Views of Dreams †Carl G. Jung and Sigmund Freud Essay Example for Free

Views of Dreams – Carl G. Jung and Sigmund Freud Essay Abstract The study of psychology has given rise to many differing theories which provided us with a deeper understanding and insight to dreams, and has long been viewed as mysterious and incomprehensible. However, no real consensus in the definition of dreams has been reached. In this essay, we will be exploring dream theories proposed by Sigmund Freud who asserted the importance of internal stimuli and dreams as a form of wish fulfilment, and Carl G. Jung’s theory which suggested that dreams are bridges that allow one to connect with the unconscious. As such, a cross comparison will be also be done to explore the major similarities and differences between these two theories which remained influential in today’s study of dreams. Views of Dreams – Carl G. Jung and Sigmund Freud For centuries, dreams have been a source of mystery and regarded as divine. Dreams have been interpreted as prophecies, predictions of the future, or even symbols of current affairs. These beliefs existed for centuries until modern psychology evolved and gave rise to many theories that have attempted to give greater insight and understanding of how dreams work and how they relate to our daily lives. Dreams are otherwise defined as mental experiences during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep that have a story-like feature, include rich visual imagery, are often inexplicable, and perceived as real by the dreamer (Antrobus, 1993). There are many varying theories of dreams such as that posited by Antrobus, who suggests that dreams occur due to our brains’ interpretations of external stimuli during sleep. Another theory uses a computer metaphor to account for dreams, wherein a dream serves to remove unneeded trivialities from the memory – much like clean-up operations in a computer – in order to refresh the mind to prepare for the next day (Evans Newman, 1964). However, for the purposes of this essay, we will be looking at two theories of dreams from Carl G. Jung and his mentor, Sigmund Freud, whose works remain influential in the modern day study of dreams. Aside from bringing forth the emphasis of these two theories, this essay will also seek to identify similarities as well as differences between the two. A cross-comparison of these two theories will reveal how similar they are in terms of explaining dreams with regards to the unconscious mind, and yet, differ greatly in meaning due to the different assumptions and approaches taken. According to Jung, dreams are the undeviating, natural expression of the present state of one’s mental world (Jung, 1963). He believes while dreams are a form of communicating and acquainting yourself with the unconscious mind, they are not attempts to conceal your true feelings from the waking mind; they are more of a window to your unconsciousness. Jung mentions that there are two major functions to dreams – to compensate and to provide prospective images to the future. The imbalance of the dreamer’s psyche is compensated with unconscious contents that the conscious mind has overlooked or even actively repressed. For example, a person who is overly intellectual can have dreams in which they have outbursts of rage, anger, or a mix of emotions. These dreams will attempt to restore the balance by fulfilling certain impoverished areas of a dreamer’s consciousness. Greater psychological balance is achieved if the dreamer recognises and accepts these unconscious contents. Similar to Freud, Jung considers past experiences to be a factor in dreams. However, he argues that dreams do not only look back to the past, but also forward to anticipate how the dreamer’s future will turn out; specifically, that dreams do not hold predictions but are more of a suggestion as to what might happen. Although dreams are deemed personal, Jung (1993) theorises that they are also part of a â€Å"collective unconscious†. He further deconstructs this into several parts, where elements of our dreams often cover universal themes and symbols that are believed to be apparent in life, regardless of race or culture. As identified by Jung, these characteristics are grouped into seven major archetypal characters: The Persona, The Shadow, The Anima or Animus, The Divine Child, The Wise Old Man or Woman, The Great Mother, and The Trickster. Unique to Jung’s theory, he believes that these archetypes portray a natural wisdom found deep within the human unconscious, and their presence in dreams can provide the dreamer with distinctive understanding and direction. Additionally, Jung (1974) argues that dreams are a projection of one’s unconscious mind in relation to the external world. This is what Jung classifies as the â€Å"objective level† in relation to interpretation of dreams. Jung goes further by covering the â€Å"subjective level†, where the dream figures are an embodiment of who the dreamer really is, based on their own thoughts and feelings. In his view, this is something that the conscious mind is unable to bring out. In Freud’s perspective, dreams are what can be embodied as guardians of sleep. Prior to sleep, one attempts to disconnect from reality by muting all external stimuli, switching off the lights and going to bed. During sleep, the sleeper is protected by the mind, which is further reacting to various disturbances and forming dreams in the