Does global warming affect dream content? Analyzing a 30-yr. dream series
University Library Heidelberg January 14, 2021 DOI: 10.11588/ijodr.2021.1.78020 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDreams may reflect long-term environmental changes. Over 30 years, a single dreamer recorded 11,808 dreams, and analysis showed that cold-related elements such as snow, ice, and hail appeared less frequently over time. This suggests that dream content could offer clues about global climate shifts. The authors propose that digital dream analysis tools could help validate this preliminary finding with other large datasets.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Longitudinal case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | A single dreamer |
| Duration | 1984 to 2015 (over 30 years) |
| Keywords | Dream Content measure theory Snow Affect linguistics Psychoanalysis |
| Key finding | Cold elements in dreams decreased over a 30-year period, suggesting dreams may reflect global environmental changes. |
Abstract
The continuity hypothesis of dreaming postulates that dreams reflect waking life, e.g. preoccupations, experiences, thoughts; however, other topics like seasonal changes have been studied very rarely. A long dream series recorded between 1984 and 2015 (over 30 years) including 11,808 dreams showed that “cold” elements like snow, ice, and hail occurred less often over time and, thus, indicates that dreams might provide clues regarding global changes. Using modern tools for digital dream content analysis might enable researchers to validate this preliminary finding using other large data sets.