Quote Originally Posted by jongiambi View Post
It takes next to no thinking power you look at your hands when your awake and in the dream you look by habit and see your hands look wavy or have less or more fingers and you become lucid.
well yeah but this thread is about failed reality checks, I'm assuming that the hands one is common enough that this thread wouldn't exist if it were indeed a completely foolproof test... as remembering waking up certainly is

while we're on the topic... I also like the technique of examining something closely to see if its texture is consistent. This is also a technique used to extend the lucid dream if you are indeed in one, I remember seeing on these forums (don't remember exactly where). Try to pick something complicated... I'm looking at the wood grain of my loft for example, a bunch of small swirls and dots that remain completely constant when I stare at them.