Thread: 5 Lucid Dreaming Myths Debunked

Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd do my bit to help clear up a little of the lucid dreaming misinformation that continues to plague the subject. I expect it may be seen as controversial by some (I tried to be diplomatic, honest!), but hell I love this subject and sometimes you just have to take a stand.

I hope some of you find this useful or entertaining, and I'd really appreciate your support in helping share and promote the video (and thanks to everyone who has done so so far!). Maybe we can start to put a few of these myths to rest once and for all...

Here's the video:

I just discovered your YouTube channel because of this post and I've got to say, you make great videos!
I hope you'll keep up the good work and that your channel will grow bigger, because your channel is definitely one of the best out there.

Nicely done Daniel!

I personally might have included the "Techniques are the singular source of lucidity" myth, because these days I think that false assumption -- that all you have to do is a particular technique and not worry about your mindset at all -- might be the most damaging of all, as it rangers so prevalently among novices... but that's just me. (I suppose it sort of dovetails with the shortcuts myth, now that I think about it).

I've dealt with all these myths at length over the years, and it's been fairly amazing (and fatiguing) how tightly they are gripped as truth by dreamers -- especially new ones in search of short cuts. Maybe a polished video presented by a named expert will make the difference? One can only hope!

@HansiElneff - Thanks for the positive feedback Hansi, I really appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and hope you'll appreciate future content!

@Sageous - It's always an honour and a pleasure to have your thoughts on these things Sageous. You're right, I was actually considering trying to squeeze a few extra debunks in (one was indeed techniques), but as I'm learning my way around what works on YouTube, keeping things short seems to work best. So, I'll likely be creating more of these debunking videos in the future. I'm partly tempted to go somewhat nuclear and create a few videos directly calling out those who promote nonsense - I'd be interested to hear if this is something others would appreciate.

Originally Posted by DanielLove

... I'm partly tempted to go somewhat nuclear and create a few videos directly calling out those who promote nonsense - I'd be interested to hear if this is something others would appreciate.

That is not a terrible idea!

In the video you posted above, right when you mentioned that some people believe that lucid dreaming can only be understood and practiced through religious viewpoints, you showed pictures of YouTubers who seem to fall under that description. To be honest, I laughed my ass off when I saw it! I recognized most of them and I found it hilarious, mostly because of how true it is. I think your point is valid and I sure wouldn't mind if you pointed them out explicitly.

Originally Posted by HansiElneff

In the video you posted above, right when you mentioned that some people believe that lucid dreaming can only be understood and practiced through religious viewpoints, you showed pictures of YouTubers who seem to fall under that description. To be honest, I laughed my ass off when I saw it! I recognized most of them and I found it hilarious, mostly because of how true it is. I think your point is valid and I sure wouldn't mind if you pointed them out explicitly.

Thanks for the feedback on that Hansi, I'm glad you noticed. I was a little unsure if adding those images would stir things up, but to be honest I get hugely frustrated with people, especially those who claim authority, who muddy the waters of the subject - blending half-truths, pseudo-science and their own beliefs. Personally I find it terribly disingenous of them and unfair on those new to the subect who may waste their time chasing rainbows. Part of the original purpose of the channel was to tackle these things head on, I've been biting my tongue a little, but perhaps now it's time to take the gloves off (and to mix metaphores!).

Originally Posted by DanielLove

Personally I find it terribly disingenous of them and unfair on those new to the subject who may waste their time chasing rainbows.

I could not agree more with that statement. Many of them manage to do nothing more than lead newcomers down the wrong path, which ultimately leads to giving up. Personally, I think you should make a video to inform people that if they're interested in non-religious lucid dreaming, then those channels are probably not what they're searching for. If you do choose to make something like that, just remember: Even though their content is full of incorrect, biased pseudo-science, they still have a lot of supporters. So offending one of them could be a potential thread to your own channel.

Cool Video! Especially the part about the dream control I had that myth debunked when my first 20 lucids were only seconds long since I didn´t have any control at all

Originally Posted by DanielLove

Personally I find it terribly disingenous of them and unfair on those new to the subect who may waste their time chasing rainbows. Part of the original purpose of the channel was to tackle these things head on, I've been biting my tongue a little, but perhaps now it's time to take the gloves off (and to mix metaphores!).

Good stuff Daniel! As a neuroscientist, I constantly feel like I've got to defend lucid dreaming as a real thing, and not just new age bullshit (for lack of better words...). I've found that the best way to address popular pseudoscience is to discuss it with enthusiastic curiosity (as an anthropologist might discuss ancient rituals) and let readers/viewers come to their own conclusions. I figure that my job is not to be a skeptic spreading 'truth' across the land, but rather to open up the amazing world of dreaming to people who might otherwise never give it a second thought. I think that lucid dreaming is made even more eclectic and interesting by the new agers, all I have to do is keep my own fact-driven narratives grounded in empirical science to sleep easy. Keep up the videos, they're great