A Dream is Just A Dream
Is a dream a sign of some sort, that someone should take seriously? Many lost love couples think so. They insist that their lost loves must be right for them, must be sent by a higher power through this dream. And that justifies the affair in their minds.
Magazines and newspapers often don't help the public understand issues when it comes to reporting science. Journalism schools teach that writers should balance their stories with several experts who have different opinions, and some editors insist that they do.
Confirmation bias is a term found by psychologist Peter Wason in the 1960's.
People recall the facts that support their preconceptions and make sense of their emotions, and systematically forget those facts that contradict these interpretations. Someone finds a horoscope in the newspaper and is amazed at how accurately it describes what is going on in their lives. Never mind the horoscopes are vague enough to interpret as you see fit and that their horoscopes from the last three months had no personal relevance.
So someone will seize upon a dream that supports their feelings that they should be with their lost love, and ignore all other dreams, including those that may have been about their spouses, children, careers, strangers, enemies, whatever. When people falsely perceive an association between two unconnected events, it can lead to poor decision making.
People who started lost love affairs because of a dream were unlikely to wind up with their lost loves and very likely to leave the affair wondering how they could have done what they did.
in Sticky Bonds
Psychology Today
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