What is with the lack of interest?

[vinchinator]

Sorry if this topic is a little bit side tracked - but what the hell is with people NOT being interested in lucid dreaming? For instance when I mention this to even my closest friends their interest level seems mundane and they don't really want to talk about it. I am not talking about trying to tell them my dream experiences, but more so just trying to spark their interest in partaking in lucid dreaming themselves. There are a few reasons that I could think of: 1.) They don't believe it; never experienced it and just flat out think that it is a myth. 2.) They don't want to put in the effort - but let's be honest, when we first heard of lucid dreaming we didn't know that it took hard work and dedication (for the majority) to obtain lucidity. It takes reading all of the tutorials on obtaining lucidity to realize that it is some work. 3.) They aren't creative, lack an imagination. 4.) They don't believe that they even dream (non-lucidly) in the first place. Have you ever met someone who just constantly claims that they "do not dream", but we all know on this forum that it is just terrible recall.. 5.) They are overly satisfied with their waking life. Lucid dreaming, in my opinion, seems to be more of interest to those who want to do things that they are not able to in the waking life. If someone is overly happy with their waking life, they may lose interest. I guess my point is that I cannot understand why people want to immediately put off the idea of not waisting their night with unaware sleep. We live such short lives in this world and we go to bed for 6-8 hours a night, why not at least have an interest in spending it aware? Not even that but you can do ANYTHING that you want in a lucid dream... I understand for people who have put in effort and not received any results after a long while - this can take a toll on your waking life. I am just talking about those people who have not heard of it, and immediately dismiss the idea as "stupid". Thoughts?

[DreiHundert]

Hmm... As far as interest goes - I have taken a passionate interest in lucid dreaming... The reasons to be interested in it are so major that everyone should be interested in it, right? Not nessecarily.. Even though so much can be gained from dreaming, which happens during the 8+ hours we waste away at sleeping every night, even though you can potentially obtain god-powers with persistence... It's still a matter of whether or not someone's interested in it. Another example is politics. I would argue that politics is extremely important because the future of society depends on what happens in our government, and that everyone should be involved in it because it's so important. But for the most part, people just don't care. They'd rather sit around and watch football for some reason(I will never understand how football is popular). It's just my luck that most of the things I'm interested in (Star Trek, Politics, Dreaming, Space, Science, Philosophy, yaddayadda), the general population is not interested in remotely. This is partly because the general population is simple-minded. People want to just live their lives, watch TV, watch sports, and be left alone. Not many people are open-minded about new subjects... Not many people look at the big picture, or focus on what's important for the advancement of the human race. They just don't want to be intellectual because it takes too much effort. So let them be interested in what they are interested in. Your intellectual friends may be more inclined to take an interest than your average friends. I'm not saying that people that aren't interested in Lucid Dreaming are stupid, mind you. Take my uncle and my father for instance... My uncle is a theoretical physicist, and my father is a computer programmer. They are intellectual, but they are interested in mathematics and science, and I'm more interested in language and history. They are interested in subjects that are more concrete(Numbers, trying to find out the FACTS), where I'm interested in things that are always changing (Languages evolve, history is always in the making). To them, Dreams may be uninteresting because they are immeasurable. You can't clearly define a dream... So it may lose interest for them. Also, as far as creativity goes... I'm not sure if someone can simply be "Not creative". But then again I've never seen the world through someone else's eyes. I think maybe people underestimate their own creativity. On the other hand, I have met some genuinely boring people. For example, a girl I met in high school. She sat around texting, never said anything worth listening to(if she spoke at all). All she did was fix her hair and check her mirror every five seconds. Very lame. I checked her facebook page once, and it was just an endless line of her boyfriend commenting about how wonderful she was, and her commenting about how wonderful he was. Not one funny picture shared, not one interesting observation shared... There was nothing interesting at all on the page. I once observed that she wore all that make-up because she was translucent(eg. nothing behind the skin)... But who knows? Maybe she was just genuinely boring, or maybe she just THOUGHT she was uncreative, and therefore chose not to share her creative thought? We can't force anyone to take an interest in lucid dreaming, and we shouldn't. Let those who wish to come, come..

[Highlander]

I have told my GF and some of my family, etc. but not with much luck. I think some of the barriers are to do with the concept of lucid dreaming, or dreaming in general. For example one of the main problems being the recall of dreams. (No.4 in the OP list) The main answer that I'm given are usually: "I hardly ever remember my dreams." Or "I simply don't dream." I think people have to experience it first hand, as well as remember it. People do live busy lives. Most of them totally seperate their waking life from the sleeping life. The main emphasis being placed in the waking lives. The main idea of sleep for them is to rest (as it is for all of us), rather than create, or solve problems. As the OP says it does take practice, effort and committment in the long run.

