Thread: Dream within a Dream?

BWOONG
Seriously though, I don't know what this dream is called if it has a name.

However, I don't think there is such a thing as a semi-lucid dream. You either are aware you are dreaming or you aren't. Still, that is a nice one. Maybe you would upload it to the virtual Dream Journal if you are into that stuff.

I would guess, JimmyChung, that your dream simply changed scenes, and then returned to an earlier scene that was still lingering in your dreaming mind. Such a change could seem like you're "waking up" beside that pool, but it was still just a scene switch. When recalling it, it could certainly seem like a dream within a dream; especially after being fed the false mythology of Inception.

Keep in mind that Inception was just a movie, and also keep in mind that they got pretty much everything they said about dreaming and lucid dreaming flat out wrong.

And yes, Baradrim, there is such a thing as a semi-lucid dream. It is more than possible to know that you are dreaming, but at the same time have no memory of waking life and have very limited self-awareness (i.e., in spite of knowing this is a dream, you still believe your DC "You" is real, or that you have nothing to do with the dream plot currently unfolding). Just like in waking life (where self-awareness is also fairly rare), all input isn't always either on or off; there are gray areas in every experience.

Agreed with Sageous - entirely too many people come in here thinking Inception tells the truth about dreaming, and it just doesn't. They wrote a fictional movie in which they invented things like 'dream within a dream' to make it more exciting. We get pretty tired of having to repeat this stuff over and over to excited newcomers. In reality all that happened is you were dreaming, you briefly became lucid with very low awareness, and then lost lucidity. You probably dreamed about falling asleep because you had seen Inception.

But hey - congrats on experiencing lucidity!! And welcome to DV!!

I agree with Baradrim though, lucidity is like a boolean variable, either yes or no.
Other than that i agree with Sageous, those work like dream scene changes, though they are pretty vivid. I have experienced 'dream within dream' alot of times, sometimes i 'wake up' where i went to sleep but other times it's completely different place.

I believe Sageous defines true lucidity as not only knowing you're in a dream, but also having the full presence of mind and memory to not get caught up in the dream plot. So I guess it depends on how you define "knowing you're in a dream". Sometimes I'm aware I'm dreaming but have very little self-awareness or memory of who I am outside of the dream world. Technically according to the definition I keep seeing in here that would be considered lucidity, but it's really only one small step above a normal dream, and a long way from a high-level lucid experience. But I do define lucidity as simply knowing you're dreaming, and I consider awareness and memory to se separate issues, which are required for high-level lucid awareness.

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

I believe Sageous defines true lucidity as not only knowing you're in a dream, but also having the full presence of mind and memory to not get caught up in the dream plot.

That's about right, except for one thing: I never said just knowing you were dreaming wasn't lucidity; it is. No, just knowing you're dreaming, without key factors in place like strong self-awareness or memory (i.e., knowing your sleeping body is right where you left it), constitutes low-level lucid dreaming, but it's still a LD.

Like consciousness itself, LD'ing is by no means an "all-on" or "all-off" experience, and to assume that you're achieving everything there is to achieve in a LD simply by knowing you're dreaming is to sell yourself, and your potential experience, short. Quality is never an all or nothing thing, I think.

Also, for what it's worth, your dreaming mind is expert at providing you powerful facsimiles of what you wish for, so, given that a LD with minimal self-awareness and memory is a very easy image for your unconscious to mirror, setting such a low bar for all lucidity makes it easy for your dreaming mind to fool you with false lucids.

The mind, by all measures -- especially the higher ones -- is not a boolean place; to assume it is is not, I think, the best tool for mastering LD'ing, or anything else. We are not that simple.