Thread: Lucid dreaming in mainstream society

That would be cool, the only problem right now is that if it did get mainstream I'm sure it would be protested by various religious groups as "demonic." I obviously realize that it's not, but I feel kind of protective of it. I wouldn't want people tarnishing it's name.

Oh, and digging the avatar by the way.

It would be cool if we got more people to know about and practice it... but eventually society would limit things by putting its own set of ethics and morals on it, then urban myths would take hold, and then all kinds of religious fanatics would call it Satanic and start segments on it at the end of the local news...

If it became mainstream like a religion I think the world may be a more dangerous place. The weak minded will 'merge' dreams and reality as one and there may be more violence/crime as I have seen some posts here that involve killing someone or sexual urges that have been suppressed. So with the current state of human behaviour..No...it's not a good thing. If you remember the movie Matrix...there were some guys who followed that movie and started a shooting spree so same goes for dreaming..there is a tendency to spill over into waking perception if it gets out of hand.

IMJ

I wouldn't like it to become mainstream because I feel a kind of intimacy, knowing that I do something special. If it became huge, it would no longer be "cool" or "unique" for me to be keeping a DJ or doing anything associated with it. I still like the uniqueness, and I don't want that to go away. It has kind of a cult following, and only a few people in my school do it.

A tad off topic, but this thread reminded me of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxAz9hHfhzE

Don't worry, its not a rick roll.

I kinda agree with this one. Not even become a part of mainstream culture but like most people don't even know the phenomenon exists or is controllable, proven, and can be consistently done with some work. I wish there was some sort of general public knowledge on the subject anyways but there doesn't seem to be much of it in many demographics.

I have to disagree. I think of lucid dreaming as being untarnished the way it is now. If mainstream media got a hold of it, who knows what they would make of it. They could advertise it to be useable for a single objective, misleading potential followers of it's true freedom.

Right now it is clean, fine the way it is. Simple, and that is the way I like it.

People are not openned minded to it anyways. I've tried telling people but there not interested... People that are interested in dreams will find it, I'm sure.

I would personnally like for at least people to be more openned minded. They look at you weird if you talk about it. I mean, no one at my school does it (from my knowledge). But I do like it that way too, I mean its cool to be unique, but if I ever told anyone my 'cool' hobbie, they wouldn't think its 'cool'. That's what I dislike...

Indeed, the world would not take Lucid dreaming the way that it's current followers already do. If you want more people to know about lucid dreaming, introduce it to your friends that you know would respect the process. Lately I've intorduced it to some Co-workers, one of which who has already had a short lucid dream since.

There's no telling how people would react to the idea that they could live out their wildest fantasies every night, and it would surely lapse into their waking life. If people choose to remain ignorant to the subject, let them. Many of the people I've discussed lucid dreaming with just think I'm lying, so it's their loss, you know?

here is what is needed for this to happen:

a BLOCKBUSTER movie or popular TV show on the subject of lucid dreaming. something that PROMOTES it as a good thing (how can it be a bad thing?). hey, it worked for poker... how many people were playing no limit texas hold 'em before the movie Rounders came out? yes, it was played, but not NEARLY on the level it is now. it's not even close. that movie really got people excited about poker.

we have Waking Life, of course, which is amazing. but not at ALL something that most Americans can identify with. most of US can identify with it, but many others can't.

we need a CHAMPION... you know, if Bruce Willis publicly starts talking about how cool it is to lucid dream.... BAM, it's mainstream. until something like that happens, it'll stay obscure and we'll be having this same conversation.

by the way, i also agree that it's something that humans are MEANT to do, we're "supposed" to do this. just like we're "supposed" to pee when we have to. if we were taught this growing up, we could probably all lucid dream at will and think nothing of it.

Originally Posted by SleepyCookieDough

People are not openned minded to it anyways. I've tried telling people but there not interested...

i get this too. friends and family rarely get it. but if a celebrity starts championing (is that a word?) this cause, all of a sudden we won't seem so "out there". most of us don't care that we're viewed that way (maybe you aren't), but it's amazing how putting something on TV suddenly makes it "normal". ooh, have Oprah talk about it!!! if she mentions the phrase "lucid dreaming", in 5 minutes it will be the #1 most searched phrase in Google.

Originally Posted by fleeee1

if we were taught this growing up, we could probably all lucid dream at will and think nothing of it.

