Thread: Sense of time while lucid

yes, I have experienced these time dilation dreams, so before I am able to accept their non existence I would have to preform a time measurement experiment while in one of them. What I mean by this is to have some way measuring the difference in experienced time inside and out of the dream. Of course measuring it inside the dream is a bit more complex. Perhaps if we had a reference of baseline brain activity in a normal dream, an eeg could measure if the amount of activity is relatively compressed during one of these dreams, which would be evidence in favor of this phenomenon. Like any scientific experiment we would require repeatability, which begs the question, how do we induce these dreams?

this reminds me of dbz's hyperbolic time chamber

It's definitely possible. haven't tried personally though, but with decent dream control you could try creating/summoning device or machine of some kind that measures the dream time and compares it to time in waking world, with an option to change the value. From what i heard similar techniques can indeed also be used to prolong lucid dreams too.

Originally Posted by PostScript99

I've heard from several sources that the time in real life is the same in a lucid dream, and it sounds plausible enough.

But then I remembered a lucid I had last August, before I was interested in LDing, that seemed to last for weeks when I was in it. When I woke up, I wasn't quite sure how long I had been in it, but it was long enough for me to almost completely forget about the real world.

I know my sense of time in that dream was certainly distorted, but can you manipulate your own sense of time to effectively prolong a LD for a very long period of time? (And no, I'm not talking about time machines. That's a different story.)

How exactly are you judging the fact that it lasted for weeks? How much detail did that passage of time contain? That's a pretty heavy dilation.

I've definitely had dreams that seemed to last for longer than they did, but I haven't managed it as a form of dream control. It would definitely be a cool skill to have though.

Originally Posted by Checker666

It's definitely possible. haven't tried personally though, but with decent dream control you could try creating/summoning device or machine of some kind that measures the dream time and compares it to time in waking world, with an option to change the value. From what i heard similar techniques can indeed also be used to prolong lucid dreams too.

^^ That's what I've heard too. It seems like the most plausible method of doing something like this.

yeah, it reminds me of the hyperbolic time chamber as well. with that chamber tho, the Z fighter were stepping into another dimension, which explained the dilation of time. so I would Imagine that with the time dilated dreams whats taking place is a hyper-dimensional phenomenon. ( i dont want to sound like i know anything about hyper-dimensional physics or nothin) but i have read a few posts on here about some people dilating there dreams by focusing on time and stuff like that. so if you happen to look into anything concerning this do some research on Time Dilation. and STAY LUCID!!!

People seem to have major misconceptions when it comes to dreams and dream control. Nearly everything is "possible" in a dream but our brains do have limits. Specifically our brains are limited by how much information they can aquire, synthesize, analyze, and process. Now for our brains to take in and process more information than usual, the brain's neurons would have to fire fast, much faster depending on how much more information must be processed.
So let's imagine that time dilation in dreams is indeed possible. Now say you wanted to make a 45 minute dream last for 2 "days". That is to say, you want to aquire, process, and "experience" as much information in 45 minutes that your brain usually only processes in 2 days. To accomplish this your brain would have to process and organize 2 days of information in less than one hour thereby making time seem more slow. To put it simply, your brain would have to work 32 times faster than what it already is working at now to experience 2 "days" in 45 minutes. The amount of energy your brain would require to perfom such a feat would be absurd and the amount of heat it would generate would kill you. Your neurons would fry themselves firing that fast, which is why our brains do not operate at this level.
This isn't to say time dilation is impossible, just not on the scale of days. Time dilation is indeed possible but it usually only occurs to humans who enter the fight or flight reponse. During the fight or flight response our heart rates increase to supply more oxygen to the brain and body, all non-critical bodily functions are slowed or deactived to conserve energy for more immediate concerns, and our bodies are flooded with the hormone, adrenaline. Arenaline is like super fuel for our bodies, it's biology's answer to nitrous oxide (NOS).
Now because the brain is being flooded with more oxygen and fuel, it can take in and process information more quickly. This can make the person who is in flight or flight feel like everything around them is moving in slow motion while they themselves are moving "normally". But not even the adrenaline could provide enough fuel for your brain to process information 32+ times faster than normal.


( To put this all in perspective, even the most greedy, wealthy, and extreme computer overclockers will never overclock a intel cpu core from 3.3ghz to anything more than 7.0ghz. That's a 2.12 times increase. Anything above 7.0ghz is unheard of. And when they do overclock their cpu's to 7.0, the cpu is almost always being cooled by a liquid nitrogen cooling system. Yes, liquid nitrogen. A Liquid nitrogen cooling system is the only known way to keep the cpu from heating up and melting itself)

Originally Posted by TranquilityTrip

People seem to have a major misconception when it comes to dreams and what you can do to them. While nearly everything is "possible" in a dream, the only limit we have is what our brains can do, and the brain does have limits. Our brains are limited by how much information they can aquire, synthesize, analyze, and process. Now to take in and process more information than usual, the brain's neurons would have to fire fast, much faster depending on how much more information must be processed.
Now let's imagine that time dilation in dreams is indeed possible. Now say you wanted to make a 45 minute dream last for 2 "days". That is to say, you want to aquire and process information in 45 minutes that your brain usually only process in 2 days. To accomplish this your brain would have to process and organize 2 days of information in less than one hou thereby making time seem more slow. To put it simply, your brain would have to work 32 times faster than what it already is woeking at now. The amount of energy your brain would require to perfom such a feat would be absurd and the amount of heat it would generate would kill you. Your neurons would fry themselves firing that fast, which is why our brains do not operate at this level.
That isn't to say time dilation is impossible, just not on the scale of days. Time dilation is indeed possible but it usually only occurs to humans who enter the fight or flight reponse. During the fight or flight response in humans our heart rates increase to supply more oxygen to the brain and body, all non-critical bodily functions are slowed or deactived off to conserve energy for more immediate concerns, and our bodies are flooded with the hormone adrenaline. Arenaline is like super fuel for our bodies, it's biology's answer to nitrous oxide (NOS).
Now because the brain is being flooded with more oxygen and fuel, it can take in and process information more quickly. This can make the person who is in flight or flight feel like everything around them is moving in slow motion while they themselves are moving "normally".
But not even the adrenaline could provide enough fuel for your brain to process information 32+ times faster than normal.


