Sunday, April 13, 2008

Dreams

A lucid dream is when you realize you are in a dream as you are dreaming. There are several levels of lucidity, from waking up and realizing you were dreaming to being conscientiously aware of the fact you are dreaming and being able to control your dream. This control may come easy for some however may be quite difficult for others. Problem solving has become a popular topic of interest to researchers as they try and determine weather one is able to solve complex problems in their dreams. For example if there was a math problem which you memorized before you went to sleep, in your dream could you bring it up and work on it as you are dreaming and when you wake up have the answer to the problem? This would certainly make the 22 years which an average person sleeps more productive if this is possible. Not just problem solving but creation as well could also be achieved. Could an artist create a painting in his dream and memorize the exact detail for when he wakes up, or a musician compose a song as he dreams so when he wakes up he will already know what it sounds like or even have already learned how to play it on a particular instrument. What is already in your head is vast and the possibilities of what you can do with what is there are endless. The paradox of lucid dreaming, sleeping while awake, may be a way to discover a phenomenon of the human mind which could never have been taken seriously.