handoflixue comments on Being Wrong about Your Own Subjective Experience - Less Wrong

37 Post author: lukeprog 24 April 2011 08:24PM

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Comment author: NancyLebovitz 25 April 2011 02:29:21PM 2 points [-]

Can you describe a mostly concept dream?

I always have visuals in color going on in dreams. I'm not sure that I hear sounds. I get some kinesthesia. Sometimes I get concepts in the sense of "just knowing" the backstory for something in a dream. I only remember taste/smell happening once.

I've read that no one dreams of landing a real punch, which I assume means a plausible amount of tactile/kinesthetic input.

Comment author: handoflixue 25 April 2011 08:33:26PM 3 points [-]

I've read that no one dreams of landing a real punch, which I assume means a plausible amount of tactile/kinesthetic input.

I've found my dream senses work about as well as my imagination and memory do - which is, admittedly, certainly a bit fuzzier than reality, but I have all my senses.

Admittedly, upon being told I "can't" do something in my dreams (dream in color, read in a dream, observe fine detail), I'll usually have a dream within a week that contradicts that assertion. My subconscious is ornery like that. It's also annoying having learned that if I pinch myself in a dream, it does in fact hurt, which lead to one dream where I was utterly convinced it wasn't a dream until after I woke up >.>

(Inexplicably, light switches never work in my dreams. This is the sole "sign you're dreaming" that has actually worked for me)

Comment author: ArisKatsaris 26 April 2011 09:27:28PM 2 points [-]

(Inexplicably, light switches never work in my dreams. This is the sole "sign you're dreaming" that has actually worked for me)

Mentioned in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream#Reality_testing , as well as the non-reliability of the pinch test.

Comment author: handoflixue 26 April 2011 09:53:11PM 1 point [-]

Interesting, thank you! I don't recall that information on the "pinch test" last time I read.

That said, the "look at ground" has never worked for me, and I realized "look at numbers/text" doesn't work for me when I started doing comparison price shopping in my dreams. I'll have to try the breath holding one, but, ahh, given it's a very familiar sensation, I doubt that test will work for me either ^^;

Comment author: Cyan 26 April 2011 10:53:23PM 0 points [-]

One that worked for me was to check if I could see through my hands as if I had X-ray vision.