When You Know It's a Dream, But You're Not Lucid... (Pseudo-Lucidity)

[TheSHM]

I remember the day- September 29th, 2011. That day, I had one of the most vivid and plainly bizarre cyberpunk-free running dreams to date. I knew from the get go what I was witnessing was a dream. I was aware of everything, and I wasn't myself, but a character I created for a story (oddly enough, the opposite sex as well). But despite making decisions and playing out the dream, at no point was I lucid. I felt like a robot, where all my decisions were made for me, even though I was that aware. It was like a third person novel, to an extent. Has this ever happened to you? Pseudo-lucidity, I mean, where it seems like you're lucid dreaming, but you're really not? (And I'm not talking about a lucid dream within a dream) Like your mind's playing a video game and both are and are not really there?

[paigeyemps]

Hi there. I just read a thread which talked about something like this. I'll just quote what I replied on there: I think there is a difference between knowing you are dreaming, and understanding you are dreaming. In a normal dream, some part of you may know it's a dream, and you go about your activies. You can fly and shoot lasers out of your palms without thinking twice about it. You may even be talking to a DC about it being a dream (which has happened to me plenty of times). But when you get that snap, where you realize and understand "Oh! This is a dream! I can do whatever I wish, there are no laws" – and truly comprehend its implications, I think that's when you're truly lucid. I don't really think you have to say the words, as long as it's what you're thinking – though saying it out loud can reinforce it too. The thing is, you can say "I'm dreaming!" over and over and not really think about it. On the other hand, you can also say "I'm dreaming" in awe and amazement when the true realization dawns upon you. I've heard many people talk about this, even I have experienced it a number of times. I guess it's a good idea to practice and try to boost your awareness to help you get that extra push over the edge and into the realization.

[Robot_Butler]

I get a lot of dreams like this. I will know that I am dreaming, but not fully understand what that means. Sometimes the dream is happening in third person, like watching a movie. Other times, I am lucid, but not myself. Like you described, I am a character playing a role in a story. I think there is a whole range of lucidity.

[dutchraptor]

Often I am not aware but I have the thought "I should wake up and write this down" in the back of my head. Often for me the actual dream is unnaffected by it but I know that I am one step closer to being able to think logically and apply real life logic to non-lucid dream.

[SnowyCat]

Sometimes that happens to me, where I know I'm dreaming, but it doesn't really feel right for me to become lucid. I dunno, like if the dream has an interesting enough "plot", I just like to sit back and enjoy the ride.

[fennecgirl]

Actually, that is technically a lucid dream. Control is irrelevant; you just have to know you're dreaming in order to be lucid.

[Azul]

Omg this has happened to me quite a bit lately, it's funny because it's like I'm hearing myself narrate and then suddenly I "force" myself to become lucid and take control.

[MasterMind]

This is the problem with the term lucidity. I mean let's say that you know you are dreaming and you scream "I am dreaming!" But are completley unaware that dream characters aren't real and that your physical body is laying in a bed and the most annoying of all, you still think that the dream situation that happened before you got lucid is important... Does this mean that you are generally aware? In my eyes... No. Although when I was a beginner I might have reasoned differently. Let's pretend you are a stone collector and your goal is to find a stone, obviously. Let's say you never have seen a stone before and you find a grain of sand, then this if of big value to you. But when you then find a big rock, well then the grain of sand look pale compared to the rock. Lucidity simply means "Being aware that one is dreaming while dreaming" but remember that we are slightly aware of the dream when we dream as well, otherwise we wouldn't remember the dream at all. So for me I think awareness is a better word, because awareness to me means that you have knowledge of things. While lucidity only means to be aware of one of these things which is the knowledge of knowing that one is dreaming. Since that knowledge is very undefined it is obvious that we will have trouble understanding what it really means. Lucidity is just a small part of all the things that awareness can achieve. Awareness simply means to know something and the more you know the more aware you are. If I am aware that I am dreaming, have a body laying in a physical bed, are in control of the dream and know that the dream situation isn't important well then we talk about that kind of awareness we usually associate lucid dreaming with and long for. The problem with this pseudo-lucidity or lucidity at all is that nobody else can decide if you were lucid or simply dreaming that you think you were lucid, only you can truly know. If you don't think you was aware while dreaming it, well then that's probably right. But at the same time, does it matter really what it was and what not? The important thing is what you get out of it. I have learned lots of things about myself from normal dreams and experienced many adventures. If you have a low-aware dream and still experience lots of fun things, then it doesn't really matter if it is lucid or not right? So see the value of the experience itself and you will appreciate both lucid dreams and normal dreams because they are both the same thing.. DREAMS!

