Lucid Dreams: The First Virtual Reality

1155 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners Sigmund Freud

Lucid Dreams: The First Virtual Reality

Psychological

Sean Pasinsky LibEd 316-2 5 Feb. 1997

For ages people have thought of dreams as curses or blessings that we could not prevent nor manipulate. This "place" called our dreams has constantly puzzled us, because it is here where all things are possible and seem to occur.
In our dreams we perform superhuman and wonderful feats that would normally be impossible in the "awake world". We find the men or women of our dreams, depending on our sexual orientation. While we dream, these wonderful things become our temporary reality. Yet sometimes while dreaming we may experience the most horrifying events imaginable, called nightmares. Everyone has their own version of horror, my most terrifying nightmare has been where my family and friends have been taken control of by evil monsters that cannot be stopped.
Rather than kill me they make me watch old 1970's television shows over and over.
For years, men have thought that there should be a way of preventing or controlling these nightly events.

Humans must, like any animal, sleep. We do not fully understand why we must sleep. We only know that if we are deprived of sleep long enough that we will most certainly die. The same is true for dreams and dreaming(1). If we sleep long enough we will reach an advanced stage of sleep where our body begins to experience rapid eye movement (REM). It is during this REM period that we experience most of our dreams. Many scientists try to speculate the reasons for dreaming through biological our psychological means. This proves to be very frustrating for someone trying to find empirical meaning and truth about his or her dreams.

There are countless books written about dreams with just as many different interpretations and meanings for specific dream references. For psychics, astrologists, or psychologists who attempt to interpret dreams, there are numerous factors that must be considered when endeavoring to find meaning in a dream. Because of these numerous factors that contribute to the condition of dreaming, many different paths have been created for exploration. From Freud's sexual symbolism to the current random recollection theories diversity in dream interpretation abounds. However, there is a way to dream and not be at the mercy of your subconscious mind.

For the past ten years a bright psychologist at Stanford University, by the name of Steven Laberge, has been studying dreams and the physiology of the human body during the dream state. His research may sound commonplace if it weren't for the added fact that he is training people to control their dreams.

Show More
Related

  • Of Analysianity In The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time?

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    After reading Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and re-examining what was discussed in class it is clear that Christopher John Francis Boone lies to the right of the autism spectrum with conditions similar to those which used to be classified as Asperger’s. Christopher’s actions and logic show that he struggles greatly with empathizing and that he lives his life in a very systematic way with a clear theory, of which he understands, underlying all of his actions. It can be argued that Christopher lies closer to the middle of the spectrum due to his social skills although, most of the evidence shows that his behavior was consistent with people who have high functioning autism.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time By Mark Haddon

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Haddon, the author of the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, explores that perspicacity does not hinge upon logical interpretation of one’s surroundings for an autist. He shows this through Christopher’s, the autistic first person narrator, keen interest in science, behavior towards social interaction, and attitude towards external events.

    Read More

  • Christine Rosen's 'Our Cell Phones, Ourselves'

    1893 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the article “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves”by Christine Rosen published by W. W. Norton in 2004, she explains about how technology came about and is now taking over today’s world. Just by walking down the street today, it is visible that in everybody’s hands there is a

    Read More

  • Understanding the Five Stages of Sleep

    413 Words  | 1 Pages

    “Delta Sleep”, the delta waves occur during this time. This where the deep sleep comes, it last

    Read More

  • Circadian Sleep Essay

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    So for an average sleep time of eight to ten hours, we go through this sleep cycle four to five times a night. In stage one of the sleep phases, we are in a light sleep that lasts anywhere from five to ten minutes. In this stage, our eyes are still moving slowly and our muscles are slowing down, but may still have sudden muscle contractions like as if we were being startled or as if we were falling down. People in this phase may not feel rested if they are awakened, and might not of felt like they were even asleep at all. In stage two of the sleep cycle, you have successfully fallen into a light sleep. During this cycle your heart rate has slowed down, and your body temperature has dropped. You no longer have eye movement, and your body is finally resting the parts it has used through out the day. The next stage, which is stage three is also combined with stage four of the sleep cycle. These two cycles together are known as the delta sleep or the deep sleep stage, and is a very important part of the sleep cycle. During these cycles your body repairs and re-grows tissue, strengthens the immune system and builds bone and muscle. In these cycle it may be very hard to wake a person up, and if woken they may feel droggy or “out of it” for several minutes. In these stages is when most people have night terrors, experience sleep walking, or sleep talking occurs. In an adults average time of sleep this takes up about fifteen to twenty five percent of the time of sleep. Lastly, there is the REM cycle, which is also known as paradoxical sleep. During this cycle is when most of your muscles are paralyzed, your eyes are moving rapidly, and your breathing, heart rate and body temperature are not regulated. Vital signs show that during this stage, the arousal and oxygen levels

    Read More

  • The REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    studying the subject, the origins in the brain responsible for sleep are still not fully understood and thus, facilitate continual probes

    Read More

  • Cell Phones Impact On Society Essay

    1830 Words  | 4 Pages

    When cell phones were first introduced, all you could do was call others and talk for half an hour. It was like a brick and took ten hours to charge. It also cost $3995. That’s a lot more than most of today’s cell phones. Even, though it was a very basic phone, it began impacting the world. Now, you could call your relatives and actually talk with them without being next to them. Parents gave their kids cell phones to stay in touch. Now you can contact anyone through your mobile phone in multiple ways. You can text, call, facetime or message someone through social media. Cell phones abilities

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Christine Rosen's 'Our Cell Phones Ourselves'

    1719 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the article entitled, “Our Cell Phones Ourselves”, Christine Rosen describes how cell phones have changed the way we communicate. Rosen tells the readers the main purpose for cell phone use in the past, versus present day. Her purpose is to make society aware of how cell phones have influenced our lives in order to inspire change as to how we view our cell phones. Rosen directs her writing to everyone in the present day by describing the negative results of cell phone use and how it impacts our lives and those around us. Without a doubt, cell phones are going to be a part of our world, but it is the responsibility of every cell phone owner to exercise self control and understand that a cell phone is nothing more than a device.

