Humans have been trying to figure out the meanings of their dreams since the beginning of time. In the past, dreams have been interpreted as omens of the future, representations of reality, and even divine messages from the gods. Even though we think of dreams today in more scientific terms, a lot of us are still fascinated by these enigmatic scenes that take place in our minds. To subdue your curiosity, here are 25 facts about dreams that won’t put you to sleep.

25 6 Whole Years
The average human spends
six years of his or her life
dreaming.
24 Up for Interpretation
The ancient Romans
submitted their
significant or unusual
dreams to the Senate for
interpretation.
23 Ancient Artifact
The Beatty Papyrus is the
oldest dream dictionary
in existence. It was
written around 1350 B.C.
and discovered near
Thebes.
22 Sibling Rivalry
Birth order influences the
role of aggression in
dreams. Men generally
dream about more violent
subjects than women, yet
first-born females tend
to have more aggressive
characters in their
dreams. On the other
hand, first-born males see
themselves in a more positive light than their
younger male siblings.
21 It’s Not All Black and White
People who grew up
watching black-and-white
television as children tend
to have more monochrome
dreams than children who
grew up watching color
television.
20 Dreaming in the Dark
Visually impaired people
dream too. Those who lost
their sight later in life
can see visual images in
their dreams. However,
dreams don’t have to be
visual. Blind people who
don’t dream visually can
experience dreams
through sound, smell, and
touch.
19 Familiar Faces
We can only dream of
faces of real people we
have encountered, but we
might not remember
because people usually see
hundreds of faces in a
single day.
18 Premonition
Between 18 and 38
percent of people say
they have experienced at
least one precognitive
dream and 70 percent
have experienced déjà vu.
17 Daydream Believer
According to
psychologists,
daydreaming may be
related to dreams that
occur during sleep.
However, they involve
different mental
processes.
16 Forget About It
Within five minutes of
waking, half of the
average person’s dream is
forgotten, while 90
percent is forgotten in
just 10 minutes. However,
people are more likely to
remember their dreams if
they’re awakened during
the REM stage.
15 Human Nature
Dreams of
unpreparedness, flying,
falling, and public
humiliation arise from
common human anxieties
and seem to transcend
cultural and socio-
economic boundaries.
14 Not “Sew” Bad
Inventor of the sewing
machine Elias Howe said
the cannibals who chased
him in his nightmares held
spears that looked like
the needle he then
designed. I guess
nightmares aren’t always
bad.
13 Free Falling
Falling dreams, which
affect many mammals,
typically occur in the
early stages of sleep. The
muscle spasms
experienced during these
dreams are called
myoclonic jerks.
12 Tiny Dreamers
Even fetuses in the womb
dream despite the lack of
visual stimuli. Scientists
suggest their dreams are
composed of sound and
touch sensations.
11 Temporary, Yet Terrifying
Sleep paralysis, a
phenomenon experienced
by nearly 40 percent of
the population, occurs
when a sleeper awakens,
recognizes his or her
surroundings, and is
unable to move for as long
as one minute.
10 It’s a Man’s World
Around 70 percent of the
characters in men’s dream
are other men, whereas a
fairly equal amount of
men and women appear in
women’s dreams.
9 Where Dreams Are Made
Plato believed dreams
originate in the organs of
the belly. He described
the liver as the biological
seat of dreams.
8 Sleep Deprivation
Research involving
students suggest waking
someone up at the
beginning of the REM
stage of sleep can cause
irritability, hallucinations,
and eventually lead to
psychosis.
7 Dreams as a Device
William Shakespeare used
dreams to help develop
characters and advance
the plot in his plays.
6 Divine Dreams
The Greeks regarded
dreams as messages from
the gods in ancient
Greece and would
sometimes sleep in sacred
places to conjure
significant dreams.
5 Childhood Dreams
Children tend to have
shorter dreams than
adults and as many as 40
percent of them are
nightmares. Scientists
believe this is because
dreams act as a coping
mechanism.
4 Animals Dream Too
Studies have revealed
that animals, mammals in
particular, dream just
like humans.
3 Your Surroundings Matter
Known as dream
incorporation, while you
are sleeping you will
include or “incorporate”
sounds and stimuli in your
surrounding into your
dream. For example, if
your brother is playing a
loud guitar riff next door
you may begin to dream
that you are at a concert.
2 Etymology Lesson
The word “dream” is most
likely related to the West
Germanic draugmus,
meaning deception,
illusion, or phantom.
1 Selfless
Toddlers do not appear in
their own dreams until the
age of 3 or 4.

wow...twas a great read