[dutchraptor]

Actually, that is technically a lucid dream. Control is irrelevant; you just have to know you're dreaming in order to be lucid. I wouldn't exactly agree with this, obviously with lucidity comes the power to make decisions which he didn't show in his dream. He might have known it was a dream but that doesn't mean he was aware of the implications, and without that there really isn't much lucid dreaming going on. Sure he was at a more aware state than usual but that doesn't mean it was lucid dream yet.

[Supernova]

Actually, that is technically a lucid dream. Control is irrelevant; you just have to know you're dreaming in order to be lucid. Not precisely, the key element which is not really specified in the typical definition is conscious awareness, which muse be present before you can really call it lucid. Otherwise your real state of mind is no different than any other dream. They say degree of control is irrelevent, and this is only true in that you might try to do something and not be able to do it for various reasons we won't go into here, but if you;re not conscious enough to try, I wouldn't call that lucid.

[TheSHM]

I wouldn't exactly agree with this, obviously with lucidity comes the power to make decisions which he didn't show in his dream. He might have known it was a dream but that doesn't mean he was aware of the implications, and without that there really isn't much lucid dreaming going on. Sure he was at a more aware state than usual but that doesn't mean it was lucid dream yet. Bingo. I assume I was too amused by what was going on to care about the fact I felt like a robot- fully aware, but a slave, with every part of my body, save my brain, out of my control. Oh, and this happened again a night ago. Same world, same character, just in a different part of town. That dream was epic. I'm starting to love my pseudo-lucid dreams.

[Killgore]

I used to be completely lucid. But recently the dream kinda warps. I'll just be trying to run something over and it will dodge or smash the car. I will it not to, but it happens anyway. Is that normal?

[h1nchm4n]

This is the problem with the term lucidity. I mean let's say that you know you are dreaming and you scream "I am dreaming!" But are completley unaware that dream characters aren't real and that your physical body is laying in a bed and the most annoying of all, you still think that the dream situation that happened before you got lucid is important... Does this mean that you are generally aware? In my eyes... No. Although when I was a beginner I might have reasoned differently. Let's pretend you are a stone collector and your goal is to find a stone, obviously. Let's say you never have seen a stone before and you find a grain of sand, then this if of big value to you. But when you then find a big rock, well then the grain of sand look pale compared to the rock. Lucidity simply means "Being aware that one is dreaming while dreaming" but remember that we are slightly aware of the dream when we dream as well, otherwise we wouldn't remember the dream at all. So for me I think awareness is a better word, because awareness to me means that you have knowledge of things. While lucidity only means to be aware of one of these things which is the knowledge of knowing that one is dreaming. Since that knowledge is very undefined it is obvious that we will have trouble understanding what it really means. Lucidity is just a small part of all the things that awareness can achieve. Awareness simply means to know something and the more you know the more aware you are. If I am aware that I am dreaming, have a body laying in a physical bed, are in control of the dream and know that the dream situation isn't important well then we talk about that kind of awareness we usually associate lucid dreaming with and long for. The problem with this pseudo-lucidity or lucidity at all is that nobody else can decide if you were lucid or simply dreaming that you think you were lucid, only you can truly know. If you don't think you was aware while dreaming it, well then that's probably right. But at the same time, does it matter really what it was and what not? The important thing is what you get out of it. I have learned lots of things about myself from normal dreams and experienced many adventures. If you have a low-aware dream and still experience lots of fun things, then it doesn't really matter if it is lucid or not right? So see the value of the experience itself and you will appreciate both lucid dreams and normal dreams because they are both the same thing.. DREAMS! You are very right about the grain of sand part. When you are first starting to lucid dream, even the slightest awareness in your dreams will make you think its Lucid. I think it is based purely off of lucid experience. Your analyzation is probably one of the best I have seen on this topic. Very well written.