Thread: The Caveman Syndrome

This is a thought that was hatching in my mind for quite a while and finally I got an idea that I can clearly explain. Sorry, this is a bit long, but I think this would be beneficial to many LDers.

The idea is about expectations and mental stress. It is also closely related to the Non Induction technique that I posted before.

First of all imagine a caveman that is laying in some bushes trying to hunt some animal. He lays there immobile, but very alert and aware, he expects the delicious animal, thinks of how he will brag about the kill in front of his tribe, etc. His body while may appear relaxed is actually ready to spring up and strike an animal that might pass by at any second. There's a lot of adrenaline that would be instantly released the second that animal comes in sight. Think of this as "hunting instinct". Since there's little hunting involved in the present day life, I call this "the caveman syndrome".


Now let's imagine a lucid dreamer - he came up or looked up an awesome technique. He's willing to try it. So he's laying in bed, thinking how he will use that technique, how he will have the most amazing lucid dream and what he is going to do in it, how he's gonna post his success story on this forum, etc etc etc. While he's trying to ignore the outside world and relax his attention is focused inside - on his body and mind. Especially with WILD like induction techniques there is tendency to look for signs of success. For nonWILD techniques there's tendency to worry about "Did I do enough?" kind of questions.
Just like hunting, there are expectations, awareness, and lots of thinking involved. It seems to me like this kind of actions combined with lack of motion may induce the "hunting instinct" kind of behavior in the body - instead of going to sleep it switches to hunting mode, except in this case the dreamer is hunting a LD. Unfortunately you cant get a LD while being awake so the two conditions will never meet -the hunt will rarely end up in a LD, the body will stay in the hunting mode until the dreamer either gives up entirely and just goes to sleep (resulting in very poor vividness and poor recall) or will gradually fall asleep (takes lots of time and causes lots of frustration). IMO this causes lots of stress on your body and may account for the majority of failed LD induction attempts.
The "hunting mode" or the "caveman syndrome" may also account for the case of LD induction methods that fail to induce lucidity again - lets say you induced a LD with something posted it on the board but the next night you failed and the night after that you failed. Then after a couple weeks you succeeded. This could be caused by you actively expecting and anticipating success or examining and trying to find causes of your failure, therefore denying you sleep and switching you to the "hunting mode"


A while back I've posted a technique that I called "NonInduction"
http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/inde...howtopic=36064
- as you go to sleep you completely let go of your thoughts and let whatever techniques you were working on do their job. Back then I did not quite understand why this worked (worked not just for me but for many people), but apparently the technique may eliminate the conflict between sleeping and the "hunting mode" and allow a LDer to get better quality of sleep and much higher success at lucid dreaming. The passive awareness that the technique promotes may be the key to successful lucid dreaming.


In all my experiences the Non Induction technique worked wonderfully for a few days in a row and then failed unexpectedly. I knew exactly the reason why it failed but I couldnt expain it very clearly. Pretty much after a few days of spectacular successes I started to think about lucid dreaming after going to bed, I started to anticipate the lucid dream, started to plan my actions, etc. Therefore switching to "hunting mode", preventing me from falling asleep. Even after falling asleep each time I woke up I would again start to anticipate the lucid dream ("I will have a lucid dream this time I fall asleep and I will do this and this and that..."), once again switching to the "hunting mode".
Just understanding the process may help a lot (kinda like WILD is much easier when you know what to expect). Removing the influence of the "hunting mode" from your lucid dreaming induction attempts will most likely cause you to have more success at whatever technique you are trying.


Now think about it for a while and see if this makes sense. I would love to hear feedback. It would also be nice if people who succeeded at the Non Induction technique try this improved version and see if they can maintain the lucid streak for more nights in a row than before.