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What Is a Dream? For centuries, people have wondered about the strange things that they dream about. Some psychologists say that this nighttime activity of the mind has no special meaning. Others, however, think that dreams are an important part of our lives. In fact, many experts believe that dreams can tell us about a persons mind and emotions. Before modem times, many people thought that dreams contained messages from God. It was only in the twentieth century that people started to study dreams in a scientific way. The Austrian psychologist, Sigmund Freud, was probably the first person to study dreams scientifically. In his famous book, The interpretation of Dreams , Freud wrote that dreams are an expressions of a persons wishes. He believed that dreams allow people to express the feelings, thoughts, and fears that they are afraid to express in real life. The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung was once a student of Freud s. Jung, however, had a different idea about dreams. Jung believed that the purpose of a dream was to communicate a message to the dreamer. He thought people could learn more about themselves by thinking about their dreams. For example, people who dream about falling may learn that they have too high an opinion of themselves. On the other hand, people who dream about being heroes may learn that they think too little of themselves. | 
