kiwibonga
6th March 2007, 10:06 PM
Hi Robert,
Something that troubles me is how there are two schools of thought when it comes to lucid dreams and OBEs. The "scientists and skeptics" believe that it's all occuring in the brain. The "mystics" believe that some experiences, such as OBEs, visions, and some dreams are something more. There is a large amount of people who believe that a lucid dream is a "fake" experience, a worthless failure.
It's undeniable that there is at least some brain activity with any experience, since there has to be a "shadow memory download" as you put it... We cannot remember an experience physically if the brain does not receive any information, or at least processes the memory in some way.
What I am wondering is whether there is truly such a thing as an experience that occurs solely in the brain.
I've been having shared dreams with my sister, for example... They certainly did not feel any different from the usual unconscious dreams I've had in the past, but somehow the coincidences with regards to dream content are striking, there is definitely more to it than just the brain, it's like we're interfering with each other in our sleep.
It's also commonly reported that sleeping people can be seen separated, hovering above their physical body during the night...
I would even go as far as to say that not all our thought processes, even in the waking state, are the product of the brain.
It's just that the separation between scientific definitions and more mystical interpretation causes a lot of confusion...
It would seem to me that a lucid dream entirely created by the physical brain, while asleep, without projecting, if at all possible, would be a remarkable feat, an awesome rarity...
What is your take on the matter? It's quite obvious that it's possible to create an alternate reality, to have the impression that you're roaming around the "real world" while projected even if it's "fake" ; but do you think that it's ever possible for a (reasonably) conscious experience to be the sole byproduct of biological processes of the brain?
Something that troubles me is how there are two schools of thought when it comes to lucid dreams and OBEs. The "scientists and skeptics" believe that it's all occuring in the brain. The "mystics" believe that some experiences, such as OBEs, visions, and some dreams are something more. There is a large amount of people who believe that a lucid dream is a "fake" experience, a worthless failure.
It's undeniable that there is at least some brain activity with any experience, since there has to be a "shadow memory download" as you put it... We cannot remember an experience physically if the brain does not receive any information, or at least processes the memory in some way.
What I am wondering is whether there is truly such a thing as an experience that occurs solely in the brain.
I've been having shared dreams with my sister, for example... They certainly did not feel any different from the usual unconscious dreams I've had in the past, but somehow the coincidences with regards to dream content are striking, there is definitely more to it than just the brain, it's like we're interfering with each other in our sleep.
It's also commonly reported that sleeping people can be seen separated, hovering above their physical body during the night...
I would even go as far as to say that not all our thought processes, even in the waking state, are the product of the brain.
It's just that the separation between scientific definitions and more mystical interpretation causes a lot of confusion...
It would seem to me that a lucid dream entirely created by the physical brain, while asleep, without projecting, if at all possible, would be a remarkable feat, an awesome rarity...
What is your take on the matter? It's quite obvious that it's possible to create an alternate reality, to have the impression that you're roaming around the "real world" while projected even if it's "fake" ; but do you think that it's ever possible for a (reasonably) conscious experience to be the sole byproduct of biological processes of the brain?