Attitude Comp(ensation)

Both Freud and Jung believe that the interpretation of dreams is a vitally important activity. They agree that dreams are meaningful and that it is possible to interpret dreams accurately.

Freud and Jung disagree, however, about what purpose dreams serve. In contrast to Freud, who asserts that dreams fulfill wishes, Jung asserts that dreams compensate attitudes.

According to Jung, the purpose that dreams serve is attitude compensation. This is what Jung calls the compensatory function of the unconscious. The attitude of the ego is partial, prejudicial and, at the extreme, defective. In dreams, the unconscious attempts to compensate the attitude of the ego. If the ego is receptive rather than defensive, the efforts at compensation by the unconscious in dreams may produce a radical transformation in the attitude of the ego.

Apparently, even a bicycle may be Jungian rather than Freudian — as in this example of "Attitude Comp(ensation)" on Washington Square in New York City on November 2, 2010:

Photograph by Michael Vannoy Adams