we need to do. Sometimes our thoughts in our self-conscious come out in dreams that we have a hard time understanding. But once we interpret the dreams, it is easier to understand what are dreams really mean.