Learning Something You Know Nothing About in a Dream?

[Chympara]

Is it possible to, say... Have a lucid dream, then wake up, and be like, "I know kung-fu." It would be really cool to be able to learn things in dreams like that. But, since dreams are your own mind, and if you know nothing about what you wish to learn, will the "teachers" in your dreams just teach you random crap because they don't know aswell?

[snowman]

Haha, I was wondering the same thing... I bet you could do kung fu (or something that looks cool) in a dream but I doubt that you would know after you wake up.. Anybody have the answer?

[Cymru]

I would doubt it... If this is true, why wouldn't theoretical physicists or something use it to their advantage to proove things? I mean, maybe by chance you could teach yourself in lucid dreams, but not specifically any style in particular.

[Scruffy]

The answer to that is both yes and no. No, you cannot learn things you don't already know in a dream. Yes, you can improve your understanding or capability in things you do know. For example, lets say you're a beginning student in kung-fu. You have studied, and know, a number of techniques and moves, but you have very little experience using them, and don't use them well. In a lucid dream, you can practice the moves, and you will improve. A few studies have been done that support this, and at leat on is referenced in "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Stephen LaBerge. Now, whether this practice will be the same as in real life, or cause more or less improvement, I don't know. Sure would be cool if we improved faster in lucid dreams, wouldn't it? 8)

[Lamia]

Yes it would.....I would practice Japanese and bass guitar...

[Seeker]

There are two schools of thought on this. Carl Jung taught about the collective unconcious that all humanity shares. If you believe he teachings, then, yes, it should be possible to learn new things in a dream. Most likely, dreaming helps you establish connections between things and fully unserstand things that have been in you all along, just trying to reach your concious mind. It can be a great tool for self improvement.

[Alric]

I think you can learn things to a point. Even if you never done kung-fu, I bet you have seen someone else do it before so your dream won't be totally making it up. It would be based one what you have seen. Even learning something you already know would be kind of hard. You would need to become lucid often or else you might go 3 months and only try it twice. Not going to learn anything from that.

[nightowl]

when doing this though you have to be real careful. When learning how to do things or just piece of knowledge, you're mind could be feeding you false information.

[Neo Neo]

so lets say for lucid dreaming ability arguments that you are a lucid dreaming expert. so in my opinion i would say yes you can learn stuff you dont know about, but doing something like kung fu would make me think you would have to be in shape to actually do it in real life, if you tried to learn some in your dream. i think that it depends on your physical body as to what you can and cannot do in the case of learning things in dreams because we all have physical limitations, and in dreams we dont obviously.

[Lucky27]

I got this from lucidity.com's FAQ Page. I think Stephen LaBerge wrote this, if i'm not mistaken. 2.1.3 Rehearsal Lucid dreaming is an extraordinarily vivid form of mental imagery, so realistic that the trick is to realize it is a mental construct. It is no surprise, therefore, that many people use lucid dreaming to rehearse for success in waking life. Examples of such applications include public speaking, difficult confrontations, artistic performance and athletic prowess. Because the activity of the brain during a dreamed activity is the same as during the real event, neuronal patterns of activation required for a skill (like a ski jump or pirouette) can be established in the dream state in preparation for performance in the waking world. See EWLD for examples. [/b]

[Fraggin]

you guys are leaving out a very important item. Genetic Memory.

[dreamtamer007]

Originally posted by Lucky27 I got this from lucidity.com's FAQ Page. I think Stephen LaBerge wrote this, if i'm not mistaken. 2.1.3 Rehearsal Lucid dreaming is an extraordinarily vivid form of mental imagery, so realistic that the trick is to realize it is a mental construct. It is no surprise, therefore, that many people use lucid dreaming to rehearse for success in waking life. Examples of such applications include public speaking, difficult confrontations, artistic performance and athletic prowess. Because the activity of the brain during a dreamed activity is the same as during the real event, neuronal patterns of activation required for a skill (like a ski jump or pirouette) can be established in the dream state in preparation for performance in the waking world. See EWLD for examples. [/b] Can't swear that it’s word for word but it says the same thing in LaBerge's books. . . .

[Neo Neo]

what about genetic memory? what is it?

[SantaDreamsToo]

Originally posted by dreamtamer007 Can't swear that it’s word for word but it says the same thing in LaBerge's books. . . . i believe he said that... anyway whats genetic memory? ----- i believe that yes, you could practice your technique in a dream but no you couldnt actually wake up from one really long ld and be perfect, the reason for that is that your muscles have to be really toned for any type of techniques to work right, where in a dream your body is always perfectly tooned and in real life in some cases its hard to walk

[Distant Clone]

I am convinced it is possible. I fell asleep on 7/6/05 and had a dream I was watching the news, and it showed an act of terrorism on London, specifically the red double decker bus already ripped apart. Since England is at least three hours ahead, it may have already happened before my dream, meaning this was not necessarily precognitive. But this personal experience does back up Jung's theory of a collective unconcious at the very least.

[Fraggin]

Here are a few links to get you fine carbon based intellects started on learning about the power of genetic memory.... http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/sav...etic_memory.cfm http://www.questinstitute.co.uk/dynamic/re...rces/memory.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_memory

[AirRick101]

if you have access to infinite more possibilities in a dream, and be conscious during it, even in familiar settings, how could you not learn something new? I believe it's possible to wake up with that kung fu feeling...or something like it. Well, if you've had flying dreams, you wake up, swearing you know how to fly, right? At least for a while, and then blame the inability to fly on gravity...but kung fu, that's here to stay.

