Thread: Scientific breakthroughs?

I think everyone lucid dreams for different reasons - science, pleasure, or just for the experience. For people that believe in OBE's and Astral Projection and such, there's also the element of expanding your mind past the borders of the earth.

Personally, I lucid dream mainly because I'm amazed at what my brain can create when left to its own devices. Having fun is certainly an advantage (and it can be a lot of fun), but I don't think people can really lucid dream just for the pleasure without wondering about the brain from a scientific viewpoint, even if just a little.

And like you said, answers. I don't believe you could ever learn facts you don't already know (though people who believe in OBE's would disagree), but lucid dreaming could be a powerful tool for getting answers about yourself, or analyzing problems in your life. I've never used LDing for that purpose, so maybe someone with a little more experience there can answer that part better.

As for making scientific breakthroughs while dreaming, I doubt it. I can see gaining insight into a scientific problem that leads to its solution while you're awake, but as for actually proving something in a dream, like through experimentation, no. A lot of the fun of dreaming is that it's NOT bound by the science of the real world.

Pshhh lucid dream is a hobby it gives me something to do when I sleep that's it.

I use LDs to have fun during the night

Originally Posted by LucidInCuB!zt

I use LDs to have fun during the night

me too

So far my lucid dreams have been all about fun. My next lucid goal, however, is to confront a specific personal issue and see what my dreams come up with. I think a lot of insight can be given into my personal psyche, and anyone who just uses lucid dreams for fun isn't aware of the potential it has. I am convinced that we can benefit from our lucid dreams in waking life.

Me too

Originally Posted by slayer

What would we do if someone here made some kind of scientic breakthrough with dreaming?

That's a very good point slayer.

The pages of history are full of people who have used dreaming to come up with creative ideas and breakthoughs.

Stephen Labereg reported the case of a surgeon who claims to be able to cut the time of his operations in half by rehearsing them in lucid dreams or half-dream states, and Jack Nicklaus dreamed up a new golf grip that made a winning difference in his game.

Many composers have gotten their best inspiration from dreams with Beethoven composing a canon in his sleep, Tartini hearing a violin sonata of wild beauty played by the devil during one of his dreams which he later transcribed to the best of his ability, Wagner composing the Tristan and Isolde straight from a dream, and Billy Joel crediting the music for many of his songs to be the gift of his dreams.

In addition, Einstein claimed that his theory of relativity came to him while in a dream like state, and I remember hearing that the Rod Sterlings episodes of the Twighlight Zones were from dreams he had.

Yes, dreams are fun. But if that is all a person is getting from them, they are just scrating the surface. But at least they are having fun while scratching the surface, because dreams really are fun. Much more fun than physical reality in my opinion, because of the opportunity to do so many more things in that realm like floating or flying using only ones imagination, which are not possible in the physical realm.

As moonbeam once told me; what else is there to do while you sleep?

Originally Posted by iadr

The pages of history are full of people who have used dreaming to come up with creative ideas and breakthoughs.

Don't forget Otto Loewi dreaming up his breakthrough experiment in which he discovered "Vagustoff" - Acetylcholine, the first chemical neurotransmitter to be identified!

My first intention was to find a way to stay conscious while asleep. Of course, Google led me to LDing.

I intend to adapt WILD to my purposes and see the outcome of it.

And LDs are cool, being in your own mind is a shock of an experience.

Originally Posted by Brandon Heat

Pshhh lucid dream is a hobby it gives me something to do when I sleep that's it.

This is my reason for wanting to lucid dream as well. You're spending a good 1/3 of your life sleeping, why not make all your time as useful as possible! I'll admit that if something more fun than lucid dreaming appears some day, I'm going to jump on that boat right away :p

Originally Posted by slayer

Hmm...I've been wondering...everyone here is working on trying to lucid dream, have OBE's, etc. Are we doing this for science and pleasure? I don't mean sexual pleasure, just something that entertains us. I lucid dream to find answers...none of which I found yet. Even though were doing all this for fun and stuff...what if one of us did something so great that we had accual proof of it. What would we do if someone here made some kind of scientic breakthrough with dreaming?

I'm sorry if this doesn't make any sense but I'm not really sure how to ask the question...

slayer I really don't understand what you are saying. can you explain it in more detail? or maybe give examples?

You know that, when I read Eragon and Eldest by C. Paolini I got inspired by how elves sleep (and dream) consciously. I had already been thinking about the subject, but that was the trigger for me to look it up.

Elves rule even when asleep xD

Originally Posted by dodobird

slayer I really don't understand what you are saying. can you explain it in more detail? or maybe give examples?

Iadr pretty much answered my question.

Originally Posted by pokilty

This is my reason for wanting to lucid dream as well. You're spending a good 1/3 of your life sleeping, why not make all your time as useful as possible! I'll admit that if something more fun than lucid dreaming appears some day, I'm going to jump on that boat right away :p

Funny, I'm writing an article on my website saying exactly that right now
There's another method of using that 1/3 of your life though, but a bit extreme - polyphasic sleep.
It's a technique to drop your sleep down to 2 hours (at the most extreme)

I agree with people that talked about gaining insight about their lives. I think LD's could be a great tool in that perspective. If my life is hectic I'd try and use LD's for that, but if my life was normal boring same-old I'd definatley use it for fun too though

I have lucid dreams wether I want them or not (and believe me, I WANT them), so I decided to find out how to use them. I've used LDs to deal with several personal issues. I use LDs to have fun and relax. I use LDs to inspire my writing and art. I have some health issues, so my body seems to "need" about 9-11 hours of sleep per night. And I just can't see wasting all of that time!

i use LD as way to control my mind while asleep or to have fun or whatever. the thought that you could sit down and wrangle string theory with einstein, newton and hawking based on what you have read about, or learned about it while concious, is exciting. the concious mond has some failings in remembering every little detail about something, but in a dream those forgotten memories could be used to help further your knowlege of something. so i think that if you wanted to, through real world work and LD, after study and experimentation, you could very well invent something or come to some kind of powerful conclusion that would change the world!

Originally Posted by KuRoSaKi

Pshhh lucid dream is a hobby it gives me something to do when I sleep that's it.

Precisly