Fun Facts About Dreams and Their Meaning
Dreams have been around for at least as long as human beings,
and dreams are universal, experienced by men and women, young
and old, and people of all cultures and ethnicities. In some
ways, dreams are a universal language, and there are certain
themes, such as falling, flying, taking a test and finding
yourself naked, that show up in dreams throughout the world.
Dreams, it could be said, represent a kind of universal human
language.
Dreams have been studied throughout history, and dream
interpretation is an old art form indeed, dating back at least
as far as 3000-4000 B.C. Even today, dream interpreters are
highly sought out for their help untangling the sometimes
puzzling world of dreams.
You may think you know everything there is to know about dreams
and dream interpretation, but did you know that:
A third of our lives is spent in sleep, and a good
amount of that time is spent in dreams.
The average person dreams from between four to seven
times every night. That means that by the time you reach the age
of 80, you will have had between 116,800 and 204,400 dreams.
That number may be even larger, since there is evidence
that dreaming begins even before birth. No one deigns to know
what unborn babies dream about, but there is evidence that they
do dream.
In the average lifetime, a person will have spent
approximately six years in dream sleep, equivalent to more than
2,100 days of dreaming. There are records of dream
interpretation, written on clay tablets, dating back more than
4,000 years. Those who could interpret dreams were held
in high regard in Roman and Greek societies, and their counsel
was sought before making significant political and military
decisions. Everyone dreams every night, even though
only a tiny fraction of those dreams are remembered upon waking.
Many animals dream as well, although no one has been
able to ask them what they dream about. People have to
dream, though no one really knows why. What we do know is that
preventing people from dreaming can cause irritability, mood
changes and even hallucinations.
The average person spends about one quarter of his or
her sleep time in dream sleep, and dreams an average of four to
seven times during that time. The average episode of
dream sleep lasts about 10 to 15 minutes.
Dreams slip away very quickly upon waking. It is
estimated that as much as half the dream's content is forgotten
within five minutes, and after only ten minutes up to 90% of the
dream can be gone forever. Men dream more about other
men than about women, but women tend to dream about men and
women equally. The brain is actually more active, not
less during dream sleep than during wakefulness. People
who are awakened during dream sleep are able to recall their
dreams vividly and in great detail, while those who wake
normally generally are not. Both men and women
experience sexual arousal during most dreams, regardless of
whether the nature of the dream was sexual or not.
Smokers who are quitting often experience more intense
dreams than either non smokers or current smokers.
Babies and toddlers dream just as adults do, but studies have
revealed they do not dream about themselves. Toddlers generally
do not appear in their own dreams until they are at least three
or four years old. It is not possible to dream and
snore simultaneously. Nightmares are a common trauma of
childhood, with the first nightmares usually occurring by the
age of three, and typically lasting at least until the child is
seven or eight years old. Many people report having
experienced D