Thread: Atheism and Dream Recall

NO DREAM DISCUSSION IN THE FORUMS









f

Originally Posted by LuxAeterna

It seems at least possible that the way he asked it is not because he is trying to insinuate something, but just because of ignorance or naivety. If the latter is the case--and it seems we should extend the benefit of the doubt--then the proper way to respond would be calm, collected correction, not angered objection.

Your analogous question is faulty because being black or white is an innate, inborn trait that has nothing to do with upbringing or chosen beliefs. Being Christian or Atheist, however, is completely upbringing and/or personally formulated, chosen beliefs. And, since dreams are made up of our experiences, and our recall often the product of how we look at dreams, it is at least very marginally possible that this might effect dreams. But I don't think it would in any significant way.

-Lux

I edited the post to make it correlate, after noticing the subjective context.

It should make much more sense now.

I think this theory has a sound basis. I used to be an atheist, I only remembered one or two dreams a night. Now I'm a Pastafarian and I remember 2-3 dreams a night. It's a miracle. Thank the flying spaghetti monster!

Sing it, brother!

Originally Posted by Mark75

Sing it, brother!

/me sings the FSM theme song

std::

My bones proclaim a story of incompetent design,
By back still hurts, my sinus clogs, my teeth just won't align...

Some religions place greater stress on dreams than other religions, and of course more than having no religion. That would only affect conditioned recall, one would think. I doubt it'd affect intentional recall.

I believe in the values of Christianity, and some Buddhism as well. I have my own beliefs about God (I doubt "he" has a gender) and the afterlife. I don't relate religion to dreaming, unless you consider conscious breathing (Buddhist) strongly religious. With my mix-n-match religion, I recall three REM periods of dreams per night (each REM period may have multiple dream episodes). I believe the rate of recall is totally independent from religion.

If recall and religion were and equation, it'd look like this:

recall=motivation(variable) X sleep physiology(coefficient) + religious/cultural importance of dreaming (constant).

Take the derivative, and religion/culture drops out, so it wouldn't affect the rate of change.

Just to clear up some things:

1. I really did never mean to anger any religious or non religious group

2. I wasn't making a statement that I thought to be true, I just saw that two Atheists recalled dreams in one way and I recalled them in another way. I just wanted to find out if other Atheists were like them or if it was, because of the way they were raised/thought/live.

3. I don't think for an instant that Christians are better than Atheists in any way. My girlfriend is an Atheist - if I thought that Christians were better and that Atheists are inferior then I probably wouldn't date her.

4. Atheists have a lot to offer, I like the points of view that my girlfriend has and she has really opened me up to ideas about life that I never considered before. I was hoping that some of the Atheists on this thread would share their thoughts on the matter.

5. Religion is very influential to certain people and effect the way that they act in life (Radical Muslims vs. Tibetan Buddhists for instance) they both share extremely different views on life and I am sure that these views translate into their dreams.

6. A hypnotist was on the radio and said that through hypnosis a women can deliver a baby with absolutely no pain. The only reason women have pain during childbirth is because they are repeatedly told throughout life that it is the most painful experience in life. So, because of fear, she tenses up all of her muscles during labor. This example was used to show how critical certain suggestions are in life; how what you are told as a child can effect you for the rest of your life. I saw a correlation between my girlfriend and her brother and wondered if the poor recall was due to their beliefs or due to another factor.

7. Thanks for all of your input, I know now that the Atheist on this forum do not have trouble with memory recall so it must be another factor.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

It has been researched that the average Agnostic has higher SAT scores than the average Christian .

Guys, there has been research. Research!

It has been researched that the moon landing was faked. So was the Holocaust.

I'm an atheist, and I have, and I say this without bragging, tremendous dream recall.

Hapkido man, I am an Agnost. I do not nececairily believe in God, but I have experienced what I can only call the divine. So although I am not a Religious person I do experience "religious" feelings. You're idea that a Christian, uppon seeing a light at the end of a tunnel, might think "Did I just Die?" where the Atheist would think "Did someone leave a light on?" is a bit biased.

As if an Atheist would miss that passionate connection with the Source of Creation to be able to give things deep symbolical meaning. As if they would be too shallowminded almost. If you think that is so, then you are in alot of cases wrong. There are ALOT of religious people that don't have that connection established and just do what they have been taught by Church and Family, and alot of non-Religious people that have that Connection very well established.
If You, a Christian, and Me, an Agnost, can see deep symbolic reasons and meanings in Dreams and waking life experiences, then why can't an Atheist?

