Thread: Why don't people believe you about lucid dreaming?

Some people are just unfortunately close-minded. Or if it's the case of parents, they're probably just over-protective. But, to be safe, and to retain a good dreamsign, I don't tell anyone in real life about it.

Most people I talk to have had one, but sometimes I get, "oh, that's cool," and I weird look. I've gotten a few people who haven't had one really interested. And one girl said, "I know, isn't flying fun?" I get all kinds. Some people are just closed minded, like Neko said. Some people say it's impossible, but it's their loss.

Because it is Taboo >_> It's not like the news or anything talks about it or you ever hear people on T.V. talk about it I mean the discovery channel doesn't even talk about (Might of done a special but how long ago was that) so yeah if it was more out in public people wouldn't be so weird about it.

Some people are just not willing to open themselves up to new things such as Lucid Dreaming which is a shame, if i was you i would try to explain and if they continue to think your crazy don't bother, your the one having all the fun, they are missing out, they can't say you didn't tell them eh?

I'd write something about this, but then, I already did in the "If LDing is real then what about..." thread. So here you go.

I won't pretend to have read this entire thread, but after reading the first page (took me long enough), I noticed how some of the people were saying they don't understand why lucid dreaming would be comparable to things like telepathy and future telling, while many others thought it made perfect sense to compare them.

I, personally, am one of the people who never once considered comparing lucid dreams to these so called psychic phenomena, and among all the people I've told about lucid dreaming, I'm pretty sure there was no one who didn't believe what I was telling them, was possible.
However, hardly any of these people were so enthusiastic about it that they were actually willing to keep a dream journal or something. This also depends on how much I explain to someone. Generally, people become more interested, the more I talk about it.

Now my cousin, who's just as much into lucid dreaming as I am, told some people too, nearly everyone he told about lucid dreaming reacted - you might have seen it coming - at least a little bit like he was crazy. This got to a point where he didn't want to tell people about it anymore.

This example, along with the different views in this thread, indicate that it greatly differs from person to person. The question is: is this because of the person who's giving the information or because of the one who's receiving it? In other words: did I just explain things differently than my cousin did, making it easier for people to believe what they were hearing? Or are the people he told relatively closed minded or something.

I think it's mostly about the way you explain the whole concept to someone. Given the fact that We've both been getting the same kind of reaction over and over with no (or in my cousin's case maybe a few) exceptions. Plus, I've talked about it to a lot of different people that I know from a lot of different perspectives (i.e. friends, family, neighbours, people I met on vacation, people online, etc.). It's hard to believe that they're all the same kind of people.

Now then, my claim here is this:
Those oneironauts (I could just say "lucid dreamers" but it's such a cool word. It deserves to be used) who would compare lucid dreams to psychic phenomena (even when they believe in the former and not in the latter) are the ones who can't get the people around them to believe their lucid dreaming tales, because they talk about it as if it were something otherworldly.
I would imagine someone like this answering the question "what is a lucid dream" by saying something like: a dream where you can control everything and fly through the sky and blow people up and have sex with your favorite celebrity.

The ones who don't see the logic in this comparison, however would give an answer to that same question, which is closer to the exact definition: a dream in which you know that you are dreaming. Think about it for a second. Doesn't that sound much easier to believe? Doesn't sound like a psychic phenomenon at all, right?

Obviously, most people won't read a post that long. So here's what it basically said: some people explain lucid dreaming as being something really amazing and possibly life-changing. These people aren't wrong, as we all know, but they make their stories a lot harder to believe. Others, when explaining, just state the definition (i.e a dream in which you know you're dreaming) and expand from there. That doesn't make it sound impossible at all.
This makes all the difference in the world as to whether you get weird looks from your friends or whether they'll want you to tell them more.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

I'd write something about this, but then, I already did in the "If LDing is real then what about..." thread. So here you go.
Obviously, most people won't read a post that long. So here's what it basically said: some people explain lucid dreaming as being something really amazing and possibly life-changing. These people aren't wrong, as we all know, but they make their stories a lot harder to believe. Others, when explaining, just state the definition (i.e a dream in which you know you're dreaming) and expand from there. That doesn't make it sound impossible at all.
This makes all the difference in the world as to whether you get weird looks from your friends or whether they'll want you to tell them more.

Thank you for summarizing that haha I saw that quote and

But yeah I agree.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

I'd write something about this, but then, I already did in the "If LDing is real then what about..." thread. So here you go.
Obviously, most people won't read a post that long. So here's what it basically said: some people explain lucid dreaming as being something really amazing and possibly life-changing. These people aren't wrong, as we all know, but they make their stories a lot harder to believe. Others, when explaining, just state the definition (i.e a dream in which you know you're dreaming) and expand from there. That doesn't make it sound impossible at all.
This makes all the difference in the world as to whether you get weird looks from your friends or whether they'll want you to tell them more.

That's my inclination as well; I don't believe in the paranormal, and don't make lucid dreaming out to be anything more than realizing you're dreaming and deciding to change things.

