My Theory and Heuristic

[Earthatic]

The information presented here is incomplete and interpretive. It is somewhat related to threat simulation theory (TST). My theory is that, regarding a certain function of dreaming that is at work during a certain phase, there is a 'goal-interference' aspect; the dream creates stimuli that induces desire/avoidance and simulates an associated form of interference. It's sort of twisted together. Each event that unfolds, as a result, follows a pattern, and is fuelled by the dreamer's own stimulus (motivation). Here are some examples: - Something prompts you to dial a number on a phone, but as your gaze shifts toward different numbers on the keypad, the numbers reorder themselves, causing panic or frustration. You hand the phone to someone else, but you notice that they intentionally dial the wrong number. You ask them to hang up, but they don't listen to you. - An assailant starts chasing you, instinctively making you want to run away, so you do. A number of problems may occur, e.g., you can't run comfortably or fast enough, the terrain is obstructive and difficult to traverse, the chaser teleports closer and closer to you every time you look behind yourself, etc. - You are exposed in a public area, so you try to obtain clothing to cover yourself. The clothing you find is too baggy, dirty, tight, or ugly to wear. You settle for the ugly clothes, but become self-conscious, and you want to hide from other people. You're unable to find an area that is unpopulated. Notice the pattern? However subtle, the mental force responsible for it is also at work during lucid states. As I've become more familiar with its dynamics, I've learned how to manipulate it; in so doing, I also discovered a reason for why stabilization methods work. If you become lucid and worry that the dream will end abruptly, before you can accomplish your goal, you're setting yourself up for trouble. As soon as LD'ers become aware that they're dreaming, they often become concerned with this, and thus the following often ensues when they don't know how to handle the situation: the dream fades, causing the LD'er to give up and voluntarily wake. In reality, the dream may not have ended; it can reduce its grip (signal) to a feathery, almost unnoticeable touch as a form of 'interference', because that is what you don't want. On the flip side, people sometimes have lucid nightmares of wanting to wake up, but have difficulty doing so. You see, the reason why stabilization methods work is because you shift your attention toward something the dream can make perceptible and you fuel it with a motivated response, e.g., by rubbing your hands together, demanding and shouting 'clarity now', holding onto an object, and so forth. How do you avoid focusing on the wrong things? Intentions, associations, desires, and fears can be innate, to a certain degree, so it requires conditioning. Since you're mentally impaired while dreaming, you should imagine these scenarios and prepare/rehearse a response beforehand. Instead of reinforcing counter-productive responses every time you dream, you'll form new connections in your mind by doing this. Resolve it and move onto something else. Assuming that this theory has validity, it may be more helpful to look at LDing as a way to work out problems rather than a way to fulfill wishes. With all of that said, here's a snippet from Wikipedia: Dopaminergic activation Two main frontal areas have been implicated in the dream process. The first involves the deep white matter of the frontal lobes (just above the eyes). The main systems at work here involve the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic pathways. There are connecting fibres that run between frontal and limbic structures. A dopaminergic pathway runs from the ventral tegmental area, ascends through the lateral hypothalamus, various basal forebrain areas (nucleus basalis, stria terminalis, shell of nucleus accumbens) and terminates in the amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus and frontal cortex. Damage to the dopaminergic pathway results in a loss of dreaming. Furthermore, chemical stimulation of the pathway (with L-DOPA for example) increases the frequency and vividness of dreams without affecting REM sleep. It is interesting to note that the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways are considered the seeking areas or the motivational command centers of the brain. Damage not only results in the loss of dreams but also of motivated behaviour. Transection or inhibition of the dopamine pathway also reduces some positive symptoms of schizophrenia, many of which have been likened to dream-like states. Drugs that block the system have anti-psychotic effects but also reduce excessive and vivid dreaming. Further evidence that dreaming can occur independently of REM sleep is found in the occurrence of nocturnal seizures during NREM that often present themselves as nightmares. Activation here is seen in the temporal lobe, again a forebrain area. The evidence of the involvement of mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic pathways suggests that dreaming occurs when a motivational component is activated. Only when this pathway is removed do dreams cease to occur. This system can be activated by mechanisms of REM sleep but can also occur independently during NREM stages of sleep.

