Originally posted by Howetzer
Kind of like tricking your mind???
I think that your own brain would have to possess the answer. Meaning that a dream character doesn't have the answer. I don't think this is what you were saying. But the process could tap deep down into your subconcious and withdraw wisdom you never realized you had.

I like this idea. Who would I call opon
No, that's exactly what I was saying. A dream is just a manifestation of your mind, so how else could you possibly come up with an answer in a dream if you didn't already possess the constituent parts of the answer? Usually when I'm having problems with physics and math homework, it's not because I lack the knowledge necessary to find the answer, but that I'm just not looking at the problem in the correct way. And almost inevitably when I realize the answer in almost a moment of epiphany, I myself because in hindsight it seems so natural and obvious. But when first attacking such a problem, it can appear almost impossible. The idea was exactly to trick the subconscious into thinking that the answer is easy-- in fact, that it is already known by this DC expert standing helpfully before you as your own private Nobel Laureate tutor.

So if the person having the problem is in that position because he or she failed to study the material, that method I described won't help, but if s/he has done all the studying necessary to solve the problem, but just can't seem to put it all together coherently and usefully, that "manifest and expert" method might be worth a shot.