Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The social etiquette of dreams

It always seems awkward to tell somebody you had a dream about them, unless they're a person you're really close to or the dream was hilarious. I wonder why this is. After all, we have dreams that feature casual acquaintances all the time. All it means is that they crossed our mind—and that, in itself, is not considered a particularly revealing fact. So why are dreams regarded as more private?
On a related note, it's also awkward when somebody tells you that you did something really hostile or rude in their dream. Are you supposed to apologize? What can you say, "I'm sorry your subconscious representation of me is such a jerk"?