Convincing Skeptic Teens

[wonderland]

I'm doing a project for school. It is an oral presentation and I've decided to do it on lucid dreaming, but I know some people may be skeptical. Anyone have some good ideas for convincing them? Simple arguments? Thanks

[ThatBacon]

Lucid Dreaming has been scientifically proven, right? That would probably be the best way to go.

[pj]

Pick up or check out a copy of LaBerge's "Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming" and base your argument on the experiments where he proved the reality of lucid dreaming with his eye signals during REM. And make sure to mention DreamViews.com for those interested in learning more!

[Marvo]

Start saying "My presentation is about lucid-dreaming. It is, to be aware that you're dreaming. Lucid is latin, and it means to be aware." Next, you ask everybody "Have any of you ever been aware, that you were in a dream, while dreaming?" There should be atleast one person. Ask him/her, what made him/her aware, that he/she was dreaming. Figure out something to add to that. Then, just start of the presentation. Explain how dreams take place in our mind, and thus, we can do almost anything. Next, continue with stuff about what we can use it for, why a person would want to become lucid in a dream and some other stuff. Don't go too much into techniques. Explain the nose reality-check and the watch reality-check, and how reality-checks can help become lucid. Don't get too much into names and such, like WILD, FILD, MILD, WBTB and all that. If anything, only mention reality-checks and dream induced lucid dreams (DILD). Now, you should've convinced them. Ramble on with different shit, and then done

[SurvivorKylie]

I'd agree with what's been said so far; give them the scientific hard facts that it's indeed a proven phenomenon, and tell them some basics. I gave a speech on LDing earlier this year-- in the feedback I got most people hadn't ever heard of it, a few were skeptical, but I got three that said they'd had the dreams before and that it was interesting to learn more about. Really-- the important thing would be not to overwhelm them with technical terms, cite your sources as experts on the subject, and provide examples to prove your points. Good luck!!

[tiddlywink101]

This may not be a good project to persue in school, try something more down to Earth for the modern teenager

[Horizon_Diver]

Don't feel bad if some of them still don't buy it after you give your report, there are those who simply refuse to believe that LDing is possible.

[MindDaguerreotype]

I remember on this forum, someone asked what even made possible to be aware while dreaming. Someone else made a very insightful remark: the real question is why do we lose awareness at all. After all, when dreaming, our brain is as much active as during the day (according to electro-encephalograms, and quite intuitively when remembering the crazy dreams we have), so why the "awareness part" should stay inactive ? This could be a good argument: ask back the skeptics to justify the "non-lucid dreams". Make your audience think about it. And as final words of your presentation, you should hint that some people could have a spontaneous lucid dream this night just because they learnt about it today

[Serith]

If by awareness, you mean awareness of whether we're asleep or awake, I think it's not that we lose it when we're asleep, it's just that most people never have it. After all, most people always just assume that they're awake, no matter what happens, and never really consider the possibility that they might be dreaming. The reason it's so hard to change this is that before starting to develop this awareness, years of habit are created of simply assuming you're awake, and that's hard to break.

[RooJ]

To further on PJ's reply Id urge you to read this: http://www.lucidity.com/slbbs/index.html This shows clearly some of the research done on controlled eye movements and breathing in lucid dreams, and how its even possible to communicate with the outside world while in a dream.

[~Erin~]

This may not be a good project to persue in school, try something more down to Earth for the modern teenager I say go for it! I've done 2 projects based on Lucid dreaming and when I'm done the students are actually interested in the whole event and want to know more about it. Though, I say to explain carefully at the start to make sure they understand. The sad thing is their interested in it for the first 15 min after the presentation then after that they would care less like every other presentation that was shown that day. I myself being a 'modern teenager' wouldn't mind it at all :p All you really need for the project is to read Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen Laberge. That's all I needed. Good luck!

[jamous]

just be sure to explain it like this: for example, when you are dreaming and you just happen to realize it... I'll bet some of them have done it before unintentionally.

[tiddlywink101]

I to am a teenager and so know waht school kids are like, it's possible that some are going to make fun of you but I guess it's in the name of expanding scientific knowledge so its your choice

[2Fruits]

Hi! I'm also a teenager and so probably can guess reactions. As previously mentioned, talk about the scientific facts and don't go into astral projection/out of body experiences as that is another field, and a more debatable one. Do talk facts about REM sleep, and go into the points that you only start REM sleep 5-6 hours after sleep so if you don't sleep enough you don't remember dreams etc. etc. Also include facts about dreaming and sleep in general e.g. teenagers are recommended to have 9-10 hours sleep but recent studies in the BLAH BLAH have shown that the average American teenager gets between 6-7 hours sleep (or whatever, I'm not saying this is correct it's just an example). If you have any Q's feel free to PM me! Oh and make sure you tell us about how it went

[SEBSTER]

well dude u know i made a thread called "Say what about oneironauts??!!!...." u should check it out its only like a couple of threads below. It talks about things you could say to convince someone about LDs

[Clairity]

Back on 03/06/05, I posted the following: I too loved the Star Trek series and have used it to help explain LDing. In describing what LDing is to others, I will ask if they have ever seen Star Trek. If they answer "yes", I'll ask if they ever wished they could visit the Holodeck and go anywhere and do anything their minds could conceive of. If so, then that's why I lucid dream.. it's like having my own personal Holodeck that I access via my dreams. But then again, I don't know if teens would relate to the whole Star Trek thing.. I'd hate for you to get the "eye roll". .

[arby]

Define it first. Theres nothing that makes you more skeptical of a subject if you don't know what exactly it is. Tell them "A lucid dream is where you know you are dreaming". I'm not sure what you're trying to do with your project but its probably good flow to continue on with control and how when you know its a dream you can do anything. Hit them with a sucker punch. Something everyone can relate to. Explain "There is no spoon. The spoon doesn't bend, only your mind." After that, most lucid subjects are pretty much fair game.

[EVIL JOE]

If you wanted to persuade them to lucid dream, I'd tell them that the average person sleeps for a third of their life.

[tryured]

In your presentation you should include a section on the practical uses of Lucid Dreaming. Explain how phsychologists and people have used Lucid Dreaming to overcome their phobias. Athletes are starting to realise it can be useful to improve their athletic abilities. If I was doing a presentation I would probably break it down like this: DEFINE LUCID DREAMING HISTORY OF LUCID DREAMING/WHERE IT ORIGINATED FROM BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF STAGES OF SLEEP, WHERE DREAMING OCCURS WHAT CAN LUCID DREAMING BE USED FOR (ALSO ADD FUN, ADVENTURE, FORFILLING YOUR PHANTASIES ETC.) TECHNIQUES OF LUCID DREAMING (DREAM JOURNAL, REALITY CHECKS ETC) As for the skeptical teenagers. I would include a small section at the start of your speech explaining how this isn't some mysitical airy fairy subject, it is a function of the mind and not to be confused with psycics, fortune tellers and all the rest of it.