Thread: Point of View

I've never had anything other than first person LDs. Would be interesting to have one in 3rd.

Hey Sean,

There's really no such thing as a semi-lucid- you either realize or do not realize that you are in a dream. If it's the latter, it's a lucid dream. In lucid dreams, the point of view can vary. For me, they are almost always in the first person. Most of my dreams are in the first person, though. Some people have third person dreams, and also in first person dreams during some sort of dramatic/extreme event the view sometimes can switch into third person mode. Check out this link http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...99&postcount=4

Generally 1st person, and rarely 3rd person.

I'm not sure actually, I've never really thought of it. But I'm pretty sure that I've had dreams appear as both 1st person and 3rd person.

I regularly switch between 1st and 3rd person points of view, shifting between my dream persona and other characters who become the focus of the dream at that point in time. I think I'm probably more often in 1st person POV, and when I've become lucid I always jump into 1st person.

Personally, I have had a number of what I would consider "pre-lucid" dreams, where you're aware that something is going on or that you're able to exert some level of semi-conscious control over the dream, but you're not specifically aware that you're dreaming. I enjoy them and wish I had them more often... actually I wish I was fully lucid more often, but I'll take pre-lucid when I can get it. As far as point of view in those instances, I'm often in 1st person (as myself, not another DC), but if I switch to 3rd, I'm watching myself interact with the environment.

95% of the time i dream in 1st person, but i've had a few dreams where i dream in 3rd person. I hate those kind of dreams to, because i can't do anything, can't talk or anything. In fact about a week or two ago i had a 3rd person dream and i couldn't do anything.

Originally Posted by Shift

Hey Sean,

There's really no such thing as a semi-lucid- you either realize or do not realize that you are in a dream.

Or, you can have a nagging feeling or suspicion that you may be dreaming...which can lead to some dream manipulation but not full blown awareness or lucidity.

Hence, a semi-lucid dream.

Mostly in third person, but rarely in 3rd person.

Occasionally I've had dreams where I'm not part of them at all (no one knows I'm there, and I'm floating somwhere above all the action.) But those have always been in non-lucids.

Originally Posted by Captain Sleepalot

Or, you can have a nagging feeling or suspicion that you may be dreaming...which can lead to some dream manipulation but not full blown awareness or lucidity.

Hence, a semi-lucid dream.

If that happens and I give it up and don't become lucid it's a non-lucid, if I do make the connection it's a lucid. It's like an on-off switch IMO. That fine line is a transition period, but not really a state itself.

Originally Posted by Shift

If that happens and I give it up and don't become lucid it's a non-lucid, if I do make the connection it's a lucid. It's like an on-off switch IMO. That fine line is a transition period, but not really a state itself.

Aw, I hate to disagree with you shift, as you're always so lovely...
BUUUUUT....

I think that lucidity is more of a spectrum, just like daily awareness is a spectrum ranging from total mental clarity, all the way down to a kind of drunk groggyness.

The book "The Conscious Exploration of Dreams" (fantastic book everyone should read) outlines various different levels of lucidity, and the states leading up to it.

I've certainly had lucid dreams in which the levels of my mental clarity are far more intense. Then there are the lucid dreams where i'm hovering between knowing im dreaming, but still getting caught up in the drama of the dream as if it were real.

But I do very much understand where you are coming from, in general the transition from normal dreaming to lucidity does seem very much of an "aha" lightswitch moment.

Yea, I just personally don't care to factor it in unless I am truly lucid, ie knowing for sure that I'm dreaming. Suspicion doesn't cut it for me, since that means I'm still not 100% sure and still partially submersed in the dream. Truly knowing it, for me that's lucidity. I don't believe in defining levels of lucidity either, but some people do. Doesn't really matter I guess. People will feel differently, that's how I do.

lovely?

Originally Posted by spaceexplorer

The book "The Conscious Exploration of Dreams" (fantastic book everyone should read) outlines various different levels of lucidity, and the states leading up to it.

I just got the book in the mail and am about to read it

There are definitely different levels of lucidity for me ranging from being dimly aware that the situation is not real but still being caught up in the events, to being as conscious as when I'm awake with full self-control and access to memories, logic etc. I don't consider the lower end of the scale to be a LD. I can relate to the whole "on/off" switch thing though that Shift and Space Ex refer to. True and complete lucidity feels like "waking up" only I'm still inside the dream.

All my NDs and LDs are in first person. I've only ever had one or two NDs in 3rd.