I am not religious yet, somehow, I have my own religion, Individual religion. I dare to swear you I very well know the meaning of the word Holy. I see Dreams as being divine miraculous visions of other worlds. I do not need Christ or God to reason it in such a way. "God" is just another Methaphor for The divine nature of all of Reality. All that which is beyond us in a way unrelated to time or space.

Due to the over wellming response from Atheists, it seems that there is no connection between belief and dream recall.

However, my friend (Christian) and my girlfriend (atheist) don't remember dreams; however, they are both always so stressed and seem to be stressed even when there is nothing to be stressed about.

So the new question is: does stress effect dream recall?

As a side note, they both grind their teeth so they are more stressed than the average student.

Also, thanks for all of the replies. I never meant for the discussion to turn into a discussion on evidence for God. I just wanted Atheists to let me know if I was right about my hypothesis (which I'm not). I didn't want to make an assumption, so that's why I asked.

Originally Posted by hapkidoman

Due to the over wellming response from Atheists, it seems that there is no connection between belief and dream recall.

However, my friend (Christian) and my girlfriend (atheist) don't remember dreams; however, they are both always so stressed and seem to be stressed even when there is nothing to be stressed about.

So the new question is: does stress effect dream recall?

As a side note, they both grind their teeth so they are more stressed than the average student.

Also, thanks for all of the replies. I never meant for the discussion to turn into a discussion on evidence for God. I just wanted Atheists to let me know if I was right about my hypothesis (which I'm not). I didn't want to make an assumption, so that's why I asked.

I don't get how religious differences was the first thing that came to your mind though.

Anyway, yes stress affects dream recall.

I'm an atheist and I can remember around 3 dreams a night.
My awkward, ridiculous sleeping schedule seems to help fair bit.
Are the two atheists you mention overly interested in dreams?... Because I find people interested in LDs etc. seem to have better dream recall in general.

Originally Posted by KxWaal

I'm an atheist and I can remember around 3 dreams a night.
My awkward, ridiculous sleeping schedule seems to help fair bit.
Are the two atheists you mention overly interested in dreams?... Because I find people interested in LDs etc. seem to have better dream recall in general.

Actually you brought up yet another good point. They are not interested in anyway with dreams because they usually have nightmares so after I asked them about it they said that they learned not to dream (or rather learned to forget about the dreams, unfortunately for them they probably taught themselves not to remember the good dreams, because they still can remember the nightmares - about 1 or 2 per month).

Also, as soon as I became interested in LD's my dream recall went from one or two per night to my new record last night of 5 dreams. So your point is very valid.

Thanks

Getting off topic now! And LuxAeterna I meant everyone is equal in dignity And hapkidoman, I tend to think skeptically about AP - It is in the mind of the person but I am open to phasing - You go into a different conscious level. And Cloud! The only reason (from the sounds of it) tha hapkidoman is asking this is because most people around him are Christian and he doesn't want a reaction like yours from his girlfriend/(other friends?).

I am an atheist and IMO it is the interpretation of the dream that differs.
I see dreams and lucidity as being from my mind and experiences, as all I beilieve in is my self.
Non-athiests would, I assume, often relate or explain their dreams/lucidity as divine intervention or messages from God etc.
Ultimately the dream/lucidity process is the same, just the reasoning and rationalisation is different.
I open my mind to anything happenening in my dreams and am non-restricted as much as say a Christian.
They may see heaven or picture being there, as I may see a beautiful vast beach lined with bikini girls (my heaven).
To be honest, my mind is open to anything happenening, and I mean anything, where non-athiests may be restricted to their finite belief srtructure.
Only my opinion.

little bump.

Altair what did you mean by "phasing" ? Just wondering ... cuz i've never heard of it before.

No offense at all (I'm wonderfully surprised at how open everybody is here!)

I can't say what the real answer is (who can?), but I think your ability to recall dreams is unrelated to your religion (though you might perceive those same dreams differently, as mentioned before). It might just vary by person, and who has had more time to practice, or who is just more naturally gifted at it.

I don't label myself with any religion (and I dislike the term Atheist, as I feel it still brands me with a set of weighty beliefs I don't want to bear), and I have absolutely terrible (read: no) dream recall ability. My friend, a red fox (how uncanny is that?) has much better luck than I do, but he has never practiced and doesn't record his dreams. So I think it's a very personal thing.

To everybody fighting: please calm down ^_^ It is so easy to forget that, different as we seem, we are all still alive, and that is something to be grateful for. I think some rituals many religions (including Christianity) practice are unnecessary and morally disturbing (like how the Bible practically advocates animal cruelty on the basis that "they" are less important in God's eyes than "us"), but I'm not going to yell at them about it. Try to see the merit in what they are saying (like how Jesus preached of love) instead of focusing on the bad.

I hope this helped...?

~Tamias