[Arch]

Tried to get my friends/mum/brother to try it out, all were very reluctant to believe it, except one friend, but he is really lazy. Just be glad you were born with an open mind and it's a gift that you can lucid dream because of it I wouldn't bother getting worked up about it with people, if anything just brag about your experiences and they will want in!

[Ozzi99]

I'd say 5 and 2 are the biggest causes from what I've seen. As for number 2 i think some people have to put ALOT of effort in just to get a tiny little lucid dream whereas others it comes very naturally and this can be very frustrating and discouraging.

[vinchinator]

Another example is politics. I would argue that politics is extremely important because the future of society depends on what happens in our government, and that everyone should be involved in it because it's so important. But for the most part, people just don't care. They'd rather sit around and watch football for some reason(I will never understand how football is popular). It's just my luck that most of the things I'm interested in (Star Trek, Politics, Dreaming, Space, Science, Philosophy, yaddayadda), the general population is not interested in remotely. This is partly because the general population is simple-minded. People want to just live their lives, watch TV, watch sports, and be left alone. Not many people are open-minded about new subjects... Not many people look at the big picture, or focus on what's important for the advancement of the human race. They just don't want to be intellectual because it takes too much effort. That is so true. You know I will never understand the importance of football either. People get so intensely involved with it - I mean come on, even if we do win the superbowl, it's nothing but a good story to tell. I like watching my home teams (steelers, pens) but that's for a reason to go out with my friends. So let them be interested in what they are interested in. Your intellectual friends may be more inclined to take an interest than your average friends. I'm not saying that people that aren't interested in Lucid Dreaming are stupid, mind you. Take my uncle and my father for instance... My uncle is a theoretical physicist, and my father is a computer programmer. They are intellectual, but they are interested in mathematics and science, and I'm more interested in language and history. They are interested in subjects that are more concrete(Numbers, trying to find out the FACTS), where I'm interested in things that are always changing (Languages evolve, history is always in the making). To them, Dreams may be uninteresting because they are immeasurable. You can't clearly define a dream... So it may lose interest for them. Once again I agree completely. Some people really like measurable tasks, like numbers and physics. It could be hard for them to go into some things if theres a chance they will come out with no, or unexpected, results. Also, as far as creativity goes... I'm not sure if someone can simply be "Not creative". But then again I've never seen the world through someone else's eyes. I think maybe people underestimate their own creativity. On the other hand, I have met some genuinely boring people. For example, a girl I met in high school. She sat around texting, never said anything worth listening to(if she spoke at all). All she did was fix her hair and check her mirror every five seconds. Very lame. I checked her facebook page once, and it was just an endless line of her boyfriend commenting about how wonderful she was, and her commenting about how wonderful he was. Not one funny picture shared, not one interesting observation shared... There was nothing interesting at all on the page. I once observed that she wore all that make-up because she was translucent(eg. nothing behind the skin)... But who knows? Maybe she was just genuinely boring, or maybe she just THOUGHT she was uncreative, and therefore chose not to share her creative thought? I always wondered as well if people just chose to not be creative - almost like a social stigma kind of thing. I remember reading a study in my one psych class that talked about creativity and how it is ultimately required even to solve boring taks such as math problems. Our creativity is at its highest during specific tasks and at night. I can see what you mean where someone who is actually creative may decided not to be because they may lack self esteem and think that their "art project sucks". I have told my GF and some of my family, etc. but not with much luck. I think some of the barriers are to do with the concept of lucid dreaming, or dreaming in general. For example one of the main problems being the recall of dreams. (No.4 in the OP list) The main answer that I'm given are usually: "I hardly ever remember my dreams." Or "I simply don't dream." I think people have to experience it first hand, as well as remember it. People do live busy lives. Most of them totally seperate their waking life from the sleeping life. The main emphasis being placed in the waking lives. The main idea of sleep for them is to rest (as it is for all of us), rather than create, or solve problems. As the OP says it does take practice, effort and committment in the long run. Yeah if you think about it, people that only sleep to rest, and believe that they only dream once a month or whatever, then of course they aren't going to be interested. I think learning dream recall would help them but then again it's the interest that has to be there. Tried to get my friends/mum/brother to try it out, all were very reluctant to believe it, except one friend, but he is really lazy. Just be glad you were born with an open mind and it's a gift that you can lucid dream because of it I wouldn't bother getting worked up about it with people, if anything just brag about your experiences and they will want in! Haha that I will do! The reason I actually started this post was because my one friend who I tried to get to try lucid dreaming last year accidentally had one two nights ago; he called me and started asking me on how to do it every night because he finally saw how cool it was!

