Half-Paralysis and Cloaked Figure

[matt]

If they are truly lucid, couldn't you make the decision to do something more interesting? If your dream-self is the one deciding to sit in a chair, isn't that a regular dream and not a lucid one? That sounds more like the situation I am in where realizing I am in a dream can change the dream, but you can't make cool stuff happen if you want to.

Maybe I'm wrong, and my dream-self is lame as well.

[Harry Sunderland]

If they are truly lucid, couldn't you make the decision to do something more interesting? If your dream-self is the one deciding to sit in a chair, isn't that a regular dream and not a lucid one? That sounds more like the situation I am in where realizing I am in a dream can change the dream, but you can't make cool stuff happen if you want to.

Maybe I'm wrong, and my dream-self is lame as well.

Probably. I'm skeptical on the concept of lucid dreaming to begin with, to be honest. Is lucid dreaming real, or is the narrative of your dream one in which you think you have control?

Ooo...deep.

[gagaplex]

Probably. I'm skeptical on the concept of lucid dreaming to begin with, to be honest. Is lucid dreaming real, or is the narrative of your dream one in which you think you have control?

Ooo...deep.

Even deeper: In our waking lives, do we have free will or are we just making the choices we were determined to make because of our experiences, memories and upbringing anyway?

[matt]

That is a very good question! Free will is fascinating to think about. Maybe we are actually just characters in a dream of someone or something else.

[gagaplex]

I guess another follow-up question to my own question would be: Does it even matter, as long as we make the choices? As in... so what if it's basically determined what choice we make? It's still our choice, right?

[matt]

Or is it? Maybe we are just like puppets being controlled by some religious or intrinsic force (physics? chemical?) going through the motions. I would say that puppets don't have free will. The illusion of choice isn't the same thing.

(I believe in free will, but I think it's an interesting thing to argue)

[Harry Sunderland]

Maybe your free will is bounded, like the branching narratives of neverending nightmares.

Will your life get the good ending? If not, maybe you'll have to reverse time, but in a musically rhythmic fashion.

[matt]

Harry,

I think you nailed it!

[nsane]

I've had a very similar experience once. I woke up only able to move my eyes. When I looked over towards the door, I saw in my doorway a shadowy figure, leaning against the open doorway (which was actually closed as I sleep with my door closed). Needless to say, it was quite a scary experience.

[Cel]

I've tried to have lucid dreams, but even when I am aware I'm dreaming, I still can't exert control. Controlling your dreams seems so cool. I wish I could!

I keep hearing that playing video games helps with that because it trains for basic control over a situation