Thread: total silence

If you're in a dream, knowing how to ignore sounds (if the dream isn't totally silent already, that is) is good because it helps you stay focused on the fact that you're dreaming. If you're not lucid already, though, silence probably won't cause lucidity unless you're already aware enough to realize that there's no sound - this comes from practicing raised consciousness and even meditation in waking life. IMO it's the best way to become lucid, because if you practice awareness you can become lucid any time, not just when you don't hear any sounds.

For WILDing, it's best to attempt one in dead silence, or as close as you can get. Even if you just hear noises without reacting, your mind might realize that you're still aware (which when trying to WILD, you want to pretend that you're not conscious anymore - if you still hear noise, it means you aren't). WILDs are possible with background noise, definitely, but from my own experiences those ones only happen if I'm exhausted or completely careless about what's going on outside my room in terms of noise. Earplugs help, and maybe telling the occasional family member to keep the volume level down as they party outside.