One of Freud’s more important discoveries is that emotions buried in the unconscious surface in disguised form during dreaming, and that the remembered fragments of dreams can help uncover the buried feelings. The tendency of modern people to trace their problems to childhood traumas or other repressed emotions begins with Freud.

Freud said that there had been three great humiliations in human history: Galileo’s discovery that we were not the center of the universe, Darwin’s discovery that we were not the crown of creation, and his own discovery that we are not in control of our own minds. Freud’s basic insight that our minds preserve memories and emotions which are not always consciously available to us has transformed the way humanity views itself ever since. Today, there is indeed a commemorative plaque marking the spot where Freud began writing the book.Despite the widely-recognized failure of Freudian psychotherapy to heal disturbed people effectively and the rejection of many of his major theories Freud remains one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. “Do you think that one day there will be a marble tablet on the house, saying: ‘In this house on July 24, 1895, the Secret of Dreams was revealed to Dr. “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.” Sigmund FreudĮverybody dreams, and because of this it is one of the best ways to grasp Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis in a practical way.įreud was so confident in his discovery that he jokingly wrote to his friend Wilhelm Fliess: It is the ‘King’s highway’ along which everyone can travel to discover the truth of unconscious processes for themselves. By identifying its mechanisms, Freud also shed new light on the workings of the unconscious and its powerful role in human life.įreud called dream interpretation the ‘royal road’ to the unconscious.

The book represents Freud’s first major attempt to set out his theory of a dynamic unconscious, created in childhood, which operates continuously in every human mind.įor Freud, dreaming is a mental activity that follows its own logic. Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams was one of the most important books of the 20th century.įirst published in 1900, it provides a groundbreaking theory of dreams and an innovative method for interpreting them that captivates readers to this day. Title page of the first edition of The Interpretation of Dreams.

Freud 1900 the interpretation of dreams