    Read More

  • Sleep Deprivation

    3833 Words  | 8 Pages

    Sleep is one of our basic needs to survive and to function in day to day operations, but not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Some people can survive on very little sleep, i.e. five hours a night, and some people need a lot of sleep, to the extend that they are sleeping up to 10 to sometimes 15 hours a night (Nature, 2005). According to Wilson (2005) the general rule states that most people need from seven to eight hours of sleep. The deprivation of sleep in our society in continually increasing with the demands in society increasing work loads, the myth that a few hours of sleep is only necessary to function properly and that sleep is sometimes considered as killing time (Nature, 2005). Sometimes sleep deprivation is also caused by other situations like sleep disorders, i.e. sleep apnea, chronic insomnia or medical conditions such as stress (Wilson, 2005).

    Read More

  • Sleep and Dream

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    the sleeper will gradually descend deeper into sleep, becoming more and more detached from the outside world and progressively more difficult to awaken. Stage three is the beginning of deep sleep, occurring about thirty to forty five minutes after you first fall asleep. The deepest sleep occurs in Stage four. Stage three and four has the biggest and slowest brain wave. REM sleep, a mentally active period during which dreaming occurs, provided a biological explanation for this phenomenon. Scientists found that brain activity during REM sleep begins in the pons, a structure in the brainstem, and neighboring midbrain regions. The pons sends signals to the thalamus and to the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for most thought processes. There are several myths about sleep. For one, how much sleep a person should get? According to our text book people should sleep for at least eight hours to maintain sound mental and physical health. But every one doesn’t get the chance to sleep for that amount of time. There is no normal amount of time you should sleep. Everyone is not the same. For one I might sleep for five hours and feel refreshed enough to work another shift. Other hand my cousin might need more then eight hours of sleep to feel refreshed.

    Read More

  • Sleep Deprivation Among College Students

    2230 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sleeping is something that is an essential part of human nature and is a must in order for one to be a functional human being. Sleep is an idea that is accompanied by many wives’ tales, including the idea that one needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night and alcohol helps one fall asleep and sleep more soundly. One myth about sleep is that during sleep, one is in a state of nothingness. In truth, however, it has been discovered that during sleep the brain is active, variations in heartbeat and breathing occur, and the eyes and ears are active throughout the time of sleep. These activities during a person’s sleep are important because they help that person be more aware, awake, and alert during sleep.

    Read More

  • Wake Up! Sleep is Necessary

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    Each night, the average person spends approximately 7-9 hours giving their bodies a restful vacation in the land of dreams. Considering this, we spend 1/3 (or 25 years) of our entire lives engaging in this idle activity. Although these numbers can appear as a waste of time in our every day lives, sleeping and/or napping is the energy that helps fuel our bodies to function correctly. Sleep is a necessary function in our every day routine in order to make our brains function at the most efficient level. As we sleep, the brain helps us to recuperate and regain strength by “restoring and repairing the brain tissue” (Myers, 2010, p 99). Without this reviving process, we would all eventually deteriorate. By impairing the sleep deprived mentally and physically, it can potentially cause serious harm. We must fade our conscious mind, and let our mind relax within subconscious state.

    Read More

  • Cell Phone Culture And Dr. Gerard Goggin's Cell Phone Culture

    1854 Words  | 4 Pages

    It’s hard to believe that the cell phone, which has revolutionized daily life, is a relatively new phenomenon. It wasn’t that long ago, that a telephone was like a piece of “furniture” that connected to a wall in a home or place of business and was used for making a telephone call. Today a cell phone is a part of one’s wardrobe. It goes where we go, and it is used for so much more than making calls. In his book Cell Phone Culture, Dr. Gerard Goggin looks at the cultural implications of this transformative piece of technology. But to do so, he first discusses the history of the cell phone and how that history impacted society.

    Read More

  • Social Change from Cell Phones

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cell phones have created one of the biggest social changes in human history. We as people have gone from speaking face to face, to call each other on the phone occasionally, to today where we all carry a computer in our pockets that can do anything you want it to. We as people have gone from being social with one another to posting things on social media. It’s crazy to think that just 25 years ago you couldn’t communicate with someone else across town without being at home using the telephone. Cell phones have changed us socially in a drastic way. It has changed the way we communicate with one another, it has changed how we interact with others, and it has changed the way we act in public places and social gatherings.

    Read More

  • Sleep Cycle Essay

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    What research has told us is that sleep is relegated by an internal time clock or what the experts call the circadian cycle. First circadian comes from two Latin words circa: about and dia: day. All the various bodily function cycle that occur during the day are related to our circadian cycle. Since the time of Aristotle and Hippocrates these cycles have been recognized. Our sleep/wake cycles is one of the best known bodily functions to show circadian rhythms, and even our vital signs are directly linked to this cycle. As technology advances we gain more precise measurements, allowing researchers to recognize more circadian cycles which in turn teach us how our bodies work and function. On an interesting note it has been found that bone length is linked to and show a circadian cycle.

    Read More

More about Lucid Dreams: The First Virtual Reality

Open Document