So recently I have been wondering about the nature of reality checks, and how we are trying to use them to affect our psychology. The basic principle being that we are trying to get into the habit of questioning our reality whenever something ‘dreamlike’ occurs.
So what is often mentioned is the idea of prospective memory – remembering to do something in the future. However, from what I can tell, this doesn’t seem to be the whole story. I’ve been wondering if there are three (or more) different ways of looking at this.
The first is the classic prospective memory – training ourselves to remember to do something in the future.
The second is that we are trying to condition ourselves (Pavlov style) to automatically react to things by questioning our reality. Something doesn’t work? Automatic reaction – reality check. The problem I see with this is that the scope of what we are looking for is very large, and perhaps difficult to absolutely condition for.
The third is that we are trying to connect the concept of lucid dreaming to as many mental ‘schemas’ as possible which often appear in dreams. By doing so we increase the chance of lucid dreaming coming up in dreams, since there is a chance they will be manifested by a connection to a common schema. This is my favourite idea, and seems to fit in well with the current ideas about dream logic.
I imagine that in reality it’s a combination of all three, but I wonder if by thinking about the nature of the psychological side of reality checks, we can improve their efficacy. Any thoughts?
(Sorry for the long post!)
Edit: I just also had a thought about dream journaling and mental schemas. Could it be that by writing down dreams which we would ordinarily forget we are connecting (via schemas) the subject and contents of the dreams to the idea of dreaming itself? This would mean that by simply journaling we are increasing the chance of lucidity.
I agree with everything you said. Regarding your new point about dream journaling and schemas, I've noticed that when I was really writing down every last detail of my dreams, re-reading them, and studying dream signs, that I would have a lot more DILDs than I do currently. (I have cut back on lucid dreaming practices due to intense amounts of grad school work, but once my class is done I'll take a deep dive again!) I also used to copy my digital dream journal down and hand-write my dreams the following day, which helps I think.Yes, for me, in-depth journaling and studying of signs and patters, reality (dream) tests, and mindfulness led to about 10 DILDs in a month and a half. So it was almost like a technique in it of itself. So I definitely agree journaling is forming lucid-dream related schemas.
Also, in addition to what I said above, I am trying to get some more participants. Help spread the word about this thread, the forum/chat, and the Lucid Guide.
I very much like the discussion you have started Caleb. I have had RCs/dream tests work by way of all 3 "mechanics" you mentioned (usually on separate occasions) so I agree when you say "I imagine that in reality it’s a combination of all three..."
Examples of the 3:
Prospective memory: Doing MILD I use a mantra to remember to remember to realize I'm dreaming and do a dream test. Used many times.
Conditioning (or creating a habit *while making sure you do meaningful dream tests each time). During day if I think "That is weird" I do a dream test. It has carried over to my dreams on many occasions and usually results in lucidity.
Schemas: fairly frequently I have dreams where I have a thought like "maybe I can fly" when being chased or trying to get somewhere faster or many other examples from past dreams/schemas. Between having that line of thinking pop up in my head and actually being able to perform the act, I become lucid.
Some would argue that you may need some level of awareness or "budding" lucidity for any of the three to happen and "blossom." I am not sure if I agree with this but I am open to it and it may be another point of discussion.
Just to add a further complication, we have been pushing the idea of re-naming reality checks as "Dream Tests", because it says more what we are really wanting to do, i.e. not prove that we are in RL, but check whether we are dreaming. However that does change the psychological dynamic a little. One idea was that it suggests we are looking for a positive outcome as a "good" thing (we are dreaming), rather than a "bad" thing (we are just in RL).
Also it's much clearer that when a Dream Test passes, we are dreaming, whereas there is confusion as to what an RC "pass" means.