process. Freud’s main focus, however, is internal stimuli such as strong emotions, forbidden thoughts, and even unconscious desires. For one to be essentially asleep, undisturbed, these stimuli are disguised or censored in some form or another (Freud, 1900). Freud’s theory also places strong emphasis on the notion that dreams are a form of fulfilment of suppressed wishes and unconscious desires. In accordance with Freud’s (1900) theory, dreams comprise two parts: the â€Å"manifest content† and the â€Å"latent content†. Freud’s â€Å"manifest content† can be interpreted as the main content of dreams, namely what the dreamer is able to recall of the dream. It also acts as a censor or a disguised representation of the true underlying thought such that the content appears as acceptable to the dreamer. â€Å"Latent content† can be understood as the decrypted information that is acquired from the different images and content. Latent content often holds the true meaning the dream—forbidden thoughts and unconscious wishes—and, hidden deep within the manifest content, is sometimes unrecognisable. There are also exceptional cases where both the latent and manifest content are indistinguishable; Freud refers to these as â€Å"Infantile Dreams†. Freud then further investigates the connection between the latent and manifest content, giving rise to â€Å"dream work† that is the process by which the latent content is converted into the manifest content. Dream work can be differentiated into the following processes: Condensation, Displacement, Symbolism, and Secondary Revision. Firstly, latent content undergoes condensation where two or more latent thoughts are merged to form a manifest image or situation. Next, it goes through the displacement state where emotions or desires towards specific a person or object are then projected onto a remotely significant or meaningless object in the manifest dream. Following that, symbolism is employed, where ambiguous or complex notions are depicted as dream images. In this process, images of similar sounding words may be utilised or even that of a similar looking but more discreet item. Finally, the dream enters the last stage of dream work, secondary revision, where the dream is transformed and reconstructed into a fluid scene, losing most of its irrationality and become logical according to the dreamer’s experiences of everyday life. One of the major similarities between both theories would be the focus on the unconscious mind. Both Freud and Jung believe that dreams are the direct expressions of the unconscious mind (Davis, 2003; Domhoff, 2001; Freud, 1900; Jung, 1974). Jung mentions that dreams mirror one’s unconscious desires and it is directly linked to one’s conscious situation, projecting one’s inner thoughts. Dreams, according to Freud, can never be instigated simply with just conscious wishes. It has to relate to an unconscious wish before emerging out as dreams. These views coincides that dreams are only formed when the unconscious and the conscious wish tallies (Davis, 2003; Freud, 1900; Jung, 1974; Weitz, 1976). In likeness, both theories agree that the function of dreams serves, mainly, as compensation to the imbalances in our psyche in everyday life (Freud, 1900; Jung, 1974; Davis, 2003). As mentioned earlier, Jung believes that dreams serve to make up for as well as to regulate one’s inner conflicting psychical processes. Freud’s wish fulfilment theory also has great emphasis on the satisfying of one’s unconscious wants. This shows that dreams are hence compensating for the lack of realisation of one’s desires during the conscious waking life. Freud also mentions that dreams are sometimes manifested due to biological impulses that arise in the night. For example, a dreamer who is experiencing hunger is likely to dream of eating, showing the compensating nature of dreams. According to these two theories, dreams are otherwise a psychological marker that flags out certain situations, be it in our mental or physiological state, that we should give attention to, rectifying them if possible. Both theorists also concluded that in order to decipher the meaning of dreams, the dreamer’s assistant is required. This is due to the multiple possibilities of the interpretation of dreams. Only with knowledge of one’s life, personality as well as past experiences that those images may be accurately decrypted, revealing the true underlying significance of the dream. Such a realisation by both Freud and Jung also brings forth the idea that both of them agreed on the retrospective nature of dreams, whereby the dreamer’s experiences in the past do indeed have an impact on the present (Davis, 2003; Jung, 1974; Rodriguez, 2001). While Freud presumes that symbols have fixed and conventional meanings, Jung felt that all symbols are open to interpretation and finding the correct meaning is highly dependent on the dreamer (Beebe, Cambray, Kirsch, 2001; Davis, 2003; Lawson, 2008). This is possible due to the differences in Freud’s causal perspective and Jung’s final perspective, where causality tends towards the uniformity of meaning, leading to symbols with fixed significance. However, finality states that images in a dream each have their own fundamental values and as such, the range of representative interpretation has to be accepted (Jung, 1974; Jung, 1989). Another reason for the divergence of theories is their interpretations of the mechanism of dream