ABSTRACT
The assumption of the infinite variability of the dream experience and therefore of the description of the experience, the dream report, poses a serious problem for those of us who wish to study the dream scientifically and to derive general statements about that experience particularly about the content of the experience. For those who take the dream seriously, the assumption of infinite variability reflects, I believe, both the sense of mystery that they contend surrounds the dream experience and a conviction that their inner experiences are unique. It is this uniqueness that makes the dreamer special, different, and the particular person they feel they are or aspire to be. The uniqueness of the dream experience confirms their individuality and the scientific study of dreaming, which is of common responses, is experienced as an assault on the very individuality they prize so highly. The response is in line with the reception given to other findings that diminished the centrality of man (e.g., Copernicus establishing that the earth was not the center of the universe, Darwin proposing that man was descended from preexisting biological forms, and Freud suggesting that behavior may be determined to a significant degree by processes outside of the person’s awareness).
