Pass me my test tubes and tell me how brilliant I am...

Lucid Adventures
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The Tenth Doctor reflected on the way his companions grow old and fall by the wayside, while he goes on, perhaps not unchanging, but undiminished. He moves on almost a different plane, stooping down here and there to pick up a lowly human and show them the stars, but they are too fragile to take it for the centuries he endures. He calls this the ‘Curse of the Time Lords’. It seems to me we face a comparable tragedy in our lucid dreams.

There are times in normal dreams when characters feel significant and important, and our emotions can be drawn by them as much as real people. But it is harder to meet solid dream characters while lucid: perhaps we are just too drunk on our own power to give them due thought. Most of the people we meet in dreams are pale shades. For my part, when I stop to think, the loneliness I face in the lucid dreamworld can be quite sickening.

So I wonder if anyone would find it a worthy experiment to develop for themselves a dream companion: a persistent character, with whom one can talk meaningfully, and who feels like a true friend, not just a hollow puppet. Not the perfect woman or man, nor a slave, but a real, interesting person with opinions and manners and flaws. Someone worth sharing our universe with.

It sounds like a tall order. But belief is such a powerful tool in dreams: believe characters will disappoint you, and they will do their best to oblige. But believe they will surprise you, perhaps you could be onto something rather special.

And the human mind is capable of it. Anyone who has seen ‘A Beautiful Mind’, or read Writerscube’s DJ, will know this. I know of the CALD technique and some of the associated discussions, but I think this has a different emphasis. So who would like to join me in trying to create what we might call life, and building our companions?

I am sorry if this as been discussed elsewhere, or is already covered by CALD, or belongs in the Labs section.

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:smile: I think thats a brilliant idea, about a dream companion. I think you could grow to trust them and rely on them almost as much as a person in real life. Arguably more so? It is your imagination after all, you might have a lot in common;) however, do you think there would ever be an issue with becoming too attached to this DC?

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You are playing with dangerous toys here :smile: What if that dream character takes on a life of its own?

In terms of my own experiments: I often dream of my old school class. We spent 10 years together in the same school, going to the same classes. So when I see them in dreams, their dream characters are significantly more powerful. They are resistant to mind control, they have a bit of free will (Ex: can refuse the offer of sex :smile: ), they have a feel for the past events that occured in dreams and I can ask them about past events.

There’s a hypothesis I read somewhere that people we know(or at least shades of their personality) live in our awareness. Was it in an emotional intelligence book by Daniel Coleman?

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Actually, the biggest thing to CALD is creating a character like you describe. The only difference is that in CALD you would then tell said character to find you in a dream and make you lucid. The basic principle of making a companion with their own personality is the same.

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Rhewin: Yes, since I posted this I have been reading up more on CALD, and I must say it comes much closer to what I had in mind than I at first thought. Thank you for pointing that out. Do CALD characters tend to actually share your adventures with you, and work in partnership with you?
To put it in rather more adversarial terms, is it that CALD characters are more on the ‘side’ of the dream world than working with you? To use the analogy of the Doctor once more, would a CALD character be more like, say, the Brigadier than any of the Doctor’s assistants? I mean, he is a friend and a very helpful figure, but if you were pressed to divide the universe into TARDIS crew, the observers, outsiders, flitting here and there with immense power, and everyone else, one who would be firmly on the side of ‘everyone else’? Likewise, if you were to make the division of Dreamer and Company, and Everyone Else…
I’m sorry if this doesn’t make much sense. The concept I am trying to convey isn’t quite fully formed in my mind, and it may be so subtle as to be unimportant.
But I will look more into CALD, as I’m beginning to think this thread may be unworthy of independent existence.

Avex: I see where you are coming from. But resistance to mind control, free will and a meta-dream memory are exactly the sorts of things I am interested in: do you think that having people in your dreams with these qualities would be so ‘dangerous’? I admit, you might not be as utterly in control as before, but personally I feel it would make the whole experience more interesting and meaningful. To create something with a ‘life of its own’ to my mind seems a worthy and fascinating goal. And if you are worried that they may become autonomous, or even work against you: remember they can never be more powerful than you are, and sometimes a challenge is a good thing.

UnpeacefulSleeper: Thanks for the vote of confidence! I know what you mean about becoming too attached: all those lonely children with their imaginary friends. Attachment brings two major problems. First, neglect of other parts of life. But could you ever get so attached to a waking life friend that it damaged your life? Someone you loved as a lover, yes, that can be destructive, but a true friend? I feel they are always a source of strength: someone to fall back on. And if you find yourself taking time to spend with them, remember they are part of you. Plenty of religions encourage spending time alone meditating on one’s inner nature, and that of the world: you could only learn about yourself.
The second problem is the fear of loss. If, as Avex says, your character becomes more autonomous they might get fed up with you. Treat them well, though, emphasize the fact that the way you act in dreams can do them no irreparable harm, and I am sure this would not happen. If they disagree with you over a matter of conscience (How could you just kill all those people to test your new lightsabre etc…), well, perhaps its your fault! And it makes everything more real. But apart from leaving you, I don’t see how such a character could be lost: they are always part of you. They say buying a dog buys you a sad day. Likewise meeting a friend. Here, however, that is no problem. Those are my thoughts, anyway. You may disagree: please tell me if you do.

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Actually, I use The Second Doctor as my CALD companion, and have since found he is my DG. I have traveled with him, and he’s been a close friend (in all incarnations after Second) in both LD’s and ND’s. In fact, last night he saved me from a group in an ND. I’ll have to get on to him for not making me lucid…

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I love the idea of this. Whenever I become lucid in my dreams…I feel very lonely despite the fact that there are DCs around. However, it’s very rare for me to see DCs around once I become lucid, it’s like they all disappear once I gain awareness. So this idea of creating a companion with a life of it’s own would be wonderful :content: . I don’t think you need to create the companion though, your DG can pretty much be this companion.
Now I just gotta meet my DG :tongue:

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I’ve met my SC twice and looked for him others, and supposedly he showed up those other times, but never as the same person as he did the first two times. The reason I want to meet how he was the first two times I met him was because those were my two best LDs, in my opinion. Everything was clear, I was focused, and I didn’t get confused when things didn’t go exactly how I expected them to.

Reading this topic, I’m thinking maybe I should just look for the guy himself, rather than combining the idea of him and my SC being the same. I feel as though he’s been avoiding me, and I think it’s partly because he wants me to learn something that I haven’t yet.

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Rhewin:Yes, I suppose you have pretty much convinced me about CALD. I was coming to that conclusion myself, as well. I’m interested that you choose the second doctor: I don’t know him very well, as I find it very hard to find his episodes. I think the BBC wiped most of the tapes from that era, which is a great shame. I am currently hunting in my dreams for the seventh. I find the fact of your travels and friendship with him very heartening.

StarryGwee: I know precisely the feeling of emptiness, though I have yet to meet my DG. It tends not to bother me too much during the dream itself, but looking back, I always think it would be better to have more people around.

ZRVera: I have never really explored that aspect of Lucid Dreaming: talking to the SC and DG and so on. So I’m fascinated to hear your experiences: that side of things is tabula rasa for me, so I’d be interested to hear how you get on with your search.

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Sadly, yes, they did delete over half of his episodes. One thing that has been interesting about The Doctor is that future incarnations in my dreams still recognize me and will travel with me. Had dreams with both the Fourth and Eleventh last night, though I can’t remember much…

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This sounds like an interesting idea. I’ll see about giving it a try if I ever manage a LD lasting more than, say, a minute and a half and that involves more than just trying to maintain lucidity- I’m still a newb, I’m afraid. :sad: