We all tend to dream but until now, science has been unable to justify exactly why we have them. Sometimes they reflect our emotions, anxieties, thoughts or past events but can be useful in a practical sense as well. We’ve come up with a few interesting facts about dreams that not many people may know.
1. You can’t read or tell the time while dreaming. The majority of people can’t read during a dream so if you are ever unsure whether you are dreaming or not, you can try reading something.
2. Lucid dreaming: Some people practice conscious or ‘lucid’ dreaming where they can, using various techniques, control the dream and do things such as fly, pass through walls and bend and shape physical reality.
3. Blind people dream too. Those who were born blind they may not see images as we do, they still have dreams that involve their other senses including smell, sound, touch and taste.
4. Not everyone dreams in colour. Reportedly, 12% of dreamers see only black and white in their dreams. Some studies from 1915 until the 1950s stated that the majority of dreams dreamed in black and white but this changed in the 1960s. Recent studies have pointed to the results changing because of the switch to colour film and television rather than black and white.
5. Scientists say that we have multiple dreams a night. It has been estimated that we have between 4-6 dreams every night. However, it is often the case that we forget most of the dream within 10 minutes of waking up.
6. Dreams have pushed mankind forward. Dreams are responsible for some amazing inventions including the idea for Google, DNA’s double helix spiral form and the sewing machine.