[Earthatic]

I think I've mentioned this before, but here's another thing I've noticed: the "memory, emotion and problem compilation" does not seem non-nonsensical or meaningless at all. It also follows certain patterns during non-lucid states, but the pattern can sort of be messed with during LD states. It's difficult to put into words or find an analogy; before, I thought it had a form of autonomy, but that's because it involves an associated-memory-thinking (???) mechanism that doesn't operate according to the dreamer's volition, seemingly, and that's probably a good thing (for survival reasons). More to the point, it seems to combine content in a way that the dreamer has not previously thought of on purpose. Here's an anecdote: Yesterday, I was playing a Rachmaninoff piece. As I was playing the first couple pages of his 2nd PC, I thought, "Wow, he must have had huge hands." That same day, I read an article that mentioned cannibalistic giants (the Si-Te-Cah tribe). A connection and association was manifested in my dream, which I had never thought of: A well-known concert pianist—one who played that particular concerto—turned into a giant and started eating people in the auditorium. A connection was made between 'huge hands', 'giants', the pianist and the music. I can give hundreds of other examples. During LD states, you can interrupt the flow and insert conscious direction, as you will know what is going on. How the dream responds, however, is much the same to how it would respond if you were non-lucid. It's still co-created. You would, however, be subverting its adaptive function, if there is one. Anyway, I know big walls of text are off-putting, and the content might be disputable, disorganized or hard to understand. I just want to get these ideas out there.

[Sageous]

Those are excellent thoughts, Earthatic, and well worth sharing -- especially because clear theories with immediate practical applications are pretty rare around here!. My usual take on stabilization is to learn, over time, not to care that the dream might end. This ties in to what you are saying (though I personally never explained the "why" so well, if at all), I think, though I would add "keep any thought of the dream ending from your head," to your list. And keeping any thoughts out includes trying not to think about the dream ending, which might take some practice.

[Earthatic]

My usual take on stabilization is to learn, over time, not to care that the dream might end. This ties in to what you are saying (though I personally never explained the "why" so well, if at all), I think, though I would add "keep any thought of the dream ending from your head," to your list. And keeping any thoughts out includes trying not to think about the dream ending, which might take some practice. Suppress the white bears? The way I overcame it was through the realization that it was an unnecessary concern. If something is genuinely concerning, you may have trouble with intrusive thoughts; I had issues with that when I first started to LD. Learn how to be dismissive when it comes to oneiric-sourced problems—it's a very useful skill.

[insideout]

Hmm. I've found that being dismissive is a good strategy for dealing with scary things that appear in my lucid dreams (saying "This is a dream, so you can't hurt me, so I have no reason to be afraid" makes the scary thing go away or change), but I hadn't thought of applying that same approach to other lucid dream problems. Possibly I need to not even think of them as problems if I want them to not be difficult.

[ThreeCat]

Earthatic, this is good stuff; I'm not sure why there are not more responses. I think the mechanism functions as it does because we are naturally concerned that things will go wrong in waking life (via anxiety, worry, and other neurotic thought patterns). It would make sense that in a world based entirely on thought (and where thought is perceived as, or can easily become, solid) our natural negative thought patters of, well, giving a shit, would manifest as things like obstacles. I also have practiced with simply dismissing unhelpful dream phenomena, though as insideout mentioned, I have in general only applied this to things like being tangled or physically impeded, or being attacked, versus not getting my way. Do you have suggestions for how to "dismiss" the idea that my dream control is not working? That would be a blast.

[Earthatic]

Do you have suggestions for how to "dismiss" the idea that my dream control is not working? That would be a blast. Specifically, what are you trying to do? What happens when you try to do it? Describe your thought process. I might be able to help.