Are dreams a creative architect of our subconscious mind?

I'm going to answer this question taking it as if the word architect is meant to be archetype which in the context of your question would make more sense to my thinking. I mean you no disrespect if you meant planner instead of model/symbol and I hope that my answer amuses you irregardless. The dream scape is thought by some to represent a look into the way the sub conscious processes the information that accumulated through out the day and in this process disseminates this to put useful things in a sort of storage and discard that which is of no use. The fantastical nature of some dreams can give rise to thought about other worldly events and portents that are integrating into our intangible thoughts this being a conduit for the transfer of information from the beyond. The scientific community works in a limited capacity for they rightfully can not address the unproven and the mathematics and philosophy to date doesn't accredit the phenomena. There are however those that take the symbols that manifest in a dream to be universal to us all and if these symbols present themselves it can be deemed as what the sub conscious is trying to transfer to the conscious mind, an inparitive that the sub conscious feels must be addressed for the unified life force to be at peace. An example of this would be dreaming about planting flowers while an unknown person pulls them back up behind you. In the context of archetype this would be your sub conscious telling you that someone or something is undermining your work, possibly even yourself if you were involved in self destructive behaviour. The idea behind this interpratation is that although our conscious mind takes in a percentage of information our sub conscious mind takes in all the information and when considered this makes sense. I'll use the example of breathing, your generally not aware of each individual breath but you continue to breath regardless, your not conscious of every single thing happening around you as you must focus your attention on specifics but your sub conscious is taking in ever detail like a movie camera that never shuts off, and when the sub conscious becomes aware of something important it transferes this via the dream. I personally agree with this premise because it makes sense and I've had some peculiar experiences through out my life that help substaniate this for me, but I am not a traditionally educated man; so I am not encumbered by governing laws that force a more rigid approach. I hope this has helped you entertain a perspective that may be correct, but is unproven by traditional standards as best I know of to this time. Thank you for providing this interesting question, and good luck with what ever you are doing.Updateapl5/4:49P.M.,E.S.T. Okay na, I'm sorry that I put my own inference on your question and I will address your question from the point of view that the dream is built upon. The dream sequence is of course not bounded by conventions that apply in the physical world and as such are unfetted by these laws, which allow for all sorts of circumstances that wouldn't happen in the reality that we are manifested upon. If your building a dream by components it is an interesting exercise to establish what parameters are being projected by the sub conscious, and by this I mean that if you dream about things that couldn't possibly be part of your interaction in the physical realm then where does your mind reference these icons from. An example of this would be seeing a fictious creature in a dream, but that you had no reference for in your personal mythology, and by that I mean no one ever told you a story about it nor had you been exposed to it via media like television or even art. This would be a creation of your sub conscious and would suggest some form of control over this part of your mind which would allow you to formulate your own dream, or as you have eloquently put forward architect the dream(I like that, I'm going to use it in future; I hope you don't mind)and in fact I have an excellent source for this and I just asked Her if I could comment upon it . My wife dreams that She can fly, independant of anything which in it self isn't remarkable but what is remarkable is that She tells me about the spatial elements of this flight, and when I have gone to some of the areas that She claims to have flown over what She described to me is correct, even down to the perspectives as viewed from height of land in the vicinity. So then somehow She has constructed a reality in Her sub conscious that details areas unknown to Her(She doesn't drive) that She hasn't seen on media and has no frame of reference for, and in this dimension of the sub conscious She is flying at tree level or roof level observing mundane happenstances of no portentous value but greatly amusing to Her. By not being told that this can't be done, She can do what She wishes unhindered by convention and in this is the key to architecting the dream, accepting that this reality is not exclusive to the possiblity of other intangibles such as the dream state and that some form of cross over is possible by association or shared thought, She bends time and space in the fanasty realm; which when experienced by Her is controlled and built by Her sub conscious into whatever She chooses. It is an imperfect disipline in that there are no persons who can school others to engage in this most entertaining and interesting distortion of the sub conscious realm. I hope this has answered your interest from my perspective and I wish you all the best. P.S. The little Woman asked me to send Her best too.

Here's MY take on this: One part of us (the conscious left hemisphere of the brain) lives the outside reality which is fixed (rain falls down and not up and fire burns...etc). In other words, in that world, we are not the ones determining these 'laws'. The other part of us is the (unconscious right hemisphere) that lives in an inner reality that is fluid where 'we' are the creators / directors (dreams) and WE determine the laws. In this respect, the left brain / part has to be aware / concsious because it deals with being a self that is aware of being within an outside reality. The right part is not "conscious" because for it, it is a given! It just 'is'!...it does not go by the concept that you have to be aware of something for it to be dealt with because when you think about it, that means that something is OUTSIDE you and therefore, you have to reach OUT to grasp it. In other words, the subconscious does not have to be aware of something because there is no 'it' and 'the other'...it's all there! That is why when you dream, you are not 'aware' that it is a dream. The subconscious does not comprehend seperation. I hope I was able to get my idea across. Hope this helps :)

1) Dream is a form of mental activity, different from waking thought, that occurs during sleep.

2) The nature of dream activity has been characterized by many clinical and laboratory studies. These studies show that dreams are more perceptual than conceptual: things are seen and heard rather than being subjected to thought.

3) In terms of the senses, visual experience is present in almost all dreams; auditory experience in 40 to 50 per cent; and touch, taste, smell, and pain in a relatively small percentage. A considerable amount of emotion is commonly present—usually a single, stark emotion such as fear, anger, or joy rather than the modulated emotions that occur in the waking state. Most dreams are in the form of interrupted stories, made up partly of memories, with frequent shifts of scene.

4) The brain is not inactive during sleep. The electroencephalogram (EEG) tracings here show the patterns of electrical activity during different stages of sleep. Note that the brain waves of an alert person and those of a person in rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, when dreaming occurs, are similar in frequency and amplitude.

i think dreams are a way that our subconscious mind attempts to reach out and touch the conscious. it's done when we're sleeping (obviously) so the connection is tenuous, but there. the creativity is released as the inhibitions are removed when the conscious 'leaves the building' for awhile.

if you're someone who can remember your dreams well, do you not get the feeling that they come from a part of you very near and yet quite far... submerged beneath your waking mind, perhaps? from a far older, wiser body of knowledge than you're aware of... something hard-wired, maybe?

and if there IS a connection, how to interpret? are they random firings of a subconscious network... hidden or repressed thoughts and memories, distorted and dreamlike... or is something trying to reach us from our archetypal past?

the unknown, when it comes out to play, can be very comforting and familiar...

I believe so. I think that the subconscious is totally in charge of dreaming, not the conscious mind. If it was the conscious, we would just choose to dream all day and wouldn't need to watch Dancing with the Stars.

I dont really know but Have you ever fell asleep when u were watching telivision and you dream about watever was on...thats so weird, But when u have dreams that r really wierd sumtimes their symbolic. Like one time i had a dream where i was going throughout my schoolday and my dad was right there everycorner. the next day he got an acceptance letter to go to college ( never too late for an education) and i realized wat my dream was about!!!