The Avatars in the Machine: DREAMING AS A SIMULATION OF SOCIAL REALITY1 Introduction2 Consciousness as reality-modeling and world-simulation3 Dreaming as simulation: Converging definitions from dream research 4 The simulation of social reality in dreams4.1 Evidence for simulation of social perception in dreams4.2 Evidence for simulation of social interactions in dreams 5 The continuity hypothesis and social simulation theories of dreaming6 Towards a testable social simulation theory of dreaming6.1 The simulation of social perception as a function of dreaming6.2 The simulation of mindreading as a function of dreaming6.3 The simulation of social interactions as a function of dreaming 6.4 Some testable ideas derived from SST7 Conclusions