Monday, March 12, 2007

Not much of a dreamer

After a conversation about dreams with some of my (female) soccer buddies in the pub the other evening, I started to worry that I was even more repressed and abnormal than I had thought.
I hardly ever remember dreams, haven't done for years. My correspondents, on the other hand, are clearly real afficionados, one even going so far as to keep a dream journal, and they claimed that I was incurious and uncritical, and only using a small part of my brain.
I have some sympathies with the latter point, although not, I think, for the reasons they were suggesting. But my interest was piqued, so I looked into the subject a bit (not too much).
After several which were "in the business" so to speak, I quite quickly came upon a website from the University of California Psychology Dept which pretty closely echoed my own opinions, and sounded reasonably objective, so I must confess I didn't look much further.
In particular, the website includes a report on the "The 'Purpose' of Dreams", a report on "Dreams and Parapsychology" and a FAQ, all of which suggest that I am not at all unusual or repressed in not remembering dreams, and not out and out wrong in being dubious or sceptical of people who read too much into dreams (including, in addition to soccer players, Messrs. Freud and Jung, of whom I have always been suspicious - see "Moving Dream Theory Beyond Freud and Jung").
My attitude to dreams is similar to my attitude to religion: if it brings you some solace, that's great, but it's not for everyone, and don't expect me to be taken in. I am a practical person, and I need some proof of what I believe (other than unsubstantial opinions and hypotheses). I also feel the need to take some control over my destiny, and not be at the mercy of (or rely on) the unknown.
So I feel a bit better about myself today...

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