Some people believe that dreams are a window into their own soul. Some people think that the gods (or dead ancestors or aliens) speak to them through their dreams. Some people think that every little thing in their dreams mean something so that the analyze them incessantly to find meaning in their lives and future.
Then there are people who think that dreams are the result of your brain jerking off when it doesn't think anybody is watching.
Guess where I fall?
Dreams, in my experience, are usually surreal, bizarre, and ultimately pointless yarns with rambling plot lines and weak character development. The only time they get interesting is when you have recurrent dreams of the same subject. I have three main types.
The coolest type is the kind of dream where I'm fighting someone/thing. My adversaries have ranged from Aliens (from "Alien"), Predators (From the movie "Predator"--I wish these films had more descriptive names), or communists. These are the coolest, I think, since not only am I killing something, but it's almost like a movie. I can normally change perspectives and characters, even replaying and redoing scenes if I don't like how it went the first time. Pretty cool.
The other kind involves tsunamis (tidal waves, for all of the dumbasses out there). Don't ask me why, but I've quite a few dreams revolving around me narrowly escaping from en encroaching monstrous wave. Heck, in a recent dream I was standing in the surf and I watched the tide get sucked way out into sea as is apt to happen right before you get hit with a tsunami. I always manage to get away, although there have been a few close calls from time to time. In any case, it's kinda weird.
Then there are the dreams where I'm making out with some chick. Those are always fun.
I never really got the hang of "lucid" dreaming--where you control the action. The few that I think I have pulled it off were boring and I couldn't get any naked chicks to appear. Maybe I was just dreaming that I was lucid dreaming.