The End of Drug Abuse and Depresssion as we know it.

[ethan_hines]

If all of humanity "wakes up" to the potential of controlling their dreams, why would anyone continue to abuse drugs? Forget Virtual Reality, we have it right now , right here in our minds. We just have to realize it's there. Is it easy? No, not right now but as science gets caught up there will be more energy put into developing effective unobtrusive techniques to alert us when we are dreaming. We are at a threshold of a new era, an era of craving sleep to enter the impossible world of dreams. Where the impossible becomes possible. Where we really DO get what we want. Which begs the question, if Dream Reality is more inviting then Physical Reality, will we abandon our physical lives. No, I don't think so. After all we have to eat, and frequent the washroom. Needless to say though we are in for a WILD ride.

[DarkLucideity]

I hope lucid dreaming doesn't get mainstream. You can see that by how non-mainstream it already is. It would get fucked up somehow. Who knows how? Maybe everyone would do it wrong and spread misinformation about how to LD, maybe laws would be passed about it, maybe people would just be pricks about it, maybe it would be talked about so much it gets annoying as fuck. I don't think people are ready for lucid dreaming yet. They should get the rest of their shit together before trying something like LDing. EDIT: God, can you imagine what the "new age" people would do to LDing?! They're the ones that made dream interpretation so "out there" in the first place! Not only that, what if some people conclude that if they can have any experience they want, life doesn't matter so much anyway? Why work, if I can get just enough to get by and sleep? Then the economy would be fucked! All in all, I don't think most people would be able to appreciate lucid dreaming anyway. They'd use it for the fun experiences, flying, but nothing more. Not as a tool or to learn about oneself at all. Sure the fun is great, but it's nice when LDing is more meaningful.

[Hazel]

Even with lucid dreaming, people will still continue to abuse drugs. There are a lot of other reasons people do drugs than for the trip, after all. Some of them are really depressed and see it as a way out. Others are just hopelessly addicted and cannot find the motivation/willpower to get off of them. And sadly, a lot of people are just not into the idea of lucid dreaming. A lot of them have the frame of mind, "I just want to sleep." Plus, it's often misunderstood as some creepy New Age movement.

[Abra]

We only have a certain amount of REM before we can't REM for the rest of the day. Of course, with the right drugs, you can have as much REM sleep as you want.

[Arutad]

Forget Virtual Reality, we have it right now , right here in our minds. Not everybody enjoys dream control. If you ever tried telling somebody about LDing and he didn't react to the notion of how awesome dream control is, you know what I mean. There are such people among LDers, too, but rarer, perhaps because it's the idea of dream control that usually draws people to LDing. But it isn't ever going to replace things like drugs and TV for the majority. Besides, they're easier and take up waking time, and for somebody hating life a pleasant activity during awaken life is needed, not during sleep. but as science gets caught up there will be more energy put into developing effective unobtrusive techniques to alert us when we are dreaming. We are at a threshold of a new era, an era of craving sleep to enter the impossible world of dreams. There may be complications. For example, now certain brain parts get shut off when we sleep, but if we create an everlasting lucidity, it could be done by powering up parts connected to logic. They may be shut off for a good reason.

[DarkLucideity]

There may be complications. For example, now certain brain parts get shut off when we sleep, but if we create an everlasting lucidity, it could be done by powering up parts connected to logic. They may be shut off for a good reason. Exactly. If people start thinking logically, there will be more people like me. DO YOU WANT THAT? Of course not!!! lul Also, I'm pretty sure people won't want to put the effort into lucid dreaming. Drugs and TV take only a few seconds for the fun to start, and people just don't have that great of an attention span.

[Catbus]

Also, I'm pretty sure people won't want to put the effort into lucid dreaming. Drugs and TV take only a few seconds for the fun to start, and people just don't have that great of an attention span. Unfortunately, you're completely right on that one.

[cygnus]

Needless to say though we are in for a WILD ride. O! good pun, sirrah. however, i think the end of drug use would be a false awakening ho ho. sorry. this is a nice idea, but from a holistic perspective drug abuse and depression are part of a social context and without a straightforward antidote. whereas in a more idealized indigenous culture there is only meaningful, healthy drug use (i.e. entheogens) and little to no depression, we live without the fundamental wisdom that the earth provides all we need if we respect it and we bask in the illusory glow of material riches requiring interconnections of seemingly irreversible economic and industrial factors. the western mind is saturated with everything opposing what is non-material and spiritually self-sufficient, and if lucid dreaming were more accessible i'm sure hannah montana would make a movie about it and i would hang myself.

