Why do some people seem to remember dreams more easily than others? One of my friends says that she never remembered a dream until she was 14 or 15, and that she has only remembered bits and pieces of 3 or 4 dreams total. Another of my friends has been able to remember and control all her dreams since she was six, and she was really surprised when we told her recently that most people can’t do that.
It’s a good question. Here is my hypothesis: some people are more introvert and some are more extrovert. Extroverts are less interested in dreams and when they wake up, they immediatly think about something to do IRL instead of remembering dreams. For instance, my dad is very materialistic, so he’s not interested in dreams at all, cause they are “not real”. Hence he remembers very few dreams.
But there are also other possibilities: when you have a lot of work to do, or when you’re stressed, you can’t remember dreams very well.
About controlling dreams, some people can control them naturally. It seems that children and women are better in doing this than men.
I’m extroverted, and I remember mine, and my mother is introverted but doesn’t remember hers at all! I don’t think it’s accurate to assume introverts are more interested in dreams than extroverts - I mean, I like my dreams because they’re full of people and magic and adventures and generally being very extroverted indeed! 
But when I wake up in the morning, I’m much too groggy to think of anything except dreams and sleep.
My hypothesis is therefore that people who are “morning people” remember their dreams less, and people who are NOT morning people remember their dreams better, because they don’t want to think about getting up in the morning! 
I think remembering dreams is based on your general awareness. For instance when more aware you remember more of the previous day. And are most likely more prone to remembering dreams.
i have no hypnothesis but i think that there must be some part in some peoples brain which stops them from lucid dreaming et al.
But some people do not have that block so this is not the problem for them.
Memory is memory. It’s just one of those things, some people just naturally remember things easier than others. Just like some people have photographic memory and others don’t.
Some people do very little study and get A’s while other have to do hours and hours of study. The same is true of dream recall. Some people it just comes more naturally.
I’ve always had good recall, although over the past year or so I don’t remember quite as much detail or it fades quicker. I did notice an increase when I did a course on studying for exams, lots of memory techniques.
It could be the simple matter of what state of sleep and how you wake up that ultimately affects recall. I know in the few cases where I have been woken suddenly by my alarm that I remember much less detail and if I end up rushing to dress then the dream is pretty much pushed away and gone.
Where as when I wake up naturally without an alarm/disturbance I end up with much better recall. I also tend to remember more detail if I wake up right at the end of, or during, a dream. As opposed to waking up during a stage of dreamless sleep.
The sleepier I am the more detail I tend to remember as soon as I wake (which makes running through the dream before writing it down much easier) where as if I am more alert I have to work at the details.
I don’t think there is a clear cut reason as to why some are more adapt to remembering dreams, it’s most likely due to multiple factors all working together.
I would say that it has a lot to do with how interested you are in remembering your dreams. Today in our society, dreams are generaly not seen as important. For lots of people, dreams are something that crazy people deal with, or are esoteric, and don’t have anything to do with real life.
I do think that your SC can use your dreams to try to get you to deal with things that are causing you problems. They are also helpfull in learning. You don’t have to remember them for ether of these two things to work, but I do think that they work better if you do remember them.
Other then that, I think that dreams are a great place to have fun. As some others have said, we could be the pioniers in a new form of dream recreation. some day there might be dream sport compititions, or some other way of sharing dream experances with others. LD’ing may someday be more common then vidio games. 
don
don,whats a somniologist.
And can ny1 tell me why do i need around 10-12 hours of sleep to be fresh.
I just turned 17,if it helps.
A somniologist is the default title you get when you have between 100 and 250 posts. 
I think that it means someone who studies sleep.
How much sleep you need to be fresh is dependent on a number of things. How good you sleep while you are in bed. How regular your sleeping habits are, and some genetic factors.
If you have problems while sleeping, like snoring, you may not be sleeping well, and then need more sleep.
If you go to bed at different times each day, then your body can’t adjust to one time to go to sleep each day, and you don’t sleep well.
If you are unlucky, you just need more sleep each day. I need between eight and nine hours, my brother gets by with four to five each night.
don
hmm,well i dont think i have ny snoking or noticable sleeping problems,my mom has insomnia but i dont have it either.
Weird.
Maybe i AM unlucky,well thanks.
Some sleeping problems are only found when you talk to a sleep specialist. You might have sleep apnoe. That is when you stop breathing very offten durning the night. Everyone stops breathing during the night, but if it doesn’t happen too offten, it is not a problem. With sleep apnoe, it happens so offten that you don’t sleep well and feel tired when you wake up after a normal nights sleep, i.e. eight hours. It can come and go. I have it some times when I have a lot of stress.
If you are sleeping well, but still have to sleep so long, you may have to go to a sleep specialist to find out if you need the sleep, or if you do have a problem that can improve your sleep.
don
isnt there ny internet site,where i can check this cuz i live in India and i dont think i would find a sleep specialist here lolz.
There is lots of info. on the internet, but if you don’t have someone who can watch you sleep, and knows what to look for, it can be very difficult to find some of the problems.
Just do a search for sleep or sleep problems. You could also do a search for sleep apnoea. There is a lot of info. on the net, and you might be able to find something in your language. I also think that there are lots of sleep specialists in India, it just depends a lot on where you live.
If you are lucky, you might find that you have a problem that is easy to solve.
good luck
don
I’m not a morning person and I would say I’m an extrovert and I have a hard time remembering my dreams. However, I also have a hard time remembering much. If I ge- uh, what were we talking about?
Where am I?
merged into here from the dream diary forum since the subject is basically the same 
Sorry if this is in the wrong place
Why don’t people remember their dreams? Espeically really vivid dreams? You spend at least 5 hours dreaming, it should be part of your life right?
Simply because your brain does not work the same way as waking life. You’re not conscious.
My opinion is that if you are not interested in dreams, you are less likely to remember them and vice versa. Although I guess that this wouldn’t work all the time because people have trouble remembering dreams even when they are completely interested in them.
I’ve never had trouble remembering my dreams although my dream recall improves when I start writing them down. During the school terms, I have other things on my mind and therefore don’t write them dreams down in my DJ. I still remember them, just in less detail. I’ve always been interested in dreams since I was little.
My dad claims that he never has dreams and when he does, he forgets them instantly. He believes that dreams are insignificant and that RL is much more important.
This is just my own opinion though, I believe that there are other factors which could affect someone’s DR (e.g. stress).
i think it has something to do with hormones and environmental and biological reasons
there is no definite answer