Sometimes when I dream, the dreams start off in black and white, then
through the course of the dream, I find the color changing from black
and white to color. Yet no matter what color I dream in, I never am
in the dream. I always see myself in the dream, from a third party
perspective. This is not the end though, because usually, I end up
having a “been here done that” feeling in my awake state. Sort of
like I dreamed it, now I am living it.
--Brad, USA
Hi Brad -
That you dream in “black and white,” and in color, is interesting.
I have a dream riddle for you - related to this theme.
Prior to the 1950’s in cultures around the world that studied
dreams, there never was any mention of the nature of color in
dreams. Freud never broached the subject, nor did Jung, nor
did any of their successors - including lay and professional
dream analysts. In the 1950’s, however, and into the 1960’s,
this question of color actually grew to be hotly debated. Some
dreamers contended they only dreamed in black and white, while
another group said they only dreamed in color. Others speculated
that perhaps all people actually dream in black and white - but that
we “add in” colors when we remember our dreams.
Why the historical discontinuity? And why 1950?
Have I stumped you?
The answer, evidence suggests, lies in the spread of black
and white television sets across our world,
beginning - you guessed it - in the 1950’s. Apparently
people who were watching black and white television sets during
these two decades frequently carried the black and white color
scheme into their dreams - and thus the debate was born.
Why did we never hear of this issue prior to 1950? It is true that
we had black and white movies and print photography beginning at the
turn of the century, but apparently these media’s ability to captivate
the imagination was not as pervasive as watching the television for
several hours a day proved to be.
An interesting sidenote. We hardly ever hear of this debate anymore.
Why? Very few people still have black and white television sets.
 
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