formation. Freud emphasizes strongly on censors and disguises of the latent content via the help of dream work, relying on the dreamer’s experiences only for the transformation of the dream into one that is unobtrusive. Jung, on the other hand, believes that these contents can be understood only after taking into account the background and past experiences of the dreamer. Jung also states that dreams are not only connected to the past but they also provide subtle suggestions and predictive images, preparing the dreamer for upcoming events (Jung, 1974). In conclusion, it is apparent that Freud’s and Jung’s theories are derivatives from the similar understandings of how dreams portray one’s unconscious mind. These have led to them being similar as to how dreams have a compensatory function. However, differences in views have arisen from this rudimentary understanding. Henceforth, Freud and Jung have come to different conclusions about the interpretation of dreams. In my opinion, Jung has picked on several of the disparities within Freud’s opinions, formulating with his own concept. As such, there is a close relation between the theories presented by Freud and Jung. To date, dreams still remain a clouded branch, with no single theory that can fully ascertain and explain its intricacy. References Antrobus, J. (1993). Characteristics of dreams. In M. A. Carskadon (Ed. ), Encyclopaedia of sleep and dreaming. New York: Macmillan Beebe, J. , Cambray, J. , Kirsch, T. B. (2001). What Freudians can learn from Jung. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 18, 213-242. Davis, H. R. (2003). Jung, Freud, and Hillman: three depth psychologies in context. Westport, Conn: Prageger Domhoff, G. W. (2000). Moving Dream Theory Beyond Freud and Jung. Paper presented to the symposium Beyond Freud and Jung? , Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, 9/23/2000. Evans, C. Newman, E. (1964) Dreaming: An analogy from computers. New Scientist, 419, 577-579. Freud, S. (1900). The Interpretation of Dreams (S. James, Trans. ). London: Oxford University Press. Jung, C. G. (1963). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. New York: Pantheon. Jung, C. G. (1974). Dreams. (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lawson, T. T. (2008). Archetypes and the collective unconscious. In Carl Jung, Darwin of The Mind (pp. 75-120). London: Karnac. Rodriguez, L. S. (2001, January 1). The interpretation of dreams [1900]. The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (pp. 396-401). London: Hogarth and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis Weitz, L. J. (1976, April). Jungs and Freuds contributions to dream interpretation: a comparison. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 30, 289-293.

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When walking through a grocery store, one can easily forget that at one time, all the food in the store was local. At one time, people would bake their own bread, churn their own butter, and slaughter their own chicken; if they did not do it on their own, they bought these main food items from suppliers of small, local businesses. However, grocery stores are now stocked with pre-sliced bread, packaged butter, and portioned chicken. One can even see that American supermarkets do not have seasons. â€Å"Now there are tomatoes all year round, grown halfway around the world, picked when it was green, and ripened with ethylene gas. Although it looks like a tomato, it's kind of a notional tomato. I mean, it's the idea of a tomato† (Polland, Michael). Tomatoes, as well as other food, have come a long way-–from home grown to industry grown. While food production has evolved considerably over time, it is believed that this dramatic change has caused governments to subsidize farm s, a rapid development in biotechnology leading to an advance in genetic manipulation, and a shift in food questioning what is better, local or organic? Thousands of years ago, people either gathered and collected their food from the wild environment or hunted large and small animals. The process of hunting and gathering was sufficient enough for smaller groups of people found within a suitable environment, but when the population began to grow, people were pushed into areas that made food hard to come by, so they searched for nutritional sources that they could depend on. It is believed that the practice of agriculture first came into existence in the Fertile Crescent region in the Middle East about ten or eleven thousands years B.C.E. The area was home to many consuma... ... could ask Whole Foods' CEO, John Mackey, to help answer his question. According to Cloud, â€Å"He told me that when he can't get locally grown organics--and even he can't reliably get them--he decides on the basis of taste. "I would probably purchase a local nonorganic tomato before I would purchase an organic one that was shipped from California," he said. He called the two tomatoes "an environmental wash," since the California one had petroleum miles on it while the nonorganic one was grown with pesticides. "But the local tomato from outside Austin will be fresher, will just taste better," he said† (Cloud, John). When walking through that grocery store, do not forget that at one time that food use to be local. If we can choose the right food, even if that means searching for healthier, fresher, local food, we can make a difference in our current food issues.

