As the years come along we will undoubtably see an evolution of dream assistance technology (I’m working on a few systems myself ) that will allow a dreamer to achieve lucidity with minimal effort and maybe even achieve things that are near impossible by natural means. The systems we have now are simply the pioneers of future systems that are like the Eniac was to modern PC’s.
Given this emergence of oneironaut technology, what are your feelings and thoughts about how the need of natural talent to achieve lucidity may become obsolete? At the same time, do you feel that those who can go lucid without assistance will be considered the gifted/admired of the dream community, the real oneironauts?
I have my own thoughts, but I’ll share them later in this thread
do authors who use hand-writing are better than those who use computer? I dont think so. actually the importain think is what they finally wrote and not how they wrote it.
I doubt we’ll see anything like that all. LD’ing has been round for an extremelty long time - and we have very little technology to help us with it.
And even then, the technology only really presents us with another way to become lucid, it doesn’t really make it easier (eg. The nova dreamer - you still have to train yourself to recognise the flashes).
I’m not sure why, but I like the “natural” ways more than the technological ways. That might be partly because I consider lucid dreaming free and I don’t want to buy expensive equipment, like NovaDreamer, for it. Also, I think that if you can do it naturally, there’s no reason for using “artificial” means.
Right, but you have to realize that the vast majority of people do not have an easy time at all with training themselves for lucid dreaming. People who understand the natural techniques and have great success with them are rare.
That’s rather a good point, jonesn. But I don’t say that those natural ways are easy for most people or me. I realize that it can be easier for people to attain lucidity with those technological ways.
I just believe that everyone can learn the natural techniques, and that if you have the time and patience for mastering them, the result will be better. That’s because then you have learnt to control your mind and know how it works. Technology might help in this process, but it can’t do the walking for you.
I’m not a pro though, so I don’t have own experiences of this process. But when developing that technology, remember that technology should always serve people, not rule them or make them dependant on it.
Let’s look honestly at human nature though, people are people. The overall oneironaut community will not grow beyond what it is now (even with the internet) until a technology emerges that can greatly simplify the methods by which dreamers go lucid. Then you’ll see it go mainstream
If some sort of device was developed that allowed a person to have an LD every time they used it, regardless of any outside factors, than I’m pretty sure just about everyone in the dreaming community with any money at all would buy it instantaniously. Given that circumstance, I doubt those who didn’t would be looked on as better, just less wealthy. After all, it’s a rare individual who can LD at will; and when a technology like that one becomes so widespread, it’s not looked on as a crutch anymore.
Still, it’s unlikely that that’ll happen anytime soon, and until it does technology will basically serve as a resource to be used alongside regular LD practice, a la NoveDreamer. Most technicological dreaming implements for some time to come will probably be of this nature; until we can fully analyze what makes LDs occur chemically within the brain, any devices developed to further LD frequency will recquire some level of skill to use, and will only increase your chances of lucidity as opposed to ensuring it, essentially acting as another technique available for use alongside MILD, WILD, and WBTB.
We should look at these technologies as a supplement to our own conscious, though that conscious may be only dominant once the technology is advanced.
I see the programs at MIT and CalTECH for artificial intelligence taking the wrong course by focusing on only machine intelligence. The real advance in this realm will be made by a system that serves our own abilities in cognitive mechanisms. Our brain is the most advanced computer possible, far more than what we can create on a silicon chip, so why not utilize that gift? I’d tell you guys more, but then I would be giving away my secrets
) that will allow a dreamer to achieve lucidity with minimal effort and maybe even achieve things that are near impossible by natural means. The systems we have now are simply the pioneers of future systems that are like the Eniac was to modern PC’s.
