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Do We Dream in Color?
by Richard Wilkerson, Dream Educator
There is no experimental proof I have seen of this, but researchers agree that most dreams are in color. However, because the dream fades so quickly after we awake, our memories of the dream are often recalled in gray tones.
Studies show that those who are in tune with color in waking life tend to remember more color in dreams as well. I have also noticed that those of us who grew up with black & white TV have more black and white dreams. I haven't properly researched this yet, it's just an observation.
When I was a kid, I heard someone talking about black & white vs color dreams. I felt bad because I recalled most of my dreams in b & w. That night I dreamt of thousands of iridescent lizards running along by my room.
I was really delighted and tried to collect as many a possible, commenting the whole time about the color. This dream indicates satisfactorily to me that there is color *in* the dream and it's not just added afterwards.
Try the following exercise:
During the day, notice at least once an hour the color of something, anything. My guess is that you will start recalling more color in your dreams.
About the Author:
Richard Wilkerson is general editor for The Internet Dream E-zine, Electric Dreams, and director of DreamGate, the Internet Communications and Dream Education Center. He writes the Cyberphile column for the Association for the Study of Dreams Newsletter.
Revised 04/27/2009 by Marlene M. Maheu, Ph.D.
my dreams amazes me sometimes, i often have dreams in colors, sometimes b&w & sometimes in technicolor, I even think in my dreams.. i kinda find it strange that my dreams feels and looks so real.. most of the time my dreams have stories.. i dream almost everynight or morning, coz i wake up at 12 noon.. i can control my dreams too, like when im having a bad dream/ nightmare, i can change my dream into a good one or think in my dream that its just a dream then would wake up or continue the dream and not feel the pain or not get hurt... but i love dreaming, coz most of the time my dreams have colors and it feels so real...
my dreams amazes me sometimes, i often have dreams in colors, sometimes b&w & sometimes in technicolor, I even think in my dreams.. i kinda find it strange that my dreams feels and looks so real.. most of the time my dreams have stories.. i dream almost everynight or morning, coz i wake up at 12 noon.. i can control my dreams too, like when im having a bad dream/ nightmare, i can change my dream into a good one or think in my dream that its just a dream then would wake up or continue the dream and not feel the pain or not get hurt... but i love dreaming, coz most of the time my dreams have colors and it feels so real...
I can vividley remember dreaming in black and white. I stand at the top of the stairs n i jump and float down to the bottom.I had this drean reoccuringly when i was around 7 but i can still remember it as clear as day now.
Hey Michael, I was interested in your debate with your girlfriend because I also heard that most people dream in black and white. In fact, the statistic I heard was "only three out of every 100 people dream in color." That seems strange to me, and I don't know whether to believe it or not. I dream in technicolor, and it amazes me that others do not.
I have always dreamed in color but recently in a dream everything behind me was in color. I had just been in an antique shop...but to get the point when I left the shop I could not find my van in the parking lot. I asked a man to help me find it. He was walking beside me and when I said "I can't tell which one it is-everything is black and white." He said "Everything is not black and white!" I replied "Okay I see black, white, gray, and shadow." Then I woke up.
My girlfriend and I have been debating this, because she heard that "most people dream in black and white," and I don't believe that.
This is good news to know, because I always heard from people that dreams are in black and white. Yet most of my life all my dreams are in color, furthermore during my dream state I am able to control my actions in the dream. And at times certain situations or circumstances in the dream tend to materialize into future events. Also certain colors stand out during the dream that results in some importance on later events.