I Cannot Imagine...

[Darwinian]

Cyclic: Birth, Life, Death, Between Death-Birth, Birth.
Cyclic: Rain, Evaporation, Condensation, Rain.
Cyclic: Big Bang, Expansion, Retraction, Condensation, Big Bang.

Cyclic things make more sense than linear things:
Beginning - Point B - End.

Which makes a whole lot of sense /sarcasm. However much it might be easier to imagine an afterlife (Nothing can be created, nor destroyed: only transfered is the energy)... Our life is not due to any soul, but rather the physical matter that makes us.

All of these cycles are alike in that their different stages have different attributes. The circle of life isn't about our one life... but like rain: about life itself. A more realistic cycle of life therefore looks like this:

Cycle: Accumulation of the Building-Blocks of Life from other life, Birth, Life, Death, Dissipation of the Building-Blocks of Life to other life.

But there remains the possibility an afterlife.

I used to think just like this when I was 16. Curiously enough, I still do now

Have a thumbs up..

[fr0d0]

To me dreams show the power of the subconscious, in that we can imagine/ recreate/ create stuff our conscious mind doesn't get very far with at all. I think tapping the subconscious would make us infinitely more productive/ creative etc..

I don't usually remember dreams, last night I woke up from a particularly disturbing one. Some guy was standing above and behind a naked woman and neatly slicing her up with a cheese wire.

I think the study and analysis of dreams is valid.

[Rhizomorph13]

Fr0d0,

Too bad you don't know how to become lucid during a dream. You can change things, like put some clothes on the woman, manifest a weapon to smite the guy, or break the cheese wire with the power of your mind. When I discovered lucid dreaming it was like becoming Walt Disney and creating a new Disneyland inside my head, from scratch, every night.

Please understand I mean this as pure illusion and not some spirit world in which I actually exist.

Rhizo

[fr0d0]

Well I tried that and it destroyed the magic somehow - the conscious mind taking control is like giving the lunatics the keys to the asylum.. except this lunatic is way less imaginative than anyone worthy of the title

[Retorth]

How does one become lucid in a dream? That sounds pretty damn cool

[fr0d0]

Haha. Maybe Rhiz has a secret.. with me I just willed it. It was crap.

[Eilonnwy]

Some people can train themselves to lucid dream, I don't know how it works. For me it just happens or it doesn't. Lucid dreams are definitely fun, I've often gotten inspiration for stories through lucid dreaming

[Rhizomorph13]

How does one become lucid in a dream? That sounds pretty damn cool

Here is one that seems like a good guide:

http://www.consciousdreaming.com/lucid-d...-dream.htm

I didn't keep a dream journal but that is simply because I fail at most ordered things, but the other steps ring true. Part five brought up some interesting thoughts about how most people lack lucidity throughout the day. I have often felt like the only one who is awake in many situations because, to me, it appears that most people lack situational awareness. I am hypervigilant, which is a blessing and a curse. Increasing lucidity might not be for everyone, after all, it is much easier to drift off into what you already have figured out than to wake up and truly try to comprehend what is really going on around you.

Haha. Maybe Rhiz has a secret.. with me I just willed it. It was crap.

You were doing it wrong, no really, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. Seriously though, when done correctly you can manipulate your dreams as easy as sculpting modeling clay only on a much grander scale and instantaneously.

Rhizo

---

Some people can train themselves to lucid dream, I don't know how it works. For me it just happens or it doesn't. Lucid dreams are definitely fun, I've often gotten inspiration for stories through lucid dreaming

The "training" consisted of reading a bunch of crap on the internet and sifting out the nuggets of practical knowledge. I don't go to sleep thinking, "I will lucid dream tonight" and then it happens; when things get dodgy in a dream I can take control and change the dream or at least abort it. The trick is to be able to discern reality from dreaming and then simply take control. IOW you're doing it right!

Rhizo

[Eilonnwy]

"The Snooze Button Method" Set your alarm for a time before you would normally wake up and then continually hit the snooze button until you have to get out of bed. This is probably the most common technique, and the odds are that you have already had some experience with this one unless your alarm does not have a snooze button. By hitting the snooze button you are constantly coming in and out of dreams so you dramatically increase your recall, and it is very helpful for inducing lucid dreams as well, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Ha, I already do that because I suck at waking up so I snooze for like an hour before I do. It's funny because sometimes it does make me more aware of my dreams, and sometimes the alarm clock becomes a part of the dream. On rare occasions I've turned it off and then been late to work. XD

Another interesting thing is when you're aware you are dreaming your natural reaction is to either wakeup or dream you wake up and then continue dreaming. I've done both, it's freaky.

---

The "training" consisted of reading a bunch of crap on the internet and sifting out the nuggets of practical knowledge. I don't go to sleep thinking, "I will lucid dream tonight" and then it happens; when things get dodgy in a dream I can take control and change the dream or at least abort it. The trick is to be able to discern reality from dreaming and then simply take control. IOW you're doing it right!

Rhizo

Hah, yeah the whole stuff about belief is crap. But yeah, I've taken control of dreams and turned them the way I want. It's fun. It's especially useful if I'm having a nightmare.

[Rhizomorph13]

Eilonnwy,

I've incorporated my alarm sound in my dreams many times and usually figure out that it is an alarm and not an annoying seagull or zombie defense alarm. One time I was piloting a giant mech and having a great time hunting down and destroying other mechs and their pilots, when one of the bastards got a lock on me! (My alarm) I looked at my console and saw all the electronic counter measures and decided the third one from the left, the chaff button, would do the trick so I felt one, two, and three push! Lock broken and I went on hunting mechs!

Ok, so what really happened was my "Alarm" button is third from the left and I managed to push that button while I was asleep. I woke up feeling awesome, because I got an extra three hours of sleep. /facepalm!

Rhizo