I'm planning to teach my kids.... But that's in a long time. I'm only 15...

I wish people maintained a higher level of awareness, in general. More aware of their lives, their actions, their thoughts, their dreams. Lucid dreaming would just be a natural side effect of that awareness.

Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

I wish people maintained a higher level of awareness, in general. More aware of their lives, their actions, their thoughts, their dreams. Lucid dreaming would just be a natural side effect of that awareness.

yes

Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

I wish people maintained a higher level of awareness, in general. More aware of their lives, their actions, their thoughts, their dreams. Lucid dreaming would just be a natural side effect of that awareness.

very well put.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. On one hand I do, on one hand I don't.

They say space is the last unknown frontier to be explored..... well I think the mind is the last unexplored frontier.... Are you familiar with the 2012 theory, it is the end of the Mayan calendar, it is what they believed to be the end of the world as we know it. A big theory around it is that people have reached a point of the highest development; (just look at the technological advancement in the 20th century compared to any other one in our history) and that we have reached a peak, the theory goes on to say that at this peak (around december of 2012) we will have to start exploring the unexplored, like the mind and the spiritual world. It pretty much says we must live more lucidly, to be aware of ourselves and our thoughts and our dreams. It's a lot to explain, for those who haven't heard, google the 2012 theory.

I think our dreams will begin to mean a lot more in the coming years and for those of us who are already exploring them, I think we are one step ahead....

Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

They say space is the last unknown frontier to be explored..... well I think the mind is the last unexplored frontier.... Are you familiar with the 2012 theory, it is the end of the Mayan calendar, it is what they believed to be the end of the world as we know it. A big theory around it is that people have reached a point of the highest development; (just look at the technological advancement in the 20th century compared to any other one in our history) and that we have reached a peak, the theory goes on to say that at this peak (around december of 2012) we will have to start exploring the unexplored, like the mind and the spiritual world. It pretty much says we must live more lucidly, to be aware of ourselves and our thoughts and our dreams. It's a lot to explain, for those who haven't heard, google the 2012 theory.

I think our dreams will begin to mean a lot more in the coming years and for those of us who are already exploring them, I think we are one step ahead....

Interesting, I'm googling it! That means that everyone else will join us but we're kinda more evolved! lol!

Honestly I don't even see the world that practices lucid dreaming, I don't even see a world that has a grasp regarding what it is. Perhaps if some really cool and accurate movie was made, maybe a general concept of what it is would arise and things would continue from there- it may come quite unexpectedly at any given time in history or not at all. All I know is that if I try to explain to ppl that I'm LD-ing at this stage in history they think I'm nuts. Hmm perhaps when dream-recording devices are perfected we will be able to demonstrate our abilities.

however I was surprised that one of the ppl I know online for a long time was in fact a DV member

It would be nice if people finally understood what lucid dreaming is, but like it has already been mentioned before, a lot of bad things would come from it going mainstream... like radicals saying that it's " satanic " and weak-minded people who really cant handle it would not be able to tell the difference between dream and reality, and do all sorts of crazy things, and information on it would become very diluted and inaccurate...

I guess I don't see how a bunch of people knowing about lucid dreaming would effect the actual practice negatively; church groups could protest it all they want as "demonic", they can't ban its practice because it all takes place inside your head.

That said, it could possibly reap positive benefits perhaps if it was a mainstream activity but right now it seems to be only people who are really into it that are devoting the time and resources to improve techniques for attaining lucidity, and that is probably just as well.

As someone else mentioned, the best part about people knowing about lucid dreaming is that it increases awareness in general and awareness of the inner in particular.

It's not so cool when everybody does it, right? LDs went mainstream in my country a while ago and now I don't feel so special anymore XD

Are you familiar with the 2012 theory, it is the end of the Mayan calendar, it is what they believed to be the end of the world as we know it.

Urban legend, it's where a new millenium starts in Mayan calendar (13:0:0:0).

Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

I wish people maintained a higher level of awareness, in general. More aware of their lives, their actions, their thoughts, their dreams. Lucid dreaming would just be a natural side effect of that awareness.

Not to mention all the other resulting effects of such a society in all matters of our lives.

Originally Posted by Mertruve

LDs went mainstream in my country a while ago and now I don't feel so special

where do you live?