Fact of the matter is I've never talked to anyone who hadn't had a lucid dream in some form of another, even if it's just "I realized I was dreaming so I willed myself to wake up" during a nightmare.

Thanks for the reply.

I think that some people that do not believe in LDs think that knowing that you are in a dream is part of the dream, i mean, it was part of the dream to "think" and realize they were dreaming and that what they did to "change it" was also part of the dream.

once believed that, but after finding this site, that's no more XD

Well sometimes when my LD (I barely have LDs -.-) is not too vivid I think that, but then I realize or remember something that happened while I was dreaming (like hearing WL noises) and my spirits are rised again =D
(yes I know that's strange but it discourages me every time I don't have a long LD or it isn't too vivid)

Well yes, back to topic, most probably that's what happens.

Well my parents are ex-contryside settles, proud catholics, with ounces of prejudice

when I tried to talk tothem about it, my mother said "what about the easter rabbit?"

after that i never talked to them abotu it anymore


but my friends mostly understand it and have interest on the subject. a friend of mine does usually ask me if i have already reality-checked that day and ti is great

Originally Posted by Brandon Heat

Because it is Taboo >_> It's not like the news or anything talks about it or you ever hear people on T.V. talk about it I mean the discovery channel doesn't even talk about (Might of done a special but how long ago was that) so yeah if it was more out in public people wouldn't be so weird about it.

I have seen it on the news.

Here it is,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM8pf5-COw8

Hehe, that guy says hes a lucid master, can he time dialate, dream share, what not. i doubt it

Originally Posted by Kromoh

Well my parents are ex-contryside settles, proud catholics, with ounces of prejudice

when I tried to talk tothem about it, my mother said "what about the easter rabbit?"

after that i never talked to them abotu it anymore


but my friends mostly understand it and have interest on the subject. a friend of mine does usually ask me if i have already reality-checked that day and ti is great

When i tried to tell my dad he kept giving me the "yea right" look, then he said "ok so why dont we see people flying around then?"

I just gave up, ill keep it to myself now.

I hate it when tv show/movies try to depict what dreaming looks like by inverting the colors, flashing images, and playing that new age music in the background. That is not what dreaming looks like!

Well, I guess I can't speak for everyone. Maybe I'm just the only one who doesn't have new age music for their dream soundtrack.

Think Gallifrey from Doctor Who.

Guess I'm lucky because everyone I've ever talked to about dreaming usually becomes interested in it and wants to start sharing their dreams with me.

Even my wife who is probably one of the least metaphysical people around, now shares her dreams every day, and wants to know what I dreamed about.

Maybe it's the way I approach people because I just tell them how much fun I have in my dreams without really mentioning lucid dreaming, and then tell them that what is the most fun is when a person suddenly realize they are dreaming and can do whatever they want to do in their dreams.

I then give them some examples of what they can do if they become aware in their dreams like floating or being able to visit anywhere they want to go simply by thinking about where they want to go.

What's really neat is to tell someone that one of these nights they are going to suddenly realize they are dreaming, and that they will then understand what I am talking about, and then have them report back later that suddenly while in the middle of a dream that they remembered what I told them and became aware that they were dreaming and started floating up in the air.

some people will just have said "i'm dreaming" in their dreams, but not actually do anything about it and say that they have lucid dreamed. It kind of bugs me, because they're like "yeah, it's not all that great" and they wont listen when I tell them that they didn't acutally do it. I've never gotten someone thinking I'm crazy because of it. Some people i've told say it's crazy in a fun way, and others like my sister think it's just stupid and pointless.

Originally Posted by Volcon

can he time dialate,

isn't that where you "stop time" in your dreams to make the lucid seem to last a lot longer than it really is? if that's what you mean, i thought that was impossible

Originally Posted by luv2dream

isn't that where you "stop time" in your dreams to make the lucid seem to last a lot longer than it really is? if that's what you mean, i thought that was impossible

Yeah, like making an hour-long dream in real life last a year in the dream. It's all very complicated, but it is possible.

Maybe its close minded people. In my part of the country most people were raise in a christian home and the beliefs have stuck with them even if they dont nessicarily live that lifestyle. I think the majority of christians and are closed mined to things like that out of fear and call it new age gobbledygook because it is something they had never heard of and dont want to "risk eternal damnation". I am a christian and I never thought of it that way. I know that lucid dreaming is all in the mind. It's just dreams. However, the only person that has been open to it is a man at work that who has a Vietnamese mom. He says it would be cool to do that and wished he could but he never seems interested in learning. I am thinking his mom is a Budhist and is probalbly in to meditaion and such. Perhaps it is geographical and linked to religious upbringing. My wife only tolerates it and most people get quiet and give me and odd look even though I explain it about the same way you do. You can talk about dreams to people but mention dream control and they shy away. Why is that? I just keep it to myself and only occasionaly tell my buddy at work. At least there' s dreamviews!

there all close minded pple , who judge things before they dont even try or know

People reject ideas or concepts they do not understand. This is magnified if they fear it.