I've had a couple of 3rd person dreams, one of which was lucid. It was sad because I couldn't do anything though.

I wonder if it's possible to have a second person dream... because as soon as you become "you," the "you" you were becoming becomes an "I," and thus you're in first person. That was about the least coherent sentence I have ever written.

I don't think there's really an in between lucid and not lucid... actually I take that back. Never mind, I don't know what I think. xP There are definitely different levels of lucidity though.

Originally Posted by Shift

Hey Sean,

There's really no such thing as a semi-lucid- you either realize or do not realize that you are in a dream. If it's the latter, it's a lucid dream. In lucid dreams, the point of view can vary. For me, they are almost always in the first person. Most of my dreams are in the first person, though. Some people have third person dreams, and also in first person dreams during some sort of dramatic/extreme event the view sometimes can switch into third person mode. Check out this link http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...99&postcount=4

I have had dreams where I know im dreaming but am not able to control my self. What do you call that?

Originally Posted by LGhost

I have had dreams where I know im dreaming but am not able to control my self. What do you call that?

A lucid dream, what else would it be?

Originally Posted by TheBird

I don't know if I've ever had a lucid dream that I can remember, but I do remember a few semi-lucid ones. I was wondering, when you enter your dream, is your view usually in first-person?

Thanks,

Sean

Ive had dreams switch between 3rd and 1st person, not so much any more, only when I was little.

i thought lucid was when your not only aware of being in a dream but you can do whatever you want in that dream... you know what im saying?

Originally Posted by LGhost

i thought lucid was when your not only aware of being in a dream but you can do whatever you want in that dream... you know what im saying?

Nope, lucid dreaming is just being in a dream and knowing you're dreaming. Dream control is a bonus. But to be lucid, you just have to know it's a dream.

There are varying degrees of lucidity of course. But surely if you truly are lucid in the sense that your mind is awake (even to a small degree), you will have some degree of control. If you have no control whatsoever then you're just dreaming about being lucid, correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by paragon

There are varying degrees of lucidity of course. But surely if you truly are lucid in the sense that your mind is awake (even to a small degree), you will have some degree of control. If you have no control whatsoever then you're just dreaming about being lucid, correct me if I'm wrong.

my instinct tells me your wrong but you make perfect sense... All I can really remember is one time thinking to my self that I hope no one wakes me up from this dream.... Explanation = someone woke me up as soon as I thought that, so they were actually helping me reach lucidity...

To get back on topic...

I usually dream in 3rd and 1st person. It constantly switches for me. I cant seem to stay in one for very long. If i'm lucid, i am very aware that my body is just an object like anything else, and my perspective shifts all over the place But In non lucids, I have an even mix of 3rd and 1st

i have both first and third person dreams but mostly i have both at the same time.its like being in three places at once but only one place too... gah...i can never explain this.ok,i see and feel my body as i am in it but i also see my self from above and from the side at the same time.its like if i am flying over my self and walking beside my self while walking normally all at once.if you can understand that......anywho...i like to think of the three views i get as mind, body and spirit.body is the first person view while mind is the flying one and spirit is the one walking beside me.but i also have plain first person dreams where there is only one me.and i also have plain third person views where there are two of me and i am watching myself from above or to the side.

Originally Posted by paragon

There are varying degrees of lucidity of course. But surely if you truly are lucid in the sense that your mind is awake (even to a small degree), you will have some degree of control. If you have no control whatsoever then you're just dreaming about being lucid, correct me if I'm wrong.

Sorry to pull off topic for a moment, but I just wanted to add that one's "levels of lucidity" can be a subjective experience. Lucidity does not equal control except over one's own thoughts and actions. I think that there is also a difference from a dream persona being lucid and me being lucid. It's one thing for me to be consciously aware of a dream, and another for a DC following the story of the dream (with the story being that he/she is dreaming).

And ray, I think I know what you're talking about to a degree. There are times where my point of view is focused on a certain character (being myself or not) and I'm both aware of acting as that person as well as viewing them from an external point of view. It's often when that happens that my persona switches characters.

Originally Posted by Amethyst Star

one's "levels of lucidity" can be a subjective experience. Lucidity does not equal control except over one's own thoughts and actions. I think that there is also a difference from a dream persona being lucid and me being lucid. It's one thing for me to be consciously aware of a dream, and another for a DC following the story of the dream (with the story being that he/she is dreaming).

:bravo:
And even to some extent not over your own thoughts or actions!