[Shift]

Don't think so. Different drugs do different things for different people, and the results of that can be vastly different from what you get out of lucid dreams. Not to mention, the amount of effort that must be put in consistently to get to the point where lucid dreams are doing that much for you is not likely something that someone who wants a quick escape from reality is going to use. The LD experience is far too inconsistent, time consuming, and difficult to ever replace the joint or booze or whatever other drug or depression. Not to mention, escapism doesn't really seem to cure depression. Regardless of what you're using to escape.

[JamesLD]

im pretty sure if more and more people found out about lucid dreaming the government would make it illegal.

[GestaltAlteration]

If all of humanity "wakes up" to the potential of controlling their dreams, why would anyone continue to abuse drugs? - Because some drugs can feel hundreds of times better than the best lucid dream. - Drugs last longer and are more reliable to get a desired result. - Because lucid dreaming doesn't help with a withdraw process for those deep in addiction. - Reasons others have mentioned.

[debussy]

Not being a total loser in your dreams dosen't change reality duh.

[thedogsmeow]

I've been thinking the same thing for years! Our brains can create whole worlds in our sleep without any effort on our part - we don't even have to change the channel like you do on a TV remote (lol). As with anything though, too much of anything is never good, including dreams. Our minds are capable of producing drugs by themselves, we just need to tap into our brain's potential! For example, by merely exercising, which is a healthy activity, our body produces endorphins which gives us that happy/feel good feeling. Our brain produces adreneline when we feel excited/scared. I'm sure there's many more examples of the brain's ability to produce drugs on its own.

[Snowy Egypt]

im pretty sure if more and more people found out about lucid dreaming the government would make it illegal. the western mind is saturated with everything opposing what is non-material and spiritually self-sufficient, and if lucid dreaming were more accessible i'm sure hannah montana would make a movie about it and i would hang myself. Too late. There was already an episode where she was Lucid Dreaming.

[Falsn]

Too late. There was already an episode where she was Lucid Dreaming. Are you fucking kidding me, there is? /facepalm I bet she didn't even know what it really is. She's just an actor anyway...

[wwe101]

well lucid dreaming doesnt really take much effort, all you really have to do for DILD is to just basically build recall and daily awareness, and theres also the timer method which is almost instant LDs at will that doesnt require any work put in it. i hope LD'ing doesnt become mainstream though, becuase you know people are going to try to make money off of it.

[cygnus]

Too late. There was already an episode where she was Lucid Dreaming. well fuck me what do you know... i guess the government wouldn't make it illegal, disney would just crap some more on our collective unconscious.

[DarkLucideity]

Too late. There was already an episode where she was Lucid Dreaming. "Oh look, I know I'm in a dream." Doesn't mean lucid dreaming is mainstream. It's just a plot device that she knows. This is the video, if you want to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zexZ3jQLDc By the way, a DC tells her that she's dreaming. "I think just Miley is terrific!" not terrific enough to have a show or fans bitch.

[Snowy Egypt]

EDIT: Darn you poj....You beat me to it. Are you fucking kidding me, there is? /facepalm I bet she didn't even know what it really is. She's just an actor anyway... Okay, so maybe she had a little help, but that looks like dream control to me.

[DarkLucideity]

EDIT: Darn you poj....You beat me to it. Okay, so maybe she had a little help, but that looks like dream control to me. Yeah but it's not like she and her fans are doing reality checks or looking for dreamsigns.

[P1nhead]

Ummm Ethan, just curious. Have you ever tried drugs? LDing and drugs are two completely different things. Geastalt nailed the overall concept pretty well, but you really need to know what something is actually like before an assumption like that is made. It is a good idea though, just a tad improbable.

[iank]

Not if it's as difficult as it is for me. Been trying for a couple of years now, but have only had a couple of lucid dreams, and aside from floating around the house, and once outside, nothing terribly interesting has happened and they don't last very long. Am rather disappointed with it, frankly...

[Bu5hman]

I'm a dreamer and a drug abuser and it's safe to say they're two very different things. A trip from hallucinogenics does share a few aspects with dreams, but the overall experience is totally different.

[holyhammers]

If someone sleeps 8 hours and lucid dreams every night Theres still those 16 other hours people will use to abuse drugs.

[DarkLucideity]

I was thinking of responding to the WILD pun with an inappropriate "DILD" joke but I decided not to. Just telling everyone.