Thread: Say no to reality checks...

Originally Posted by Abra

Spontaneous lucidity. Some call it that; I do, too. But was it really spontaneous? Or did you think to yourself, "I was in bed an hour ago," or "Wait... There's no such thing as zombies," before the onset of lucidity? Because, although I call this "spontaneous lucidity," I believe it could also be called a mental reality check.

And if you don't have a mental reality check, or any sort of basis to prove that you are dreaming, then how do you know you are dreaming?

RCs are pretty usefull to induce lucidity (keeps your mind on subject) and, while dreaming, were pretty usefull to me on my first couple of atempts since I didn't quite know what to expect from lucidity. After that, however, I did it more for kicks or to stay focused. I don't usually need them (in the dream) and the only question that normally pops into my head is "You know you're dreaming, right?"

The one time I found myself thinking something was off it was because the dream seemed too real. I got confused and started wandering if I was awake.
Then I RCd. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get ran over by a bus.

Lizard King, you're not alone. Im another one that never used a RC to realize that Im dreaming (funny, I was about to start a thread about this). Every last DILD that Ive had was attained without any RCs in any one of them. Whenever I become spontaneously lucid, its a quick and sudden "Eureka" moment. I wouldn't even say that I do any mental RCs like Abra said above. I realize (become aware of) my surroundings and just "know" (for a fact without a doubt) that Im dreaming. I know this b/c I simply know that Im not awake. Once I realize this, I just continue along with my lucid/dream w/o even bothering to question my reality or do a RC b/c Im already %100 sure that Im dreaming; doing a RC, for me, would be redundant.

True for me, i've never had a lucid by reality checks but those who do i believe should not stop using them.

Whilst reality checks may not work for all, I think that the do generate an awareness of whats going on around you.

In reality we probably ask am I dreaming, then do the tests.
In a dream, we probably ask am I dreaming, and the answer is so obvious we don't bother with the tests.