(Just for the heck of it, imagine this. The average i5/i7 4+ core Intel CPU are clocked at around 3.3ghz. Even the most extreme (and wealthy) computer overclockers won't overclock a CPU over 7ghz. And 7.0ghz cpu overclock is unheard of. And when it is acheived, the cpu is almost alway being cooled with a liquid nitrogen system. Yes, that liquid nitrogen)

I understand what you are saying 100%, and it doesn't make sense to dilate time in a dream to the extent people talk abkut, but I am afraid that you are wrong. There is no way to explain it, but it happens. I had a non lucid last night that lasted 2 weeks. Yeah, some of the time just kind of skipped, but I was there for at least 48 hours of time if you take away the skipping and the sleep. If you go on believing this, then it probably won't happen to you, "proving" it to yourself, but also limiting yourself. You can do anything in a lucid dream. I have not seen or hit a limit yet, and I have talked to people that LD their whole life.

Think of this:
You brain has to process all the info that it is throwing at you right? Well what if it is taking away thousands of minute details that you don't notice in order to not use much energy? Just take away your smell, hearing only at certain times,Only feeling what you touch, not your clothes or anything, tasting nothing, and seeing in a smaller range. Take away all these things and the brain could work at 1% meaning that it could process things 100X faster and still look like it was processing the same amount. So you are in REM longest period for an hour fifteen X 100 and take out sleep. You can be in there for about a week. Take away some times like movie change scenes and things you won't notice and viola 2 weeks. This is only if it can do 100X faster I am guessing it can do a lot more by missing all these things that I said, maybe even 1000 X faster.

Just random though there.

I know what I'll do now.

Firstly, I'll leave myself a note, just in case I forget about everything in reality. Then, I'll get a lucid, and then I'll find this time dilation control and set it as high as possible. Someday, I'll return here and post everything I found there.

Wish me luck.

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

I understand what you are saying 100%, and it doesn't make sense to dilate time in a dream to the extent people talk abkut, but I am afraid that you are wrong. There is no way to explain it, but it happens. I had a non lucid last night that lasted 2 weeks. Yeah, some of the time just kind of skipped, but I was there for at least 48 hours of time if you take away the skipping and the sleep. If you go on believing this, then it probably won't happen to you, "proving" it to yourself, but also limiting yourself. You can do anything in a lucid dream. I have not seen or hit a limit yet, and I have talked to people that LD their whole life.

Think of this:
You brain has to process all the info that it is throwing at you right? Well what if it is taking away thousands of minute details that you don't notice in order to not use much energy? Just take away your smell, hearing only at certain times,Only feeling what you touch, not your clothes or anything, tasting nothing, and seeing in a smaller range. Take away all these things and the brain could work at 1% meaning that it could process things 100X faster and still look like it was processing the same amount. So you are in REM longest period for an hour fifteen X 100 and take out sleep. You can be in there for about a week. Take away some times like movie change scenes and things you won't notice and viola 2 weeks. This is only if it can do 100X faster I am guessing it can do a lot more by missing all these things that I said, maybe even 1000 X faster.

Just random though there.

You have to understand that there ARE limitations to lucid dreams. Dreaming does not relieve the brain of it's responsibilites/limitaions and because dreams are only constructions of the brain, dreams are limited. If there were no limits, I could fall asleep for only 5 hours and wake up, while stay in the dream world for an eternity. How can I do both? You can't. You can't cheat eternity, either you stay asleep forever or your dream did not last forever, you can't have it both ways. Unless, ofcourse, you change the definition of eternity but then it really isn't eternity is it? How do you reconcile this?
With that said, you haven't happened to have written down your dream on your dream journal have you? I would love to read it

I'll type it out some time today. I don't normally write out non lucids, but since I am going to start again, this dream really interested me, and you wish to read, I shall put it up.

http://www.dreamviews.com/blogs/bran...am-time-44666/

Here it is, glad that I wrote it out and all because it is really fun and I had almost forgotten some details.

hmm I'm guessing that it probably seemed like it lasted for weeks because you remember being in alot of places or for example you have a dream during the day than it forwards to at night and than its day again than night and flips around like that. You probably lost track of time. I've heard that during a dream time is the same as it is in real life but while on the Astral plane time doesn't exist so its also possible that you spent a few (what seemed like) days on the astral plane. Take your pick.

Originally Posted by spazitude80

hmm I'm guessing that it probably seemed like it lasted for weeks because you remember being in alot of places or for example you have a dream during the day than it forwards to at night and than its day again than night and flips around like that. You probably lost track of time. I've heard that during a dream time is the same as it is in real life but while on the Astral plane time doesn't exist so its also possible that you spent a few (what seemed like) days on the astral plane. Take your pick.

Well, you are debating the ability of time to be dilated in a dream with "It might be AP" that is funny. Not trying to be rude.

I also have had dreams like what you mention, fast forwarding and jumping from place to place, sometimes almost seamlessly. I have had all sorts of crazy time jumping dreams. I have had 1 dream a night for my whole life, and I have toooooooooons of dreams now. So I know what type you are talking about. But I actually was in this dream for the whole time. Countless conversations that aren't really worth mentioning that I could put out here, more games than you can imagine. It almost seemed like longer than 2 weeks.