Final answer:
The idea that we tend to dream about the things going on in our current lives is true. Research by psychologists and neuroscientists, including empirical studies by Rosalind Cartwright and theories such as the activation-synthesis theory, supports this connection between our waking preoccupations and dream content.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement, 'We tend to dream about the things going on in our current lives', is True. Dreams can often reflect important life events or preoccupations. For instance, the research of Rosalind Cartwright has shown a significant positive correlation between the thoughts individuals have during the day and the frequency with which these topics or individuals appear in their dreams. This has been especially evident in studies involving women undergoing significant life events, such as divorce, where the rate of appearance of former spouses in dreams was cohesive with daytime preoccupation.
Famous psychoanalysts like Freud and Jung also emphasized the connection between dreams and our waking lives, although their interpretations delve into the realm of symbolism and the unconscious. Contemporary neuroscience has added to this understanding, noting dreams may serve as a form of protoconsciousness where our minds construct virtual realities. This theory, known as the activation-synthesis theory proposed by Alan Hobson, suggests that dreams could be the brain's way of synthesizing neural activity during REM sleep.
Consequently, while some philosophical propositions, such as those by Zhaung Zhou or Descartes, question the reality of our waking life versus dreams, empirical evidence continues to support the notion that dreams are indeed reflections and reorganizations of our current waking experiences.