Thread: DC names

It might not be such a simple question, Oort.

DC's, as constructs of your dream imagery, may have been built without names, and this is especially true if you lucidly don't know their names and want them to have one. So you've got a double whammy here, in that the DC's didn't have names in the first place, and are especially nameless because you the dreamer (and creator of all this) are confirming that they are nameless until they come up with one on their own -- something they were not programmed, by you the dreamer, to do. By asking them their names you are giving yourself a sort of dreamtime cognitive dissonance, I think, so I can understand why they can't give you a name, are unintelligible, or even -- as has happened to me -- a bit annoyed that you ask.

So not such a simple question! I think the only way you can get an "honest" and clear answer from a DC about their name -- and to make it a simple question -- is to assign one to them before you ask. But what fun is that?

The exception to this might be, I suppose, if you have accidentally bumbled into someone else's dream... but even then they might not tell you because their dreaming mind might not recognize the question, or you. But that, I think, is for another conversation!

A different thought that occurs to me is how well do you guard your own name? What importance does your own name have? You may recall it fine in your LD's but from your post you didn't mention whether you had first introduced yourself or not to these dream characters.

In my personal view, people are unlikely to share personal information if you're not sharing it yourself. There is a risk in sharing something personal, even if it's only an emotional risk. That risk can make a person feel threatened or anxious and dream characters are more likely than not going to be constructs made from your own image of what a "person" is. So, what I'm saying would likely be true to a degree for myself in my dreaming, since I'm thinking about it like this and it's how I expect some things to work at a basic level. That doesn't mean that the exact same is true for you, so what I'm saying is that you might consider thinking about a role reversal of sorts; for example, how might you feel as one of your dream characters, if you swapped places with them?

From my experience, it seems that some dream characters are more conscious than others. Some are like cardboard cut-outs, and when lucid, they don't respond to me at all. Some respond, but don't make a lot of sense, or are very simple. Some are like people, and definitely respond, and may even be more conscious than me in the dream.

A couple of thoughts:
- Creative writers often say that coming up with names for their characters and places is difficult. I only have short writing experience but I would agree with that. Names are something invented and not inherent, naming is a creative process. Although it seems weird that our dreaming minds can create beautiful landscapes while having troubles with names.
- IRL, people who are not important, basically don't have names. We meet them and interact with them without knowing their name and even if they tell us, we forget it immediately. People who are important to us have names and we actively use their names. Random DCs don't have names because they are even less important than random people, they are destined to be forgotten.
- Sometimes in my non-lucid dreams, people have simple names (John or similar) but more often they are nameless. A couple of weeks ago, I had a dream about someone called "Anarchist Black" but he never told me the name. There was a false memory that I read a book about Anarchist Black and I asked him if he was Anarchist Black. At first, he refused to tell me but later he admitted that it was him. That's the only more complex name I got in 3 months of journaling.
- In my previous memorable dreams (non-lucid dreams evolving into lucid or into morning daydreaming, I can't tell from the memories I have... these are not recorded dreams and they are dreams I had before I got into LDing), I remember naming some DCs because once lucid/daydreaming, I was annoyed by their lack of names and I needed them to have names.
- I like lucid dreams that start non-lucid because there is often some context created by the dream. With our without names, there is some history between me and the DC, some bonding that happened while I wasn't lucid. Which makes the DCs more real and more important (and more worthy of having a name or higher consciousness). In lucid dreams that are lucid from their beginning, there is an underlying knowledge that every DCs is unimportant and doesn't exist, it is this knowledge that makes them shallow and boring.

I suggest asking them to think about it before they respond. Give the dream some time to come up with an answer instead of putting them on the spot. Along the lines of what Darkestdarkness said, you might give them your name while they think about their own. All in all, expect a delay. Maybe ask again, but like Moonagedaydream said, sometimes the interesting DCs are those who come to you first, honestly.

Thanks guys, I honestly didn't expect so many answers so quickly.

I thought of introducing myself first and I wrote that down as my next goal/approach to the task.
Still can't fully understand, however I may have a clue to that, why my friend couldn't give her name. After walking up I remembered her name fine.

I'm reading a book about functioning of our brain. It seems that our conscious mind, dominated by the left hemisphere, is the logical one, responsible for speech, hence the names, I guess. The left hemisphere, artistic one, is the one that produces our dreams and it's the one that remember faces and makes us creative. So, my conclusion is that problem with getting/remembering their names might the split function of our brain, the same as problem with remembering dreams while awake. Anyone knows anything about that?

Sageous I didn't know I could bump into someone else's dream. Is that really possible?

Perhaps, changes in function and communication between the hemispheres during sleep have something to do with it, and remembering during sleep might be impaired, but, it's definitely not outside of possibilities to hear a name, say a name or remember a name. You can for sure do it. It might just be a bit harder, take a bit more time.

Originally Posted by Oort

Sageous I didn't know I could bump into someone else's dream. Is that really possible?

Possible is a big word, but my experience over the last decade or so has led me to sincerely wonder about it.

If you're curious, years ago I started a thread about how it could be possible here. I think my theories then still correspond to today's thoughts...

Also, I posted a link to my original thread about this stuff; here it is again, if you'd like a look.

I think the brain is better at conjuring up visual imagery from nothing better than it is specific details. For example if I was to shut my eyes now I can easily visualise a random man walking down a path towards me. If I then go “Hey what’s your name!?” There’s a lag as my brain thinks of an answer and the man I’m visualising sort of freaks out and blunders as a result. I suppose this could be what’s happening with DCs in dreams. If we jump at them and ask direct questions they may not be able to answer whilst our mind catches up. Also, If we treat a DC like a random stranger then I guess they will act like one and we can’t determine what a random stranger will say or predict there name. It May explain why they come out with gibberish more often than not. Maybe the DCs who act more real and feel more genuine are closer representations of us and are our own internal voices speaking back to us? So they come across more rounded and believable?

Also, I’ve often found if I have a task I want to complete in a dream the dream will often work against me. It just goes that way sometimes. It May be a more simple reason why the DCs aren’t responding.

Tonight I managed to get a name after I introduced myself. At first I heard just some blabber but I repeated after him. He corrected me and once again. I had to repeat it to myself few times to remember it. When moved away in my LD just after few seconds it was starting to dissolve from my memory, so I continued repeating it, so here it is: Tales Allerbroom
I think that bringing names from dreams could be a great memory exercise and memory should work well both directions for good dream recall, so I'll keep practising that for a while.

Thank you all for your help

Great! I’m now very intrigued who Tales Allerbroom was? 😄

Well, it was one of the DCs I met my old bedroom, I didn't learn his whole story. Next time I meet him I'll try to get some more details

Yeah please do. It Would be fascinating to really get to know a DC fully. Certainly a goal I’m going to pursue now.

I think you have completed your goal in that you did your part. You decided to do something and then did it. What Sageous said about the DC not being created with names and such is sound. The more you control the dream the less you can expect things you are not expecting. There is a moment where you think of something, then it happens or the thought influences what happens. If what you are after is some mystical thing where you interact with the unconscious mind it is really beyond dream control and what we can help you with. Not saying that sort of thing could not happen.
A couple ways around this: Ask them if their names is X, Y, or Z? They could choose one of these and repeat it to you. You could repeat many times in your waking mind a list of names you expect to hear from a DC.