Lucid Dreaming

[Brian1]

[Maf54]

[Warren]

I have those once in a while, except when I realize it's a dream, so I try to do stuff, but weird stuff happens to inhibit me, like suddenly my legs won't work or something. I have dreams nearly every night. Last night I dreamt that I got an appartment...a really nice one too.

[Maf54]

*yawn*

[Caesar]

[Warren]

I'm gonna try to induce lucid dreaming, I've had them before and it's really cool. The main one was I was walking around a supermarket for some reason, then suddenly realized that I was dreaming, so of course I decide to find a random girl and do her, because what else would a guy do in a consequence free world? So, I found one (actually a girl from my school...) and well, don't continue reading if you don't want to be grossed out, but, I for some reason had a detachable penis. Knowing this was a dream, I knew it was weird and freaky, but whatever. So, she bends over and I insert, but then APPLE SAUCE comes pouring out of her. I freak out and wake up in a cold sweat. I need to practice being in complete control of my dreams so something like that doesn't happen again.

The first time I had a lucid dream, I tested myself by waking up, then realized how stupid that was, so if you ever get one, don't test by waking up, don't even think about it.

[sandmann]

For some reason I doubt the validity of what you guys are talking about. You can easily be fooled into believing that you can control your dreams -- Warren, how do you separate the dream you mentioned from non-lucid dreams? You apparently act on your own volition at some point in most of your dreams, so what's the difference in this one?

Dreaming is basically the result of random prefrontal cortex neuron firing. Basically, because your brain is freed of its normal daily responsibilities, it just goes crazy. Controlling your dreams would require a degree of rational consciousness that would result in -- get ready -- waking up. Unless I'm terribly mistaken.

And Warren, you dream every night. We all do. We just don't remember them every time. If you wake up during REM sleep, you're more likely to remember your dream.

[James S]

I can certainly attest to the validity of sandmann's statement. Dreams are infact the result of random firing. In my dream last night, for one moment I was changing the diapers of my baby, the next I was driving in some beat-up pick-up truck to a drug store at the bottom of this hill in my school's main street that doesn't have a drug store, then I was shooting my bbgun in my grandmother's yard like I was 8 again.

Dreams = random. Lucid = not dream, but rather imagination. What, can't you guys think during the day? Your imagination is no more real than a dream, it's as real as you imagine it to be.

[RICoder]

Dreams are still a topic of some dispute. My understanding from research, such as it is, is that the dream is merely your mind trying to make sense of the firing of neurons associated with pushing short term memory to long term memory. This is related, in some ways, to why short term memory suffers when a person is sleep deprived.

As to lucid dreaming, it would merely allow some sort of semi-conciousness during the process, which I have no problem believing is possible. On several occasions, when I have a "bad dream" I have thought to myself, this is only a dream, and woken up.

[sponge]

Hm, thinking about it now, it seems to get less often as I get older - don't think I've had one in a couple of years now. Wonder if age has to do with any of it.

[Warren]

But James, while changing the diaper of the baby, did you think "I'm dreaming, but I'm still gonna change this diaper"? No, whatever you were thinking at the time was as if your entire life consisted of living in that universe. The dream I had last night of moving into an apartment, throughout the dream I acted as if my entire life was moving into that apartment, that I knew absolutely nothing else. Lucid dreaming is suddenly realizing that it's a dream, and you remember what your real life is, is this semi-consciousness? I don't know. A little while ago, I was dreaming something, then realized it was a dream and I was standing in a dirt parking lot. I tested it by making a cake appear in front of me. I then made a Lamborghini appear. I then woke up kind of disappointed that I didn't get to do much, but it was cool.

[James S]

You're still arguing within our claim that lucid dreaming is not feasible.

[sponge]

Your claim of not feasible would hold any merit if people didn't experience it all the time.

[James S]

It's an unvarifiable claim, though. What if I told you that Jesus came to me in a dream and told me I was to be the Holy Virgin James? How would you argue against that, or for it? How can it be argued at all? ... Oh, but I assure you that it happened, because after that I asked God for a Ferrari and he let me have one for a couple of seconds, then he took it away again.

[eminefes]