Dream App

I just read in the New Yorker about a man who created a dream journal app that will be launched in December.  It has a gentle alarm that eases people out of sleep so they can remember their dreams.  People then write about their dreams in the app, and the app will then catalogue the data so researchers can figure out what people across the world dream about.  What do rich people dream about?  What do people in California dream about?  How often do people dream about going back to high school or college and having to take an exam for which they didn't take the course?

The theory of relativity came to Einstein in a dream, as did the double helix to James Watson.  Which is fine, but aren't dreams deeply personal?  Didn't Einstein and Watson dream about their life work?  Would their dreams correlate to anyone else's?  I suppose this is what the researchers intend to find out. Yet, I wonder if the researchers would lump Watson's dream into the "ladder" category, and miss the whole point that this redefined what it means to be human compared to a rat or an elephant.

As I kid, I had very vivid dreams.  Over breakfast, I'd tell everyone about my dream from the night before.  My dad would roll his eyes, and remind me that my dreams were not interesting to anyone else but me.  My dreams weren't a good story, they rambled on, and went in random directions.  I understood they were boring to everyone, but they were fascinating to me.  What did they mean, and why?  This fascinating world was like traveling for me, going to strange dimensions of time and space.

As an adult, my dreams changes directions, and I followed.  For a stretch in my twenties, I would dream I was one of the "Friends," except I had no part.  Moral of the story:  Stop watching reruns before you go to bed.  My least favorite recurring dream was when I was in meetings at work.  Seriously, how boring was I that I was dreaming of sitting in a beige corner conference room, staring at one of my six colleagues writing on a whiteboard?  In the dream, the meeting had no content.  Or maybe I didn't remember it.  Message:  Have more fun outside of work so I could have better dreams.  Or get a more interesting job.  Or maybe I was pre-mapping the meeting, subconsciously preparing.  Maybe this was a good thing.  Look at what dreams did for Einstein and Watson.

Will I get this app?  Do I want to share my dreams with the world?  Part of me wants to keep them private.  They are mine, after all,  Should I let strangers have the privilege of peaking in my secret world and psyche? Or should I be part of this big experiment, letting my dreams mix in with dreams around the world?