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by FavouriteColour 2685 days ago
“Fourteen examples of dreams are presented, including seven examples of interpretation, three examples of successful dream content prediction (a first for an interpretive theory of dreams), and four examples of dreams which demonstrate how in-dream behaviour changes during successful therapy, three of which are my own”

The study includes a total of 14 dreams of which 3 are the author’s.

I’ll take it with a grain of salt.

2 comments

Fair enough, as I write in the conclusion:

This paper should not be viewed as an attempt to prove beyond doubt that the function of dreams is to highlight anxieties, but to provide food for thought for future research. There is a neurological basis for the argument put forward and using dreams in this way has been beneficial in my own therapy and in directing my guidance of others. Please play with your own dreams and those of your friends using the methods of interpretation and prediction outlined above and, if you are in the position to do so, consider testing the ideas presented using established research methods. If we do have an inbuilt method of anxiety diagnosis, which means we are not forced into taking such drastic maladaptive actions while awake in order to communicate our anxieties to others, then a great deal of mental pain may be able to be avoided.

So would you say it is more fair to treat the paper as if it argues this hypothesis passes a basic smell-test and is worthy of deeper investigation?
My personal experience with the theory has been extensive and I am quite confident, but yes - from a broader point of view I think anyone with academic perspective should read it as food for thought for potential future investigations.
I remember more dreams of my own than there are dreams described on the paper.