The 1960’s pop music the-1960s

Does the evidence of C support the evidence of Sources A and B about the effects of pop music in the 1960's? Explain your answer. In my opinion I think that Source C doesn't support Sources A and B. I think this because from Source A you can learn that the Beatles had quite a big impact in the 1960's. This extract is from Joanna Lumley ‘and instead of the rush hour an extraordinary silence and emptiness had descended upon London, on England, on Britain.' This statement implies that countless people left work earlier than usual to watch the Beatles. The Beatles were performing on ‘Juke Box Jury'. Juke Box Jury was Probably the most enduring of all pop panel shows and hosted by David Jacobs with his famous bell and hooter for ‘Hit' and ‘Miss'. From this quotation we can see that there was usually a crowd of people at the tube station, but today there was no-one and Joanna Lumley was surprised. I dare say that London must have been quieter seeing as the Beatles were on television, but considering that Joanna was only a young woman aged around 18, she maybe exaggerating just a little. This source was written 30 years after it actually happened. Therefore there is a weakness of memory. Source B is a description about a concert which was in the 1960's, however it was written in the 1990's. ‘When I was seventeen, in 1964' this quote proves that that whoever wrote the source was young and juvenile. So therefore they could have over exaggerated in this source. It was written 30 years after the event, so this source could be seen as feeble and biased. The concert in question was a Rolling Stones concert. The person says ‘We have dancing tickets, which meant that we could get really close' this meant all the screaming girls could be very close to the Rolling Stones, this gave the concert more atmosphere. ‘I can remember their terrified faces, when they were trying to get off the stage, surrounded by the heaving, maniacal screaming mob.' The Rolling Stones were scared from all these fans. This person who wrote the source thought ‘I doubt if the Stones ever played so near their audience again.' Source C is Paul McCartney, a Beatles member, describing the Beatles concerts. Paul was talking in 1984, even though the concerts he is talking bout were in the 1960's and 70's. This source cannot be seen as entirely accurate because there could be lack of memory. In this source Paul says ‘it was never as crazy as they used to say it was.' I think by this quote that the fans who were actually there exaggerated more to make that experience they had seem better than what it was. I think that Source C doesn't support both Sources A and B because in Source C Paul says it wasn't that bad, fans were screaming but because they loved you, not that they wanted to hurt you. Some fans were obsessive but they just wanted autographs. In Source A, it says that everybody left work early to go and watch TV, she doesn't know everybody in the UK so she cannot say that. Along with Source B it says that the Rolling Stones were frightened, how did she know that for a fact, she didn't exactly speak to them personally did she. So Source C contradicts Sources A and B.

The Scarlet Letter - Courage Against the Societal Norms of Puritan Society - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 684 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/05/18 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Scarlet Letter Essay Did you like this example? Specifically, Hester highlights her strength and courage against the societal norms of her Puritan society when she doesnt succumb to the punishments of her sin the same way that others would. When Hesters sin became public, she, with her daughter in her hands, was brought out in front of the entire community to the scaffold where she was to be publicly humiliated. However, Hester steps up to the scaffold willingly and stands up strongly and confidently against an angry crowd in front of her. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Scarlet Letter Courage Against the Societal Norms of Puritan Society" essay for you Create order When the young woman the mother of this child stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance hat would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours(P.50). Here Hesters true character is revealed for the first time, and when she not only willingly goes up to the scaffold, but also stands up there proudly while smiling with her baby, she shows a new reaction to a punishment that has essentially never been seen in this society, and shows for one of the first times in Puritan society the need for change, and the need for women to be respected and revered, which was something that had not been acknowledged and processed by many members of the society. Additionally, Hester stands up against the notion of th e time that women are generally smaller and weaker than men, by standing up on the scaffold proudly and unfazed by the mean heckling crowd. Furthermore, through Hesters actions and defiance of the Scarlet Letter, she shifts societys view of the Scarlet Letter and herself. Initially, the entire society was against Hester when they found out that she had committed adultery, and wanted her to suffer and be punished as a result. Specifically, when Hester is on the scaffold, and when her sin is just becoming known to the society, one of the main women of the town screams out, †¹This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die(P.49). These were the initial reactions and feelings of the entire town at this time, and the entire town mistreated her and made her feel bad as a result. However, later on, as the years progress and Hester has the Scarlet Letter on her for years and years more, these rash and harsh opinions towards Hester end up dying down. The letter was a symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her, so much power to do, and power to sympathize, that many people refused interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a womans strength(p.149). Here the opinions of Hester clearly shift so much, that the townspeople are changing their opinion on what is really branded on her chest, a mark of sin, to a positive mark rather than a curse. These shifts in emotions from the community happen because Hester has recently done so much for her community even with the Scarlet Letter on her. She is giving to her society, she is selfless, she helps the sick, and has become an incredibly respected and revered women. These shifts in feelings of the townspeople truly highlight how the community really feels about Hester at this point, and how they are beginning to respect and revere Hester for what a strong and fearless woman she is, despite what diffic ulties she might face. Furthermore, Hester, through her actions, has clearly made many of the people in her society respect her and value her as a strong and independent female. Through Hesters display to her society of generosity, selflessness and love, she has created a more contemporary and advanced perspective of womens rights and roles, and has made the society revere and respect women more than they ever have before.