Originally posted by ZenVortex
Hi Howetzer:

With due respect, don't start preaching about how anybody can induce LDs and that "it's all within you". I am a professional research scientist and have studied lucid dreaming since 1979, and have reached the conclusion that the bottom line is brain chemistry. Specifically, most people can't dream lucidly on a consistent basis for the simple reason that they don't have enough neurotransmitters in their sleeping brain to support consciousness during their dreams.

The bottom line is this. No matter how much you practice WILD, MILD, DILD, VILD, FILD, or whatever method you use, lucidity won't occur unless a threshold level of neurotransmitters is present. No matter how fast your automobile is, you ain't going' nowhere unless there's gas in the tank. THAT, amigo, is why psychoactive substances can be helpful to many people, probably the majority of people who try lucid dreaming. Good luck with your quest.
I completely understand the scientific points that you make. What I don't understand is your logic behind using it.
That does not change the fact that your bottom line is introducing people to a habit forming chemical which can develop very quickly. Is that worth a lucid dream?
As a professional research scientist, you can surly see the down side to your implications.

Originally posted by The Blue Meanie
As for lucidity and neurotransmitters and lucidity, forgiving the rather pedestrian automobile analogy for the moment, to say that some people cannot have lucid dreams without the aid of psychoactive substances because "they don't have enough neurotransmitters in their sleeping brain to support consciousness during their dreams" is a totally unsubstantiated claim. I can accept that some people, because of their naturally lower level of neurotransmitters may make lucidity in dreams less likely or harder to achieve, although it should be noted the actual EXTENT of this is pretty damn near impossible to prove, due to the host of other factors which are just as impossible to eliminate. But to claim that some people simply cannot lucid dream is dubious at best.
And thank you in regards to the preaching comment.