Live the Dream

[Lux Mundi]

Perhaps this is a question posed more often than not, but it is one that has a habit of being asked each waking morning. Should one be given the option, what is the choice oneironauts would find comfort in? To dream till their day of departure, or to live the life that is defined as "real"? One however must factor into the equation many variables that would affect a choice. These factors simply would be, to the dreamer, ignorance to their current condition in the world of the awake. One could speculate on whether the dream was merely deeply and everlastingly asleep, or in a situation similar to the one pictured above. One would logically conclude their inactive body would be taken care of by those around them. Given these factors, one must decide what their choice would be, and why? What is more appealing to the oneironaut? The freedom of the false reality, or the scrutiny of the waking world? Discuss

[ZmillA]

This is a real question. I would have to say that a person who truly believes they have nothing to live for, would probrably choose to dream all the time. Would they be able to get lucid or even have a somewhat pleasent experience with that state of mind? who knows. Id rather have it both ways, live and dream. If forced to choose, I'd choose to live.

[ChaybaChayba]

I don't even know if the dreaming world is real or not. It might as well be another manifestation of reality, if you believe in astral projection. Maybe we go to dreamland when we die.. who knows? Anyway, right now I see lucid dreaming as a way to create a world inside your mind which you can use to discover your subconscious and train certain skills, and experience things you can't experience in the physical world. If theres no way of contacting other people in your dreams, I would choose to live here on earth, thats for sure.

[Robot_Butler]

Thank god we will never have to chose. I would chose the waking life. I love real people more than I could love any dream.

[Flying Mandarine]

I like that comic you put! I would definitely choose real life, as my actions in waking life will have an effect on people around me. It is much, much easier to save the world (or, let's be less ambitious, improve other beings' lives, or even just our planet's life, or just making someone smile) in a dream, but it has actual consequences if you do it in real life. I would definitely live in a permanent dream if that reason wouldn't count, though.

[Lëzen]

Although the prospect of living in perpetual lucidity is appealing at first glance, I would have to say that real life would be better, just by scrutinizing people's accounts here of their lucid dreams: many people are, it seems, unable to control their dreams to a level that is satisfactory to them. Experiences they have in LDs, they also say, are usually less satisfying than they are in real life. Though, Robot and ZmillA make good points: A) we'll never have to choose between the two worlds, and B) the way we are now, we can have the best of both worlds. Win-win.

[RBee]

I take it 99% reading these forums own television sets. Why? That image you sit and stare at for many hours every week isn't real. Well, it is at some place in some time, but it's bringing in a 'reality' that's probably many hundreds or thousands of miles away, showing you people you will probably never meet, and it's usually recorded (something in the past) Now think about that, then consider Lucid Dreaming. It's time you must already spend immobilized and inactive, unlike time spent while staring at the images on the TV screen. And on top of that, it's 3D and a REAL experience to you, the dreamer. It's the same, with the exception of the impact of the 'events' on the world around you. And to sum it up, I couldn't choose. To me they compliment each other, much the same way TV compliments everyone's life. It would be just as insane to try and spend your life watching television rather than get out and live life, they have their 'one world to hope for'. Although some people do this to an extreme.