Lucid dreaming is the state of being able to consciously perceive and recognize that one is in a dream while one is sleeping, and
having control over the so-called 'dreamscape,' the faux-reality dream world within a dream. It is the act of realizing that one is
dreaming while within a dream. Lucid dreamers, or oneironauts, report being able to freely remember the circumstances of
waking life, think cogently, and act deliberately upon reflection, all while experiencing a dreamscape that seems vividly real.
A person in a lucid dream with full control can supposedly morph the dreamscape into any virtual reality that person pleases, all
with properties that feel identical to that of wakeful consciousness. Doing literally anything within a lucid dream is not outside
one's ability. Lucid dreams are notable for their durability in memory, being exceptionally more memorable than typical, non-lucid
dreams (though it's still possible to not remember them). One theory as to why lucid dreams are more memorable is because they
usually end with the person waking up suddenly due to excitement, and it is generally believed that a transition from REM sleep to
being awak rather then through delta sleep dramatically improves dream recall.
Oneironauts regularly describe their dreams as
exciting, colorful, and fantastic, and often compare their dreams to a spiritual experience. Oneironauts have even reported lucid
dreams that take on a "hyper reality", that is, a reality that is more 'real' than waking life. In these dreams all elements of the
dreamscape are amplified. It can be likened to the resolution of a computer screen, where regular dreams are 640x480 and hyper-real
lucid dreams are 10,000x10,000 in terms of sensory detail.
Many people report having experienced a lucid dream during their lives, often in childhood. However, even with training, achieving
lucid dreams on a regular basis is uncommon and can be difficult. Despite this, techniques have been developed to achieve a
lucid dreaming state intentionally. A number of universities (notably Stanford) conduct continued research into these techniques
and the effects of lucid dreaming, as do some independent agencies such as LaBerge's The Lucidity Institute. At present, there are
no known cases where lucid dreaming has caused damage on either the psychological or physiological level. However, it would be
difficult to determine whether some form of lucid dreaming might prevent one from receiving a benefit from normal dreaming.
Jungian psychology seems to indicate that non-lucid (or partly lucid) dreaming is a way to achieve self-understanding.
An early recorded lucid dreamer was the philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682). The term actual term
'lucid dreaming' was coined by Frederik van Eeden in his 1913 book A Study of Dreams. The book was highly anecdotal and
not embraced by the scientific community. In fact, the possibility of achieving a lucid dream state was dismissed categorically by
N. Malcolm in his 1959 text Dreaming. The enthusiastic endorsement of lucid dreaming during the 1970s by New Age proponents
such as Carlos Castaneda did little to enhance its scientific credibility.
A substantial cottage industry based around the technique of lucid dreaming exists, with an array of devices (usually based around
flickering light arrays) commercially available to allegedly allow induction of lucid dreams. Their proponents also sometimes claim
that these devices help achieve a higher level of spiritual consciousness, and associate it with other New Age concepts such as
astral traveling or 'dream sharing.' Regardless of these claims' validity, lucid dreaming as a scientifically verified phenomenon
is well-established.
A person in a lucid dream with full control can supposedly morph the dreamscape into any virtual reality that person pleases, all
with properties that feel identical to that of wakeful consciousness. Doing literally anything within a lucid dream is not outside
one's ability. Lucid dreams are notable for their durability in memory, being exceptionally more memorable than typical, non-lucid
dreams (though it's still possible to not remember them). One theory as to why lucid dreams are more memorable is because they
usually end with the person waking up suddenly due to excitement, and it is generally believed that a transition from REM sleep to
being awak rather then through delta sleep dramatically improves dream recall.