Thread: [POLL]Reading in Lucid Dreams

Originally Posted by Angstrem98

This is just an informational thread about reading in lucid dreams. I actually read on the internet that reading in Ld is impossible or words are flying around, but, in my case, I can read very clearly, both from book and computer screen.
What about you?

They are hard to read, jumbled up letters but when it comes to numbers I think it's different because I've had a recent dream where I was at the shop and I was looking at some of the prices and they looked normal.

I usually find that the text isn't in English, its in a weird dreamy writing system. I think I've clearly read a few short things, but for the most part reading is outside of that so I marked the second response.

Ij|ti![l]1|J[i!i!l[|I1l|Tl1

I read a lot in dreams. Sometimes I even pull out my phone and check my dream goals.

I read a lot too, lately trying to make tests and what not in dreams for teaching purposes, its quite fun actually.

I can usually read text. I think it matters that the text is important somehow. If it's just a random street sign, then it might be jumbled. But it's a note handed to me by a DC, then it will usually be clear.

I vote for 1 and 2. It depends. Sometimes the text can make sense and other times it doesn't make sense. Although I don't read much in dreams I believe that if your planning on reading pages in a dream sooner or later the text won't make sense.(Happened to me before) That is why I prefer expectation or for a dc or random voice to give me information. Although, certain texts, even if small can be interesting as well.

Thinking about what sisyphus said reminded me that I do like getting notes from dream characters. : )

I can't read everything but the text or numbers I can see are pretty or very clear.
I watched the time on my phone once and it said 23:57. I think the reason I watch was because I was walking to the train station (I was going home from work in my dream) and I heard a train leave, which it shouldn't have since no train leaves or arrives at the train station at that specific time (it was 13 minutes left untill my train would arrive).

I can make it readable. But if I'm doing it as an RC it's always got something wrong with it.

This is something I would like to work on in the future. Reading a book would require some control and stability. Who writes books in the dream world anyway? Maybe books as we know it don't exist in the dream world?

Reading is a regular occurrence in my nonlucid dreams and is generally no problem when lucid dreaming—I do it without a second thought. I can't remember if I've ever tried doing extensive reading while lucid (I know I do it all the time in NLDs), but mostly I read brief labels (e.g., on buttons and controls of unfamiliar devices or machines I'm exploring) and things like that. I would expect long passages of text to behave like verbal dialogue: generally being grammatical, but maybe or maybe not making much sense in overall context.

Originally Posted by DannyCool

This is something I would like to work on in the future. Reading a book would require some control and stability. Who writes books in the dream world anyway? Maybe books as we know it don't exist in the dream world?

Don't take that stance, if you make pre-schemas right now that it will be hard, then it will be harder in the future. Just think about it like reading a normal book, you open a dream book and just read it for fun, make it easy for your dream self to accept it easily too.

I and several others have read dream books, or better yet written some ourselves. But you have to get rid of the bad schemas.

Originally Posted by Hukif

Don't take that stance, if you make pre-schemas right now that it will be hard, then it will be harder in the future. Just think about it like reading a normal book, you open a dream book and just read it for fun, make it easy for your dream self to accept it easily too.

I and several others have read dream books, or better yet written some ourselves. But you have to get rid of the bad schemas.

That is just the response I hoped for. It is great to be here at Dreamviews and sorry for my narrow, very very narrow mind view or schema. Respect and thanks for your help. Your response say a lot about the nature of dreams and reality. I appreciate it. There is miles, thousands of miles difference in experience between people on this site and even more in daily life and it is hard to know how to communicate with people. Whatever you did there it really helped me so thanks.

4. all of the above (depending on the lucid)

I can read very clearly. I solved math problems once.

I had a dream with my dream guide where he put a page of multiple paragraphs of text in front of me and asked me to read them. I started reading along fine, it made enough sense. As I was about half way through, all of the text suddenly disappeared. I stopped reading, confused as to what happened.
"Keep reading," he said.
"But I can't read if there's no text."
"Yes, you can. You know what it says."
So I continued as though the text was still there. I knew that I was still reading it, but I didn't need the visual cue of written words to process the information.

This was an incredibly useful dream. Nowadays if I find written text in dreams, I don't generally think about reading the words, I just absorb the information. (Unless I feel its particularly important for me to memorise wording for whatever reason.)

^^ I think, Vivian, that you just nicely summarized the real truth behind reading in LD's.

Reading for me has never been a problem in LD's, probably because I've never chosen to make it a problem. As has already been discussed, I think, if you build a problem into your expectations (like not being able to read, fly, summon DC's, etc, etc), then that problem will exist in your dream. Now, the reading issue seems at this point to be a problem that's been institutionally installed in our expectations, thanks to LD gurus like LaBerge suggesting that changing text in a dream is a good dream sign (and it is), but they are talking about text that appears when you are not lucid, and that is a completely different story.

The bottom line here is that reading in LD's will be as successful and clear as you allow it to be.

Perhaps those who are interested in this topic should read a book in a lucid dream and write down what was read in this thread. That way we can see if the stories feel like were reading an actual book and not a book with random nonsense added into it. However, thinking about how the dream can make plots flow nicely is probably reason enough to believe that a dream book can stay in context. I'm not really interested in dream books but I'm going to try reading a book in my next lucid dream.

This morning I WILDed, and dream was writing me text in my notebook, just like it was Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary from Harry Potter.

Originally Posted by DreamCafe11

Perhaps those who are interested in this topic should read a book in a lucid dream and write down what was read in this thread. That way we can see if the stories feel like were reading an actual book and not a book with random nonsense added into it. However, thinking about how the dream can make plots flow nicely is probably reason enough to believe that a dream book can stay in context. I'm not really interested in dream books but I'm going to try reading a book in my next lucid dream.

Oh! I have done that before, actually this is a great idea. I am totally up for it, will try to read a dream book and share it with the thread then, at least a few pages i will be able to remember.

I clearly remeber the story of a genius boy who could read in nearly every single language from an early age and so was bullied as if he was some kind of demon, don't remember too well the whole story now but that was a good dream book.

Originally Posted by Hukif

Oh! I have done that before, actually this is a great idea. I am totally up for it, will try to read a dream book and share it with the thread then, at least a few pages i will be able to remember.

I clearly remeber the story of a genius boy who could read in nearly every single language from an early age and so was bullied as if he was some kind of demon, don't remember too well the whole story now but that was a good dream book.

Sounds like it was an interesting dream book and I look forward to reading about the next dream book you read.I still have to do the task but whenever I do it I'll post it here too. ^^

Interesting question. I've never really had text play a part in my dreams as far as I can remember, though. Generally, all communication is verbal or I am simply 'aware' of certain concepts and ideas. Also, the main things I like doing in lucids rarely involve reading, so that doesn't really help, either. I'll try to keep an eye out!

I actually find talking to most DCs to be equally as difficult as reading. Either taking or reading, all I get is unrelated, off-topic sentences. For example: last night in a lucid a DC said to me "What are you doing filling the swimming pool up there?" There was no pool, I was standing in my kitchen having only recently become lucid.

This is an interesting question! I usually have no problem reading in a dream, lucid or non lucid. The only difference is, in a non lucid dream, the text will change if i look away from it, but in a lucid dream, it stays the same.

It isn't always the case that I can read well in dreams, but more often than not it is. The other day I took it to a whole new level and I was even doing an exam, writing and all, and it didn't struck me that it was a dream because it was all so clear.

Edit: sorry, I didn't notice the question was about lucid dreams. I can read in my lucid dreams too, the text only changes when I look away.