Are dreams meaningless?
Are dreams meaningless? Some people want to interpret this fairly technical paper by Allan Hobson that way. Personally, I think that’s taking it one step to far.
I am skeptical of anyone who claims to be certain of how dreams work. Freud and his followers have taken a beating for several years, for good reasons. But many neuroscientists make pretty wild conceptual leaps themselves, when they use barely confirmed low-level measurements to “explain” very high-level concepts.
Is it possible to find meaning in reflecting on powerful personal experiences? If so, dreams are universally available. Just watch out for people who are dead-certain they know the best (or only!) way to think about them.
Blinded by science In a recent experiement, people are blindfolded for a week.
Outage update: my cable provider (UPC) has problems with the transatlantic traffic. I am now using one of my backup modem connections.