A General Theory of Dreams
Bruce McKeithan, brucemckeithan@sbcglobal.net
As of January 12, 2026
Essentially, dreams occur because energy must be built up to the point where it is sufficient to produce consciousness. In the meantime, we must deal with internal energy and the detrimental effects of internal energy. To reflect our efforts to alleviate the inner disturbance and pressure, we utilize what we already know. We can say that dreams represent the process of transitioning from sleep to wakefulness; and while the elements of dreams vary depending on one’s experiences, they are there to express this process.
Initially, energy flows from the base of the brain, where it is produced, into the middle of the brain, where it has two effects. It is disturbing, and a compression of sorts occurs. We must then try to relieve these troubling effects. One way is to dissipate energy through inner activities or work, or we may try to organize something or fix something that has already been disturbed. We can also find relief by expanding energy further into middle of the brain.
Another way is for the mind to contain or store this energy. Large or numerous images or structures that are for the most part motionless depict this storage. Neither method can do the job alone. Yet as these images grow and become more pronounced or dominant they block our less effective personal efforts. Energy accumulates in this way until the limit of its storage capacity is reached. It is then that we need to wake up and become active.
The limbic system in the central part of the brain has the capacity to handle this situation. It contains the amygdala, whose stimulation provides a defensive reaction; the hippocampus, which recalls people and objects from the past; and other essential parts. For one thing, it has some way of combining memories or chemical elements into a practically stationary image of a large object, a group of objects, or a group of people.
The mind can demonstrate how the inner disturbance can affect old memories. We may witness a deceased parent or friend, who in our dream is alive but ill, or an older, previously compatible couple getting a divorce. We may see an old car that needs repair, a coal-burning furnace that needs fixing, or an overgrown garden. We can imagine putting out a fire, fixing an overheated computer, or dealing with a large dog that has died from heat and a smaller one that has taken its place may occur. These memories may represent both self-preservation in the face of the inner disturbance and the vulnerability of old memories.
Physical activities such as sports are good representatives of a way of dissipating energy. We may be able to hit a golf ball up a steep hill and have it fall into the cup or throw three consecutive strikes while bowling. We may also become involved in some intellectual pursuit at a job, school, or bridge club, or we may succeed at associating one thing with another for a host of similar things.
The inflation within the limbic system lessens the amount of internal energy per unit of volume, and so the disturbance. For example, we may find ourselves at a beach, a resort in the mountains, or another region of the country. We want to return home, but we are unable to do so. We cannot gather our belongings, our route out of the mountains is unclear, or we are unable to get an airplane flight or to find our room in a hotel that has suddenly become much larger, with many hallways and elevators. The stored energy does not allow us to return home.
As a dream progresses, our inner efforts at reducing internal energy become increasingly frustrated. In golf, there may be too many trees, hills, or rocks to achieve success. In tennis, the court may be too large to hit the ball satisfactorily, or the indoor tennis club may have moved to a busy downtown location where a long line waits to gain entrance. A crowd of people may watch us lose a tennis match after winning a few points. We may fail a test at school or have trouble performing some other activity as well. Damage to our lawn or patio at home indicates the effects of internal energy over time and so indirectly the buildup of the energy being stored.
Another example is that we may not know how to get to a certain destination while driving a car and get lost in heavy traffic and on several roads. Also, imagine one ship colliding with a larger one at sea, or two ships in a harbor, one smaller than the other. Thus, in the later stages of a dream, our personal efforts become inferior to the large images; conversely, the large images become ascendant or predominant.
Of course, sexual activity sometimes occurs in a dream, particularly when there is nothing else on one’s mind. Certainly, sex is important. It perpetuates life, provides pleasure, and is a major influence on our lives. But in a dream, it must be considered like any other activity which represents the expense or use of internal energy. As usual, some large entity, representing the stored energy, will frustrate it, and the stored energy may even show our actual spouse or friend.
Sometimes, the mind utilizes currently evoked desires or concerns in determining a dream’s activities, and we may be able to draw psychological inferences from these activities. The wishes in a dream may be real, but again, in the context of a dream, they still represent our efforts to reduce internal energy. Once awake, we can accomplish myriads of things, and we must be willing to do those things that help us survive and thrive.
More examples of large images that eventually wake us up are crowds of people in the same location, such as an auditorium, stadium, or classroom. There may appear a number of houses or buildings, such as those on a university campus, a single large structure under construction, a large number of tables or desks in some setting, or a natural phenomenon such as a forest or high hills, or many automobiles lined up in a parking lot. A long, tall wall, a train of container cars, or any number of things may appear.
Once the storage of energy has reached a peak or maximum, these large images must release their energy. It is like a large waterfall spilling over a dam, a stream rushing down a mountain toward a town, water flowing rapidly through a culvert, or a flood. To avoid recurrence of a considerable disturbance, we must accept the alternative of expanding energy into the outer layers of the brain, the cortex. This wakes us up and stimulates the whole body. Another picture is of several people running toward the end a bridge, presumably the one between sleeping and waking.
For a while, we may persist in our current efforts, but then we are going to encounter some hostile actions. Some police, military forces, or enemies may even threaten us or people in our group with execution or death. This may be a systemic effort to overcome or eliminate our resistance to a new release of energy. We can refer to them as disruptors of sleep. Even earlier, an enemy’s very large army may destroy what a friend has built. The friend may also create helpful devices of some sort to promote sleeping.
Finally, we are persuaded to accept living with a small residual disturbance, thereby allowing the expansion. This energizes the whole brain, waking us up. It fulfills our inherent design and satisfies the requirements from within ourselves. Failing to offset the inner disturbance some way may have long-term consequences, but not allowing the expansion of energy in a timely fashion makes matters much worse.
With consciousness, useful energy is freed up, allowing and even challenging us to find external activities to undertake. Hopefully, during waking hours, we can commit ourselves to lines of action that are productive, may even be helpful to others. and do not infringe on other people’s rights. Consciousness also implies an admiration of others and an appreciation of things.
What does the future hold for this theory? Will psychologists accept this mechanistic and biological view of dreams? Will neuroscientists explain this theory in terms of the brain’s activating and restricting structures and functions? Will the implications for psychology and even medicine be recognized? Does this theory explain, at least in part, why the brain is constructed as it is?
Thanks to Dr. John P. Ralston, Professor of Physics at Kansas University, for helping me in various ways in the writing of this article. Thanks also to Associate Professor Nancy Hamilton at KU for challenging me at times to get the situation pertaining to dreams straightened out.
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