ABSTRACT
Dreams are “paradoxical” phenomena characterized by the simultaneous deactivation of executive control systems (the “ego” in Freud’s terminology, “reason” in Plato’s, “prefrontal cortical areas” in modern neuroscience) and the hyperactivation of more primitive systems (the “id,” the “beast,” the “reptilian brain,” the “limbic system”). Modern research shows that these heightened activation–deactivation states, which are associated with dreaming, occur cyclically several times a night in adults and can readily account for the release from organization and control observed in dreams. Jokes are a case in point for dreams. Using jokes as a model of dreams, for example, renders the distinction between manifest and latent contents (rejected for dreams in some quarters) not only true but obvious. When asked if we “got” a joke, we are being asked, in effect, if we managed to interpret the latent content of the joke. Tests have shown that jokes that subjects claim to have “gotten” yield highly concordant interpretations (in the order of 90% agreement).