[vinchinator]

I don't mean to change the subject of the post; but are any of you players of skyrim? I ask this because I think that I see a trend with skyrim players and being able to tell how open minded they are by how they play. For example, I, like many of you are, am very open minded. I want to explore things that are obscure and interesting in nature. Hence when I play Skyrim, I do exactly that. I don't worry about my quest book building up, or that my character is not leveling up in a specific manner that I decided way before I even started playing. Instead, I walk around and immerse in the unique landscapes and cool caves - maybe climb a mountain just to see what is on the top and look down to see how detailed the map looks. Of course I do quests too - but this is mainly why I play skyrim. On the other hand, what I consider the not-so-open-minded people tend to be playing the game for stats and creating the best character possible at each moment in the game, constantly worrying about completely each quest as they get them, and not really taking time to enjoy the scenery or change up the look inside their home. Their entire game is nothing but numbers. My roomate hates skyrim for this reason - because he loves RPG's but only ones that are not so "open" because he really finds no enjoyment in the vast scenery and ability to go anywhere or do anything. He complains that it is not straight forward and he doesn't know what to do or care to explore and find out. Hence he is someone who I brought lucid dreaming up to and had no interest in it. I think this is what we mean when we mention "creativity". We may be confusing the term with "imagination" or having an open mind.

[Midori]

I think part of it is living in a culture where dreams are just not considered to be even slightly important.

[DreiHundert]

I don't mean to change the subject of the post; but are any of you players of skyrim? I ask this because I think that I see a trend with skyrim players and being able to tell how open minded they are by how they play. For example, I, like many of you are, am very open minded. I want to explore things that are obscure and interesting in nature. Hence when I play Skyrim, I do exactly that. I don't worry about my quest book building up, or that my character is not leveling up in a specific manner that I decided way before I even started playing. Instead, I walk around and immerse in the unique landscapes and cool caves - maybe climb a mountain just to see what is on the top and look down to see how detailed the map looks. Of course I do quests too - but this is mainly why I play skyrim. On the other hand, what I consider the not-so-open-minded people tend to be playing the game for stats and creating the best character possible at each moment in the game, constantly worrying about completely each quest as they get them, and not really taking time to enjoy the scenery or change up the look inside their home. Their entire game is nothing but numbers. My roomate hates skyrim for this reason - because he loves RPG's but only ones that are not so "open" because he really finds no enjoyment in the vast scenery and ability to go anywhere or do anything. He complains that it is not straight forward and he doesn't know what to do or care to explore and find out. Hence he is someone who I brought lucid dreaming up to and had no interest in it. I think this is what we mean when we mention "creativity". We may be confusing the term with "imagination" or having an open mind. You know, I play Skyrim myself, and I much appreciate the incredible landscapes and adventure. Honestly, I think it's one of the best video games that I've ever played. In terms of story line, production, graphics, and gameplay. It's incredible... And a wonderful type of game for lucid dreamers, especially. I've also played Oblivion, and was blown away by how amazing the graphics, scenery, and storyline was. The only thing that gets me steamed about Skyrim is inventory space! >.< I find myself thoroughly examining every room for books, potions, gold, and jewewlry. For some reason I love to collect the books, and it kills me when I need to drop some for space... >.<... I still pick up all gems, but I've broke the habit of picking up all amulets, tiaras, and rings.. :p. One of my favorite things to do in skyrim/oblivion, is to look up at the sky(so beautiful!), and cast the "Become Ethereal" shout, as I jump off of a mountain! . The Elder Scrolls is like... A dream world, in that it's so much like reality, but so different too. I digress... Vinchinator - thanks for your reply! I think I sort of agree that all people MUST have some level of creativity. That the answer must lie in their lack of self esteem about their creativity. Which brings me to a new idea... MAYBE, lucid dreaming is the right thing for those people? I mean, if someone's having issues coming to grips with their creativity... Then the first place they should go is their dreams!

[vinchinator]

