Sweet Dreams Are Made By This 438
schnoz writes "From Takara, the folks who brought you Bow-Lingual the dog translator, comes the Dream Workshop. Before going to sleep, all you have to do is stare at a photograph of what you want to dream of (Natalie Portman maybe) and record the dream plot. When you fall asleep, this gadget waits for REM and then uses your voice recording, lights, music and aroma to help direct your dream."
Re:Sounds Tempting! (Score:2, Informative)
Reviewed In Consumer Reports! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Flim-flam. (Score:5, Informative)
Example: The Wigetmobile is the best selling car in america because it's super-cheap and super-reliable, according to statistics. Your uncle says he drove his into a tree and it nearly killed him, so you don't buy it, because his vivid description of his near-death incident (probably on account of his own stupidity) "outweighs" statistical evidence that the product is good. This is the same thing, only in *reverse* of the product advertising.
Alex Chiu is a big fan of this kind of marketing exploitation. He's also a complete idiot.
Just about everything troll (Score:3, Informative)
Not that anybody should trust redirect URLs, but let me warn you:
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WARNING: PARENT IS REDIRECT TO TUBGIRL (Score:1, Informative)
Talking Dog Spam (Score:2, Informative)
The Bow-Lingual is a plastic rectangle the size of a very big wallet that you can hang around your dog's neck. I saw one on the local news.
Re:I'm dreaming of... (Score:4, Informative)
I shouldn't dismiss it that hastily.
Re:I'm dreaming of... (Score:1, Informative)
Lucid Dreaming (Score:5, Informative)
I've never been a big one for altered conciousness, but I did do some lucid dreaming for a while. Basically you just get good at recognizing when you're dreaming, and then you can start controlling what happens. Yes, Natalie Portman is an option.
It does take some dedication, though. Keeping a dream journal is essential. There's some basic info out there that will help get you started.
The only downside I found is I sometimes felt I wasn't sleeping as deeply. But it is a great way to explore altered conciousness without worrying about killing brain cells or geting addicted to anything.
Cheers.
Re:Flim-flam. (Score:3, Informative)
Guided dreaming of one sort or another has been around for a long time. Sometimes it is done with a volunteer who is willing to speak to the dreamer as the dream is occurring. Other times, mental exercises before falling asleep can have a major impact on what the dreams will be about. People who attempt to have lucid dreams [lucidity.com] are occasionally known to use such devices and/or techniques, and many report success.
Hey, genuine skepticism is great (and I encourage it, in the general case), but that's not the same as having actual evidence that the device is flim-flam. Those "flashing-light eye-glasses" that you so disparage are quite useful for informing someone when he is dreaming, so that he can therefore take advantage of the lucid dreaming state to control his dreams. That is, in fact, what they're usually used for, and they do work when used for that purpose. If you've never experienced a lucid dream, I encourage you to do a little research and give it a try -- the experience is simply amazing.
Now whether this *particular* device works or not, I can't say. I've never tried it, nor talked to anybody who has. But certainly what it is trying to do has been done before by other techniques, and is not in principle impossible.
As to remembering your dreams... there are known techniques for doing that too. Just because you routinely forget your dreams doesn't mean that everybody does. I rarely forget the last dream that I have before waking, for instance, provided that I spend five minutes or so trying to fix it in my mind before it fades from short term memory.
lucid dreaming (Score:3, Informative)
Nothing really new...Lucid Dreaming (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Lucid Dreaming (Score:3, Informative)
I think it was about a month or so of writing down every dream or fragment that I could remember (each morning as soon as I woke up). The more I wrote, the more dreams I would remember the next night.
Then one night I was dreaming something so ridiculous and disturbing that I realized it _must_ be a dream. Suddenly I was laughing and I started to wake up. However, in an amusing turn, I woke up into another dream
Anyways, I kept at it and eventually had several more lucid dreams, in addition to regular dreams, maybe once a week or so. Usually they were pretty short, though: the thrill of realization would often cause me to wake up. When I was able to stay in the dream for any length of time, I often found myself exploring creative thought, and letting the narritave fade away. I would race through my mind connecting ideas at what seemed like a magical rate. However I could never remember enough details when waking up to make much sense of it. I imagine it's a bit like taking acid (though I've no direct experience).
After a few months, other things got in the way and I turned my attention elsewhere. I soon stopped having the lucid dreams and also I don't remember my dreams often these days. So if you stop working at it, it seems to go away.
I do hope to get back to it, though, as soon as I've got the time and energy to spare
Good luck in your explorations!