Thread: The oldest lucid dreamer you know.

I definitely do not think that it has anything to do with age in the sense that our bodies are changing and whatnot. I think that the main factors are that adults have more going on in their waking lives so they don't have the opportunity to devote the needed time and energy to lucid dreaming.. like moonbeam said.

I thought Seeker was older than you pj?

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

I definitely do not think that it has anything to do with age in the sense that our bodies are changing and whatnot. I think that the main factors are that adults have more going on in their waking lives so they don't have the opportunity to devote the needed time and energy to lucid dreaming.. like moonbeam said.

I totally agree, I think too that we're born with the ability only very few of us actually tune the skill. We're told that dreaming is nonsense and spend the majority of the rest of our lives unlearning how to understand our dreaming. When (if even) we start to try again later in life there is a LOT of damage to be undone before we get back to where we started out at in the first place.
I'm trying very hard to get my daughter (almost 4) in tune with her dreams so that she never has to unlearn and relearn the way I did. I just wish to Jebus that someone had been there for me when I was little, it would have been SO MUCH easier than starting over again.

I am the only person I have met that has lucid dreams . Anyways, I'm not so sure that aging has no physical affect on lucid dreaming. It's known that the brain, along with its functions, degenerates with age (sorry but it's true ). So age must at some point physically interfere with dreaming, especially when it comes to dream recall.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

I am the only person I have met that has lucid dreams . Anyways, I'm not so sure that aging has no physical affect on lucid dreaming. It's known that the brain, along with its functions, degenerates with age (sorry but it's true ). So age must at some point physically interfere with dreaming, especially when it comes to dream recall.

Yeah like in the case of say a 90 year old...

Actually yeah, I'm sure your ability to remember dreams is correlated with your ability to remember things in waking life. So in general, as you get older, your memory in general starts to go, and hence your dream recall.

But again, I don't think this should be a hindrance unless you are of advanced years.

The guy who introduced to lucid dreaming just turned 57 (I believe) a few weeks ago. He still does LD but only about once every few months because he's not been actively engaged in it in years now.
I think age does affect one's LD ability but not in a way that can't be countered with conscious attention and working at it, like what we here at DV. It's common for natural LDers to be so at a young age then taper off or completely lose it as they grow to adulthood.

[mytheory] The focus of daily attention from play and fantasy to awareness of the external world and responsibility tends to make dreams more distant to us. As we become more a part of the external world the inner world gets squelched and muted. Children tend to be better at dream recall, or at least more aware of the dream world. But, generally speaking, as they learn to distinguish that dreams are not the real world*, the perceived importance of dreams lessens. [/mytheory]

In the very ways that we - as active** LDers - improve our odds of success, anyone with a sound mind (able to understand what 'dreams' are) of any age can have lucid dreams. I think a lot of it (especially for non-naturals) is about mindshare. Restore mindshare to childhood levels and you improve your odds of becoming lucid in the dream state. Even if that mindshare is on a subconscious level.



* Not necessarily in a lucid dream sense but rather, in terms of after the fact recollection.

** Active in the sense of intentional attention to (and mental occupation with) dreams during waking life.

A bit off-topic but...

I know it's a serious thread but we were all thinking it.

On-topic though: the age difference is pretty obvious. A new age is upon us when people are becoming wiser, more open-minded, etc.
Before, lucid dreaming seems to have been the kind of deep secret kept only by zen monks and what not. Then along came LaBerge and others and...here we are!

Originally Posted by Merlock

A new age is upon us when people are becoming wiser, more open-minded, etc.

Ahhh... I think that explains perfectly the reason for all the youngsters on DV. I think that in some point in the future if/when lucid dreaming becomes very popular, a place like DV will see a much more equal age distribution.

Edit: And of course it also has to do with which group tends to use the internet the most.

Depends on what ages you are talking about. I used to lucid dream from when I was about 12 I think, might have been younger, but they were all natural DILDs and only occurred sporadically.

Since then, now being almost 26, I can lucid dream pretty much as often as I like through induction techniques learnt. So for me, getting older, has made me get better..

I think later in life though, this could change with deteriorating health etc, and I think this would play a big part, that and the fact you sleep a lot less when you get older, so you have less REM sleep, from which most lucid dreams occur so you are shortening the window of opportunity for them.

Just my thoughts..

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Edit: And of course it also has to do with which group tends to use the internet the most.

Yes, it has a LOT to do with that, as far as the website goes. I don't think that Dreamviews gives an honest, random sampling of lucid dreamers by the very nature of the Internet and the demographic that generally has the most time to spend on forums.