The Most Contemptible Thing

 The most contemptible thing about dreams in that everyone has them. The delivery boy who dozes against the lamppost in between deliveries is thinking about something in his darkened mind. I know what he's thinking about: the very same things into which I plummet, between one and another ledger entry, in the summer tedium of that stock-still office.

Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet, chapter 142

But why is it so contemptible? I think Pessoa's point is that there is actually, almost universally, nothing really unique or interesting about all of us, just maddeningly subtle shades of gray mediocrity. However, that's not how we view ourselves. Rather, we see ourselves as utterly unique and fascinating creatures, distinguished only by our degree of genius. And, if we don't want to go that far, we at least hope/recognize/believe that we are more unique and interesting than the dregs with which we are forced to share the planet. That said, is the problem not that we dream the same dream, but rather that we dream it in a society that values individuality above all else? Would the shared dreams be as contemptible if we lived in a more collective society? Or, is the thing that he is struggling with is actually our shared humanity, and recognizing it means that we have to give up the vision that we are unique and fascinating creatures?