[Fraggin]

Originally posted by AirRick101 if you have access to infinite more possibilities in a dream, and be conscious during it, even in familiar settings, how could you not learn something new? *I believe it's possible to wake up with that kung fu feeling...or something like it. *Well, if you've had flying dreams, you wake up, swearing you know how to fly, right? *At least for a while, and then blame the inability to fly on gravity...but kung fu, that's here to stay. All things we have in this world as means of development and invention all come from the asrtal plane as it is. That is why there are dinosaurs and automobiles in the same realm. It is a timeless dimension. What humans manifest with their imagination, becomes part of the astral plane. Be careful of your thoughts.

[Matchbook]

When some skill like skiing, for instance, is learned, then those physical motions required to ski are stored in the subconscious. If we try to learn skiing in an LD we can still have these skills stored in our subconscious, but there is a problem with that. In a dream we are not constrained to living physics. If you are trying to ski in a dream you could probably get up on the skis almost instantly and go around jumping and never landing on your head. But that doesn't mean you could do the same thing in real life. The only thing you may be doing is knocking down some of the mental barriers that may occur in real life while learning the skill, and you may end up more confident while learning it. So my belief is that you cannot learn physical skills in a dream. But you can learn certain mindstates. You could instruct your subconscious to help you exude more confidence in everyday life through a process of LD meditation perhaps. Or you could maybe tell yourself that you never want to touch another cigarrette again and that every time you see a cigarrette you will be turned off. Learning these skills is feasible. There may be some exceptions to physical skills that you could learn in an LD, possibly ones that don't heavily involve physics.

[Fraggin]

Perhaps you used a poor example. Skiing is not an easily accomplishable feat. I used to pole vault when I was in track, and when you went higher and higher, the feeling and process of getting over the bar changed. I got stuck on a pleateau of 11ft, and could not get the 'feeling' of getting up and over. The mechanincs of pole vaulting are very complex and it all happens in mere seconds, so it is more of a feeling than a technique. In my dream, I made a jump of 18ft and realized how much the whole process slows down the higher you go. When I went to practice the next day, I let the pole bend for a half second longer before I initiated the recoil. This worked. So, I must say that yes, dreams will and can teach your body physical feats and accomplishments because all bodily actions require a fine mind-body attenuation. And also, you must consider genetic memory as a factor. If your grandfather was a champion cross country snow ski king, and you started skiing when you were 5 years old, and did it perfect the first time. People would say that you are a natural, however, this is where the genetic memory comes into play. Through genetics, you recieved your Grandfathers Engrams and "naturally" knew how to ski.

[crossroad]

In response to Neo Neo, I agree that I dont think one could improve physical fitness through dreaming. I do think that one could improve on muscle memory though. Take Kung-Fu for example. Although it would be beneficial to be in great physical shape, muscle memory to block and strike would improve your skills. Even if it is something you think you dont know about, your sub-consious mind might have it stored somewhere from a movie or experience you may have had that you dont consciously remember. I'm still fairly new to lucid dreams; just a thought.....

[Matchbook]

Perhaps you used a poor example. * Skiing is not an easily accomplishable feat. * I used to pole vault when I was in track, and when you went higher and higher, the feeling and process of getting over the bar changed. I got stuck on a pleateau of 11ft, and could not get the 'feeling' of getting up and over. The mechanincs of pole vaulting are very complex and it all happens in mere seconds, so it is more of a feeling than a technique. In my dream, I made a jump of 18ft and realized how much the whole process slows down the higher you go. When I went to practice the next day, I let the pole bend for a half second longer before I initiated the recoil. This worked. So, I must say that yes, dreams will and can teach your body physical feats and accomplishments because all bodily actions require a fine mind-body attenuation. * [/b] Actually I think you partially reenforced my point. It may not have been a physical skill that you learned in pole vaulting, but a mental aspect... holding on longer, which you may have been hesistant to do, but that you overcame after experiencing it in a dream... I may be wrong though. But even so, the physical skills I was referring to and that are the subject of this thread are "things/skills we know nothing about". I wouldn't deny the fact that you may be able to make further progress in a physical skill that you already possess, because in your dream you can analyze it better, and certain weaknesses may be augmented and clearer to distinguish. Sure, skiing is hard to learn, but can you think of any physical skill that you have never attempted that you could possibly learn from scratch in a dream? Dancing, guitar, doing a back handspring, riding a bike. I personally don't think you could learn the physical aspects of these skills in a dream, BUT I do think that once you have begun to learn the skills in real life you could accelerate your learning by using dreams to perhaps bring out your weaknesses that need to be worked on, or to simply instill confidence that could help enhance the skill. So my belief is that although you cannot learn a physical skill from scratch in a dream, dreams can still help the process of learning a skill in real life. Fraggin, perhaps we were aiming at different targets in our discussion, because I was only referring to learning skills from scratch, and you may have been referring to the already maturing process of those physical skills.

[Gargen]

ehh its not possible this would be like your computer having something added to it without input data its impossible you could shift data around in your mind maybe make conclusions and have your own ideas and inovations on something you already know