News > Weird dreams train us for the unexpected, says new theory

Weird dreams train us for the unexpected, says new theory

The question of why we dream has long divided scientists. Dreams’ subjective nature, and the lack of any means of recording them, makes it fiendishly difficult to prove why they occur, or even how they differ between individuals.

Dreams can be bafflingly bizarre, but according to a new theory of why we dream, that’s the whole point. By injecting some random weirdness into our humdrum existence, dreams leave us better equipped to cope with the unexpected.