The Interpretation of Dreams (Taschenbuch)

Freud also has such a disarming way of writing that I felt as if I knew the man as a friend once I was done reading.

1. "I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, ..."

Remember Molly Bloom's "Yes, yes, yes..." dialogue at the conclusion of ULYSSES, before dozing off? There ain't no "no" in Mr. Sandman's lexicon. Instead, negation is expressed by ideas stood on their heads or made insensible, (compare with Joseph Campbell's appraisal of Picasso's handling of mythic imagery).

2. "YOU WERE PUMPING IRON WHILE I WAS PUMPING IRONY"

A vague idea may be signifying its direct opposite. Freud compares this to primitive proto-language etymology, where either extreme is expressed by one and the same word. (I have known people like this!)

3. "I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE"

Condensation of ideas and personalities occurs to shortcircuit "inner censoring" and "prefrontal control"... For example, not-dreamed-about Ms. A is indirectly indicated by investing dreamed-about Mr. B with details reminiscent of Ms. A. Ostensibly about Mr. B, the dream in fact revolves around Ms. A. Googols of cross-references ad infinitum, while round and down she goes...

Joyceans- just say YES. To all others, an OK+ that will put you to sleep. And if it puts you to sleep...

Second, one reader states that you can't find "measurements" to prove anything about dreams. As one who has practiced in the field, I can say that the reader can measure the truth of Freud's theory by using it to understand him or herself, by analyzing one's own dreams.

The dynamics of dreams are:

first, dreams are phylogenetic, i.e., inherited as a species; they are not ontogenetic, i.e., created by environmental factors.

R.E.M. studies have shown for fifty years that our eyes move rapidly while dreaming as is we were watching a film. However, all of the people in a dream are different fragments of ourselves, of our wishes, of our interests.

Second: this phylogenetic inheritance includes an innate propensity to think in pictures. Moving up the scale of consciousness, in Ucs. [unconsciousness, thinking is mostly pictorial but sometimes verbal]; in Pcs. [preconsciousness, i.e., in daydreaming, thinking is pictorial and verbal and partly in our control]; in Cs. [consciousness, thinking is mostly verbal but partly pictorial].

Dreams have two main dynamics: one, displacement [in which the mind protects itself by displacing the troubling thought with a symbol]; two, condensation [in which the mind places symbols on top of one another in layers in order to make the troubling thought hard to find].

Schizophrenics are hard to understand because much of their thinking is dominated by displacement and condensation while they are awake. Their speech has numerous layers of symbols - condensation.

In displacement, there is a manifest meaning [that which appears evident] and a latent meaning [that which one has to dig for by piercing the condensation of the displacements.

Any thinker, who chooses to simply understand, should avoid preconceptions or anger or a need to disdain or to repress. He or she should merely use the dynamics of dreaming to unravel his or her own dreams and daydreams [which can be analyzed with the same dynamics, except it is much easier because condensation is not as severe].

Freud was originally sceptical of his own insights and, as a result, he sat on this work for about a year, being reluctant to believe himself. He finally realized he was being defensive, that he was trying to repress disturbing truths about himself that were also true of us as a species.

In analysis, the analyst doesn't speak much because the best person in a position to understand himself is the patient . . . just as the best person in a position to understand his/her dream is the dreamer. Further, an analyst doesn't talk because he wants the patient to speak until he/she finally understands him/herself. That takes time.

It takes time for a person to crack the layers of condensation in his/her own thinking and to see all of the displacements.

After 100 years, Freud's book remains one of the great gifts anyone ever gave men and women to understand themselves.