Menu
Donate
SIGN IN

Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience
A thickness in the air | Aeon
Save

essay

Neuroscience

A thickness in the air

The spooky sensation that someone or something else is right there haunts us all. But what does this felt presence mean?

Ben Alderson-Day

The dreams of animals | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

The dreams of animals

The psychic lives of nonhuman dreamers reveal colours, harmonies and beauties of which we had little inkling until now

David M Peña-Guzmán

Poor sleep | Aeon
Save

essay

Fairness and equality

Poor sleep

Being on-call, out-of-sync and underslept is not just personal but a pervasive political injustice. Bold change is needed

Jonathan White

Ancestral dreams | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Ancestral dreams

We’re not the only beings that dream. What visions might sleep bring to a cell, an insect, a mollusk, an ape?

Sidarta Ribeiro

Inside your dreamscape | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Inside your dreamscape

Dream-hacking techniques can help us create, heal and have fun. They could also become tools of commercial manipulation

Adam Haar Horowitz, Robert Stickgold & Antonio Zadra

Why do we sleep? | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Why do we sleep?

Adults sleep less than babies. Sperm whales sleep less again. A new mathematical theory unlocks the mysteries of slumber

Van Savage & Geoffrey West

Nightmares becalmed | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Nightmares becalmed

I’m a dream engineer. Through touch, scent and sound, we help people rescript the dramas of their sleeping lives

Michelle Carr

In exile from the dreamscape | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

In exile from the dreamscape

We live in a wake-centric world that devalues dreaming, yet we need to experience dreams to be our authentic selves

Rubin Naiman

The sleep artist | Aeon
Save

video

Neurodiversity

The work of a sleepwalking artist offers a glimpse into the fertile slumbering brain

4 minutes

Here’s to naps and snoozes | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Here’s to naps and snoozes

American work culture, seeping around the globe, threatens to ruin the pleasures and benefits of public, communal sleep

Todd Pitock

What do your dreams look like? | Aeon
Save

video

Sleep and dreams

Chocolate, monsters and mothers – surreal glimpses of our most common dreams

2 minutes

Down with the larks: on the virtues of sleeping like a sloth | Aeon
Save

idea

Sleep and dreams

Down with the larks: on the virtues of sleeping like a sloth

Joel Frohlich

The lucid dreaming playbook: how to take charge of your dreams | Aeon
Save

idea

Sleep and dreams

The lucid dreaming playbook: how to take charge of your dreams

Denholm Aspy

Our dreams have many purposes, changing across the lifespan | Aeon
Save

idea

Sleep and dreams

Our dreams have many purposes, changing across the lifespan

Patrick McNamara

How sound and smell cues can enhance learning while you sleep | Aeon
Save

idea

Sleep and dreams

How sound and smell cues can enhance learning while you sleep

Sadie Witkowski

The empire dreamt back | Aeon
Save

essay

History

The empire dreamt back

To help rule its empire, Britain turned to psychoanalysis. But they weren’t willing to hear the truth it told

Erik Linstrum

American dreaming 3.0 | Aeon
Save

essay

Politics and government

American dreaming 3.0

Embrace dreams as a counter to the naive realism of politics today, and they could become a potent democratic force

Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

Sleepwalking is the result of a survival mechanism gone awry | Aeon
Save

idea

Sleep and dreams

Sleepwalking is the result of a survival mechanism gone awry

Phil Jaekl

Leonard Cohen on moonlight | Aeon
Save

video

Stories and literature

Leonard Cohen turns an erotic fantasy that wasn’t into a sleepless night’s work

6 minutes

How the 24-hour society is stealing time from the night | Aeon
Save

idea

Sleep and dreams

How the 24-hour society is stealing time from the night

Leon Kreitzman

Dreams and revelations | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Dreams and revelations

The world’s great religions and spiritual journeys emerged from dreams and visions. Neurochemistry tells us how

Patrick McNamara

Falling for sleep | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Falling for sleep

When wakefulness is seen as the main event, no wonder so many have trouble sleeping. Can we rekindle the joy of slumber?

Rubin Naiman

Life in Circadia | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Life in Circadia

The ticking of the bodyclock can help us fight cancer, safeguard our hearts, time our meals, and enhance our intelligence

Jessa Gamble

Are dreams predictions? | Aeon
Save

essay

Sleep and dreams

Are dreams predictions?

Dreams might not be omens or prophecies in a mystical sense, but they do have a distinct psychological predictive power

Sue Llewellyn