Thread: Memory: the Forgotten Fundamental

Originally Posted by Sageous

But again, these same preconceptions will operate in a different manner when they are filtered through the knowledge that this dream is really just you, and exists absent any physical laws -- and this knowledge is only fully appreciated when access to memory is part of your consciousness formula; when your entire Self is present in the dream. I guess what would happen is you would shed your "waking mentality" for a "self-aware dreaming mentality" once memory is included in the mix, because you will know that those conditioned preconceptions are irrelevant in a dream.

A difficult side-effect of WILD is that you assume, especially intellectually, that you have entered a dream with your entire waking-life Self intact. I do not believe this is true: your regular functions of sleep are robbing you of bits of Self every moment of the way, the biggest bit being memory. So yes, you are confident of your circumstances, and well aware that you are dreaming, but this awareness is being done without memory, almost a case where you are simply telling yourself this is a dream without innate confirmation. So those preconceptions and their requisite limits can indeed be present. That you were able to occasionally trump them probably indicates those rare events when, like I mentioned above, your entire Self is indeed present in the dream.

This makes sense. Perhaps the transition from wakefulness to dreaming is comparable to the transition from sobriety to drunkenness; a gradual decline in mental faculties that can leave one with an false impression of how cognizant they actually (fun fact: I'm drunk right now ). That being said, part of me still wonders where these waking preconceptions exist in the mind. The higher-level functions that we are discussing, such as logic and working memory, are all executive functions of the prefrontal cortex. But, I suspect that these preconceptions may exist in a lower and less accessible part of the brain. For example, when in a lucid dream, do you have to actively reason that matter is solid in order to walk on the ground or open doors? Of course not, that is being enforced by something "outside" of those executive functions. I think this is why logic/reason is sometimes not enough to have complete control over a dream.

But this is just me speculating out loud. I'm going to make it a point to access my waking memory at the beginning of every WILD and see what effect is has, not only on my dream control, but also on dream recall. I think it may help in that area as well.

Originally Posted by TheUncanny

But, I suspect that these preconceptions may exist in a lower and less accessible part of the brain. For example, when in a lucid dream, do you have to actively reason that matter is solid in order to walk on the ground or open doors? Of course not, that is being enforced by something "outside" of those executive functions. I think this is why logic/reason is sometimes not enough to have complete control over a dream.

You are right. Logic and reason, and full waking awareness do not grant any control over the dream. Dream control takes training because you still need to figure out how to influence the virtual reality effectively, and must over come ingrained reactions and expectations. However, a true awareness of the fact that this is entirely a virtual world inside your sleeping brain is perhaps prerequisite to high level control, such as teleportation and such advanced skills.