There’s nothing more boring than someone else’s dreams. I’m referring to have-them-while-you-sleep dreams, not I-want-to-do-that-someday dreams – there’s an enormous difference. It’s very boring when someone tells you, “I had a dream last night that I went to work naked.” It’s much more exciting if they say, “I want to go to work naked.”
On the face of it, other people’s dreams should be enthralling. After all, they are constantly going to work naked, flying like Superman, or taking a long train ride with their dead grandmothers. Interesting stuff. Sometimes they’re flying to work naked with their dead grandmothers. That’s a good story! Why don’t I give a damn?
Mainly because I’m doing all that stuff – and more – in my own dreams every night. Everyone has an amazing dream life. I don’t know why some people, like my freshman-year roommate, think I want to hear about theirs. I’m talking to you, Ezra.
That’s why aspirational, I-want-to-do-that dreams are so much more interesting. They reveal so much more about a person’s character. If someone tells me they dreamed they were late for a test, I know very little about that person. Everyone has that dream. But if someone tells me their fondest dream is to someday climb Mount Everest, I know right away that that person is a complete moron. I have no sympathy for mountain climbers. They deserve everything they get. I mean that.
Josh Lieb is the Emmy-winning writer and producer of The Daily Show. www.thedailyshow.com
