Can Lucid Dreams Replace Waking Life?

For the past day or so I was contemplating the question of whether or not someone who became so familiar and disciplined with lucid dreaming that they choose to live their lives inside their dreams - IE they would only wake up to eat and maintain minimal physical health, perhaps read up on some new information to propel their dreams, then go back to sleep. More so a complete reversal where your waking life means nothing and your dreaming life becomes your primary reality.

Has anyone been crazy enough to attempt this? Would it even be possible or would the person go insane?

There was a time when I was so involved with lucid dreaming, I began to see my sleeping life as just as relevant and important as my waking life. This was some time ago when I was studying Dream Yoga. I was on a polyphasic sleeping schedule, involved with a community of dreamers, and instructing people in dreaming. It was pretty much my full time life.

I found that I kept little to no separation between my dream memories and my waking memories. Polyphasic sleeping and lucid dreaming in short naps totally killed my perception of time.

I did, however always keep a separation between the waking world and the sleeping world. I would have different goals for each world I lived in. While awake, I would do things that are impossible in dreams - Spend time with other people and learn new things. While asleep, I would do things that are impossible while awake - explore other worlds and aspects of my subconscious mind.

I could never imagine having your waking life mean nothing. Real human interaction, reading and learning new information, creating artwork that will still be there the next day, creating relationships with people who will still be there the next day. You would have to have some sort of psychotic break to give these things up.

I find that I edge insanity often while I get into periods of deep thought and other things along those lines, so I would probably go insane after a while.

One would already have to be insane to attempt to alter their life like that though. Could be an alternate to suicide though I guess. :P From now on when people are depressed I'll tell them to lucid dream for a while. :lol:

I would try it if I didn't have to work lol... dreaming is my life somewhat, and work is my life. I am very shy and socially conscious, so it's hard for me to relate to people a lot. Dreams give me the opportunity to react with people without any social phobias. However, work is bringing me out more socially - I think it's good to integrate.

Hand on sloopy, sloopy hang on...

Wouldn't this be pretty much impossible to do since we have a limit on REM sleep?

You could just live out you waking life as a boring and pointless thing then go crazy in your dreams. :lol:

I try to balance it. :D

I don't know if you could keep doing that forever. I mean you could just sleep your life away within a LD and only wake to eat and use the bathroom, but I don't know if you'd be able to go back to sleep completely to be able to return to a LD. I think there is such a thing as being to awake i.e. your body being awake so much that you can't go back to sleep right away. Though, I never tried myself. Though, I think what you're talking about is the point when LD becomes an addiction. When you rather live out your life in a LD then in waking life. LD can be used to help improve your life. Not to decide over one or the other.