You know, I play Skyrim myself, and I much appreciate the incredible landscapes and adventure. Honestly, I think it's one of the best video games that I've ever played. In terms of story line, production, graphics, and gameplay. It's incredible... And a wonderful type of game for lucid dreamers, especially. I've also played Oblivion, and was blown away by how amazing the graphics, scenery, and storyline was. The only thing that gets me steamed about Skyrim is inventory space! >.< I find myself thoroughly examining every room for books, potions, gold, and jewewlry. For some reason I love to collect the books, and it kills me when I need to drop some for space... >.<... I still pick up all gems, but I've broke the habit of picking up all amulets, tiaras, and rings.. :p. One of my favorite things to do in skyrim/oblivion, is to look up at the sky(so beautiful!), and cast the "Become Ethereal" shout, as I jump off of a mountain! . The Elder Scrolls is like... A dream world, in that it's so much like reality, but so different too. I digress... Vinchinator - thanks for your reply! I think I sort of agree that all people MUST have some level of creativity. That the answer must lie in their lack of self esteem about their creativity. Which brings me to a new idea... MAYBE, lucid dreaming is the right thing for those people? I mean, if someone's having issues coming to grips with their creativity... Then the first place they should go is their dreams! Yes skyrim/oblivion essentially are dream worlds! It's like a whole another life - very much like what the goal of lucid dreaming is. You have so much control in them and you don't have to worry about waking up by overexcitement lol When I play skyrim I have very similar quirky habits haha I collect all of the books and put them on my bookshelves in my house because when I am done beating all of the quests I want to be able to actually read all/most of them and get a deeper understanding of the environment and races, etc. This will get me pumped up enough to hopefully play it through again with a different character. Oblivion was definitely a shocking game because it was the first experience I had ever had in a series like this. Both of them however are hard to play and also keep up with a social life - it's so easy to just get immersed and forget about reality...Anyone that enjoys Skyrim should be fit for lucid dreaming. I agree on your statement about lucid dreaming being able to help those who are self conscious about their creativity...I think there is just too low of an awareness that it really exists. Anyone who watched the movie Inception, and liked it, is obviously going to have an interest in lucid dreaming - but how many people really know it exists? I had no idea that it existed after watching Inception. I was on a blog reading an article called "50 ways to improve your life" and one of the things was lucid dreaming. Then I googled it. Now here I am. Psych classes should include a section on lucid dreaming, or at least say that it exists in my opinion.

[DeadDollKitty]

Short and simple, most people are just closed minded and lazy.

[Rothgar]

I think the problem is not that they dont believe what we say, but having never experienced it they assume it is like dreaming. Or, in my families case they also say.. Its just a dream so why waste time on that when you can just do something 'real'? To my way of thinking it IS real... that is the crux I think. You could also say a trip to Disney World isnt real life... Its just a vacation in a make believe world so why bother. Or watching simething on tv isnt real even if a news broadcast... It is just electromagnetic waves.

[Taffy]

Short and simple, most people are just closed minded and lazy. Pretty much sums it up.

[Barry]

I told my brother who has just become a doctor and he didn't believe me at first, he did however say it would be cool if you could. I had to show him on wikipedia that it is scientifically proven.

[MMM]

This is the first post I read & the first web site of this kind I've ever visited. I've been lucid dreaming around 60% of my life now, started at eight. I've joined this web site hoping to resolve concerns I'm having with long term effects that have begun to manifest over time. I think some minds simply aren't ready for this yet, the following is my own experience thus far. In the beginning I used the ability to destroy nightmares. Then I learned over time that I could control the dream & eliminated the concept of nightmares completely. Things were calm for awhile, but things came back with force eventually. In response, I grew myself stronger to match these threats, in a sort of endless arms race. In the beginning, if I was dealt a fatal blow, I would wake up, but this no longer happens. Knowing you can't die is a powerful & intoxicating sense. As I grew older, I grew cocky, & became a sort of demented god. I did not grow up until directly confronted in my dream by an individual asking why I was acting this way. It asked me an important question I'll never forget, "Just because you gave us life, do you think we don't exist?" I never answered, I simply changed my ways in response. I honestly still don't have an answer to that question. I simply try to act more responsible with my actions these days, whether in this reality or the other. I've come to this website now because I'm concerned with recent observations & are wondering if anyone else out there has a similar story of their own. First time dilation is becoming rather significant. If it continues at this rate, it won't be long until I'm spending more time dreaming then awake, regardless of how many hours are spent actually asleep. As a result memories between ones while awake & ones while asleep are becoming distorted, especially if something didn't occur to clearly set them apart. The further back I try to remember, the more unsure I am of whether an event was part of a dream or not. I'm a mechanical & electrical engineer by education, often thinking more about long term concepts then short term. So, when I think about my lucid dreaming long term, I warn those who think that this is without consequences.

[DreamInception]

Unfortunately not everyone is interested in Lucid Dreaming... that means that you just have to look somewhere else and connect with people with the same interest. Thank god for the internet, and for sites such as this one. So don't get frustrated with others lack of interest... it simply means that now you can take that wonderful world that you'd like to share, and share it with like mind. All you have to do is search and you shall find.

[mikeac]

I have a friend that lucid dreams without trying at least twice a month, but he was too lazy ever to actively pursue it. I know he is comfortable of the idea, but he seems pretty content with his real life to pursue it as a hobby.