Thread: Calling them "reality" checks

Hi everyone,

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the term "reality" check? I have heard some people use the phrase "state check" or "dream check" which I like a little better. But the tradition seems to be to say "reality" check. My only thing about that is that I don't think dreams are separate from "reality". I think reality contains everything that exists, so dreams are reality.

But also I think reality is a loaded word that has some different connotations.

re·al·i·ty
rēˈalədē/Submit
noun
1.
the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
"he refuses to face reality"

This is the common use of "reality" that I don't like. Because it assumes theres only one way to look at things. Like if someone said, "wake up and face ugly reality". Well that is just a negative perspective on life. It's kind of a "downer". And they go on to say that reality is especially meant to be a grim word, as in, "the reality of life in a farming community". So it sounds to me like a negative collective belief, upheld by shutting down each others hopes and dreams, based on fear.

BUt this definition of reality is a little more inclusive to all experiences:

2.
the state or quality of having existence or substance.
"existence that is absolute, self-sufficient, or objective, and not subject to human decisions or conventions."

I still think my dreams have an existence that is absolute and objective. I don't make them up. They actually happen.

My only way of making peace with the term "reality check" as it is has been to say, well, I am just testing WHICH reality I am in. Am I in the physical reality, where my finger CAN'T go through my palm? Or am I in the dream reality, where my finger CAN go through my palm? But they are both different "realities".

As opposed to, I'm "in reality" now as I type this... But when I dream, I am "not in reality". This is the use of "reality check" I don't agree with.

I wonder if anyone had a similar concept. I'm aware that it challenges tradition or status quo. And I'm sure that all the people who have ever written anything aren't going to go back and put out a new edition of their work based on my post about the use of the word "reality". But its just weird getting to a place in my Dream Journal like.. I thought I might be dreaming so I did a... "Reality Check"... No... "dream state check"... No... "finger palm test"... okay... thats more inclusive.

hmm I think there are different types and layers of realities. Consensus reality falls under reality that is generally same to all the people involved. For example, most of our waking reality and shared dreaming can fall under a consensus reality. However, our emotional reality and most of our dream reality will usually be different and more of a subjective experience. I don't want to go into my thoughts on reality as a whole here as it's a bit heavy. Anyway, when it comes to "Reality Checks", it's something established in the lucid dreaming community. So, I just preface a unspoken "Waking" to it. So whenever I say "Reality Check" it's usually means "Waking Reality Check".

I think your over-thinking the definition.
To my mind there is "real" and "imaginary", and dreams are just an imagined reality, if that makes sense, so a reality check is just trying to tell the difference between real and imaginary.

Reality doesn't have to be grim

The word reality can change depending on the perspective of a person or context but when it comes to the reality check mentioned on dream forums, i agree with lucidbunnie that it was made to differentiate from being awake and asleep or how golden said "imaginary".However, they don't have to be viewed as just different realities, they can also be viewed as connected.

I agree with you, although others will say you are over thinking it. I see dreaming as a continuation of the same reality we experience in waking life, just not bogged down by the ego and critical mind. And of course dreaming reality is more permeable. Even if it takes place purely in imagination, I don't consider that any less real. Heck, most people spend most of their waking lives in a reality of their own imagination.

I agree with your views, Charles.

I have thought about this before. Because I did used to see it like "am I in reality? or dream?". Now I'm like, "which reality am I in? Physical? Mental? Astral???"

However, note that one of your suggested replacements was "state check". Well, that's just like "reality check" when you look at it from your view.
Like you said, "which reality am I in?" is the question for your reality check... It's just like asking, "which state am I in?".
So, there's no difference between your suggested terms, and the already existing term.


Although I suppose you could say that the difference is how the majority of the population will view the term.
If you say "state check", it would be more accurate when meets the eye, yes. But, it doesn't fix the original misinterpretation of the word "reality".


So all's I'm sayin' is, changing the term would do no good at all. But shifting perspective on the term would do good. So this thread is awesome.

Perhaps we should call them a, "dream check " instead, after all, when doing the nose pinch test we should be thinking, "if I can breathe through my blocked nose I must be dreaming", rather than, "if I can't I'm awake".
Reality check puts the emphasis on reality, whereas dream check puts the emphasis on staying in the dream.

Unfortunately it's more complicated than just changing up word usage as the term "Reality Check" goes beyond these forums and used in various sources for years. Some of the lucid dream terminology and abbreviations might already be enough to discourage some from learning more about lucid dreaming. By changing up a term like "Reality Check" it'll only add to the confusion. I'm not sure this is something that can be fixed especially when the term "Reality Check" isn't fundamentally wrong, it just depends on what reality means to you. I'll start using the term "Dream Check" or something like that when notable people in the lucid dream community such as Daniel Love etc. start a movement. ^^'

Thats the thing. Like if I am having a conversation with someone then I pretty much have to use the same language. I could be like, "Well, do you check if you're dreaming?" That kind of says the same thing. Instead of saying "I did a reality check" I could say "I checked if I was dreaming". When other people say "reality check" I know what they mean. It just doesn't come out right when I go to say it though. So I kind of started this to help myself find some work arounds for that while still being able to communicate with other LD'ers.

I agree with pretty much all of your points, although I feel there's a bit of a nuance between performing a Reality Check as opposed to a check to see if you are dreaming. A reality check, depending on the perspective of the listener/user can both refer to the act of checking if you are not dreaming and the act of checking to see if you are. By contrast, checking if you are dreaming only refers to one act and is more specific.

Whether the ambiguity associated with Reality Check as a term is pro or a con, I don't know. Same goes for the specificity of checking if you are dreaming. What I do know is that, despite the fact checking if you are dreaming effectively functions also as checking if you are not dreaming, there are actually ramifications to your approach and with regards to your expectations based on which act you feel you are more chiefly concerned with performing. One is more to determine if you are indeed awake, the other if you are asleep and in a dream.

Truthfully I think checking to see if you are awake is likely to have more negative results because when we make habits of doing certain things, what we experience and determine ourselves to have experienced becomes associated with that habit. In other words, if you perform RCs in order to confirm you are awake or that you are not, in fact, dreaming, it stands to reason that, because you will inevitably perform more RCs while awake than while sleeping and dreaming, you will grow to expect the result of determining that you are actually awake. At that point, if performing the RCs aren't an active detriment to becoming lucid, at the very least, the fact you're pretty much just going through the motions for no real reason makes the practice pretty much pointless, no?

So, I guess in the end I agree more with calling it Dream Check or saying you are checking if you are in a dream better. Then again, I'm sure somebody whose capable of framing it right from the opposite perspective could make essentially the same argument I did, and it would be just as equally valid. Lol, depends all on how you view things I guess.