Anti-Freudian sleep researcher Allan Hobson has a dream

Learntointerpretyourdreams.com

"Allan Hobson, at Harvard University, was one of these scientists involved with doing research on the brain during sleep. Hobson observed that dreams and REM seemed to begin when the brainstem started to emit random electrical signals from the ‘pons’ when REM and dreaming started. These brainstem signals were random and chaotic – no patterns or logical flow could be determined, therefore he jumped to the conclusion that because these signals were chaotic and random that dreams were nothing more than random images responding to what was basically static from the reptilian brainstem.

Then, through a combination of his ‘bad’ science and hubris, Hobson began to attack Freudian theory and the practice of psychoanalysis as a hoax, a completely invalid way of treating patients seeking psychological help. He took to grandstanding, publicly ridiculing Freud and his followers at conferences, especially when he was aware that psychoanalysts were in attendance.

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[Around 2001] Allan Hobson had a stroke, and not just any stroke, his stroke only effected his brainstem, the reptilian structure he has been focusing on much of his life. Fortunately for Hobson, he recovered, but I think Sigmund must have planned it this way.

Hobson had a dream 38 days after his stroke which goes as follows: He is traveling with his wife abroad and discovered she had given another man a drill bit from a treasured tool Hobson kept at their weekend home, a farm in Vermont. Describing the dream in his journal, Hobson said:” It seemed to me odd that she would give a stranger one of my most precious tools without asking me. I was feeling very vexed and apprehensive.” In the dream, his wife confides to him that that she needs a secret life, and for much of the rest of the dream, he is wandering alone, unable to find her.” Once again, the above is an excerpt from Andrea Rock’s book.

The Dream Subjected to Psychoanalytic Dream Interpretation

Hmm, a ‘drill bit’, let’s see, does that remind anybody of any part of the male anatomy? Could it possibly be some fear of no longer being able to perform with his favorite tool? Then, his wife gifts his treasure to some other man.

I get the sense there is some underlying meaning here, but no, this plot and imagery is derived from chaotic, random signals, right? Freud must have been laughing in his grave. I do not consider myself a Freudian, but I must admit the old boy had some points. And, with the stroke in the brainstem and the ‘drill bit’ being a symbolic phallus, it might be thought that some spirit from some myth must have been evoked giving Jung a laugh at both Hobson and Freud.

But, more seriously, Hobson’s dream might, also, represent some underlying guilt he may have had for his rash condemnation of psychoanalytic dream interpretation. The drill bit could be his theory – this was the highlight of his life, another treasured tool – and he fears losing it as evidence gathered that disproved the physiological origin of dreams solely from the brainstem – and as this happened he felt vexed and lost (it was his life work), just as he would if he lost his wife to a stranger. In this scenario, his wife would represent the professional community to whom he convinced his dream/brainstem theory. If this were shot down, he would be emasculated (or lose his drill bit, so to speak)."