So what do I do? I get that I’m supposed to ask myself if I’m dreaming, then use some dreamsign (I use seeing if my nose is there). But the problem is, if I do it in a dream (which has yet to happen), wouldn’t it happen like this:
I ask myself if I’m dreaming.
I wouldn’t know I’m in a dream because in a dream, everything makes sense.
I would check my nose, and since my brain knows what my nose looks like (hah, knows, nose), it would just create a temporary nose there because I’m so used to it being there.
Continue in the dream accepting any dumb logic I should have caught on to.
And also, if I really take the time to check if I’m in real life, and do it often, the checks will start to lose value as they are perfomed on a routine and would just be a memorization of steps.
hi there,
i know there are lots of reality checks out there…the nose thing could probably work but yes, your mind can find ways of working around the checks. The one i use that usually works for me is plugging your nose and trying to breathe in…in a dream, you’ll be able to, irl, you wont (obviously)
example of how sneaky your brain could be:
in a dream once i thought i might be dreaming and did the plug my nose test. When i breathed in it felt like i had a bad cold and could only breathe in a little…i figured that i just didnt have my nose all the way plugged and it must be real life.
…oh brain
No. First, I realy don’t like that reality check, so I can’t specificaly comment about it. Try pinching your nose and breathing or just causing pain to yourself. It works. Also, you should always do RCs when you are thinking “Is this a dream?” For them to work. THat way they can’t become a routine.
I don’t think it becoming a routine is really that much of a bad thing. If you routinely perform RC’s IRL then you’ll automatically perform them in ND’s and hence LD’s.
There nothing that prevents you brain from creating a dream nose to see. I guess some RCs are better for some than others. If you don’t trust it, keep it on the maybe list.
Pinching your nose is probably more reliable. I have read somewhere here about someone who tried it and couldn’t breathe in the dream. I think that it’s pretty unlikely though.
Reading texts a few times is also pretty reliable since dreams are unstable. These two checks don’t suffer that much from a causal approach. Others, like looking at your hand requires a little bit of focus.
However you should make it routine to NOT do reality checks in a rutinelike mindless manner.
Of course teoretically your brain can make up the result of a reality check so that you end up with conclusion that you are in reality. You can’t be 100% certain that any combination of RCs actually works but it’s the same uncertainity that is related to question: Is the reality actually ‘real’? (whatever it means).
Good practical approach is to maximize your doubts about the surroudings so that you actually check it and not only pretend to check it. Pinching your nose, looking on your hands and other variants of RCs are of course necessary but only if you have the internal intention to examine reality.
