Thread: The Coma Potion

I'm curious to see how people think about this. The idea is: if someone offered you a potion that would permanently put you into a coma, where you would continue dreaming (lucid) for the rest of your life, would you take it? In the dream you'd be able to do anything you can imagine. What kind of conditions would you consider before choosing?

Note: Your body would be preserved somehow, so that's not an issue.

I would be concerned for the mental welfare of anybody who opted for such a thing.

Certainly not, I have a (normal) life to live.

I can't imagine living without interaction with other people, other than the obvious reasons it's very important for personal growth too.

You could still interact with people, or at least your mind's image and perception of them.

And that's a trivial distinction for you?

No, because you'd always know that it's not real. But that's why I also asked what conditions would influence your decision. For example, if your memory was wiped when you took the potion, then you'd live on in a lucid dream, not knowing it isn't real. You'd be able to do anything you wanted, but you wouldn't understand why.

I might be down with some time limit. Go into a lucid coma for a year maybe? A month? It would be an interesting experiment.

yeah, doing something like that could be extremely mentally dangerous, if, say, you lived out an entire life and woke up to find that it's all not real (which I think has happened to some people)

Perhaps if one were seriously considering suicide, an idea like this might be nice, perhaps for a month, year, whatever, just to give them perspective on how there's too much beauty to quit.

Interesting idea.

Now that I think about it, this same kind of thing happens in The Matrix. Cypher(sp?) agrees to help the machines in exchange for living in the matrix, permanently, with benefits.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Laura

it certainly not something I would want to do. in fact I have felt this state, and I for one dont like it I cant move, it feels like something is preventing me to move, a comatose state is not fun.

You mean you wouldn't because of how it would feel to your body? But you'd be dreaming and unable to feel your real body any longer.

I think some may fear that you, Vampyre, are severely depressed and longing for such a state.

I've not been keeping up with the forum as much as I would like, but I don't think you're asking because you want to escape depression but because you're simply creative and curious.

Yeah, I thought of the Matrix and Vanilla Sky when I posted what I did (and a few other movies lol).
I would be afraid to do something too long term because what if something went wrong and I became trapped in a nightmare?

As for depression... yeah, I've been there too, Laura and Trev. I teeter on that brink to this day. Sometimes it's easier just to sleep and let the world and your problems slip over you as a state of oblivion instead of burying you alive.

But what if you weren't depressed? If life was absolutely perfect, would you like such a potion? Even if only for a day, a week, a month?

It's actually a concept I thought of when thinking of the mentality of a villain in a story I intend to write.

My view is about the same as everyone else above. I would go for it if it wasn't permanent, but otherwise...not likely.

Just think of all the things you would love to do if you were conscious in a lucid state somehow. All the things that we love to do in lucid dreams open. It'd be really cool. Then I thought of a way to make that possible: a coma potion. It's a "no-pain; no-gain" scenario though. You'd have to sacrifice reality to have it.

I also concluded that it becomes totally different if the potion erases your memory, or some other means to make you think that it's real. Why is that different? Because how can you guarantee you haven't already made that decision and are living in a dream right now? :p

It's thinking about this that makes me curious about how other people think about it.

I think your mind would degenerate and you would eventually become a madman living inside your own head.

Originally Posted by Vampyre

You mean you wouldn't because of how it would feel to your body? But you'd be dreaming and unable to feel your real body any longer.

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Yes, I hear what you are saying, but the sensation of it, when its happening, is not a good sensation, and I am a aware that there is something wrong.
and I try to fight the state, I am fully aware that I am fighting it, and have to tell myself that its o.k. its a lucid dream, but I wake up feeling weird, there was one time, when I was lying down, in the afternoon for a nap. I started to feel it come on. I sometimes feel like there is such a heavy weight on me, that I can not move, I try but I cant. In this state once, I remember trying to push my self off my couch, where I thought I was, I was convinced I was, and I was doing this in order to wake up from it, and in this state I remember thinking, well, if I fall off my couch it will be ok. because the drop to the floor was not far, and I knew I would not get that hurt, or at least I thought this, but when I finally awoke, I was not on my couch like I thought I was in my bedroom, on my bed, which is very high off the ground, and falling off of that would have certainly caused me some injury. strange. I have also expereinced lucid dreaming, with sound I hear sounds as well.T this has happened to me for a long time now, and find it so strange that people actually want to do this, I really do...I have been places in my lucid dreams, that are scary, and I wake up feeling so strange. The lucid dreams with sound are something else. there was one where two steam engines on tracks were coming from opposite directions, I remember clearly although it was some time ago, but this one sticks out, because these two steam engines were going toward each other and me watching right there, I knew they wouldl crash, but it was the sound of them, deafening to my ears thats how loud it was. horrible stuff.................but I can go on and on, because I have had many, and been in tunnels dark ones, with a distances that seem far far far away, but I see a light at the end of these tunnels, a faded very faded light, the way the sun would look perhaps if there were layers and layers of couds covering the sun, almost like a faint faint light, but I want to go there, but its far away, so far, but I can see it...there are always things at the end of these tunnels, once I saw as I tried to get closer, and closer to make out the things I think Im seeing, and one time as I got close enough all I could see was one eye, just staring back at me,one eye. I got frightened. but the best of any of these is flyingl.................

Funny how not a single person has mentioned the heartache of loved ones around them if they were to go into a coma for a permanent or even extended period of time.

Go connect with some humans, DVers.

what do you mean could you please help me understand what do you mean conect with humans. is this what you would like to do?

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Funny how not a single person has mentioned the heartache of loved ones around them if they were to go into a coma for a permanent or even extended period of time.

Go connect with some humans, DVers.

Is that what you would tell people that would go on a trip to mars or for that matter, spend a few months in a nuclear submarine? It would be a good experiment to do for an extended period of time. I don't see the heartache involved if they knew what was going to happen and when it was going to be over. They might miss you but thats something that people deal with. Given the fact that this is hypothetical to begin with, I think you're a little off base telling us to connect with people and assuming that we aren't already.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Funny how not a single person has mentioned the heartache of loved ones around them if they were to go into a coma for a permanent or even extended period of time.

Go connect with some humans, DVers.

Exactly, I'm amazed nobody is even considering it.

That's why I said you'd have to have questionable mental health.

I think there needs to be a "Random Hypotheticals" section.

If you lived out an entire life inside your dream for even a day, then you would probably forget what real life is like.