Lucid Dreaming for Cynics
How dreams influenced modern scientific method and how to be more lucid in your life.
Before you scoff (hello, cynics), note that French scientist René Descartes (1596–1650) developed the precepts that led to scientific method itself thanks to his studies of consciousness within dreaming.
In his Meditations on First Philosophy, he writes:
How often, asleep at night, am I convinced of just such familiar events that I am here in my dressing-gown, sitting by the fire when in fact I am lying undressed in bed! Yet at the moment my eyes are certainly wide awake when I look at this piece of paper; I shake my head and it is not asleep; as I stretch out and feel my hand I do so deliberately, and I know what I am doing.
All this would not happen with such distinctness to someone asleep. Indeed! As if I did not remember other occasions when I have been tricked by exactly similar thoughts while asleep!
Descartes is describing a classic conundrum that unifies the aspiring lucid dreamer with the truth-seeking analytical scientist: how can I be certain of anything without a methodology to verify my interpretation of experiences?
In 1637 he published his most famous work and the cynic’s bible, Discourse on the Method for Guiding One’s Reason and Searching for Truth in the Sciences.
In addition to being the source of the well-known quote “I think, therefore I am,” this is the work in which he puts forth the precepts that led to the scientific method still used today in science classes and studies around the world.
If you left your lab coat in the car or it’s been a while since you’re last science class, here’s a refresher on these precepts:
1. Doubt everything.
“The first of these was to accept nothing as true which I did not clearly recognize to be so: that is to say, carefully to avoid haste and prejudice in judgments, and to accept in them nothing more than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly that I could have no occasion to doubt it.”
2. Break every problem into smaller parts.
“The second was to divide up each of the difficulties which I examined into as many parts as possible, and as seemed requisite in order that it might be resolved in the best manner possible.”
3. Solve the simplest problems first.
“The third was to carry on my reflections in due order, commencing with objects that were the most simple and easy to understand, in order to rise little by little, or by degrees, to knowledge of the most complex, assuming an order, even if a fictitious one, among those which do not follow a natural sequence relatively to one another.”
4. Be thorough.
“The last was in all cases to make enumerations so complete and reviews so general that I should be certain of having omitted nothing.”
Alright, so what does any of this have to do with lucid dreaming?
I’m so glad you asked.
First, I will assume you know nothing about this topic.
A lucid dream is a dream in which the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming.
A skilled lucid dreamer can then go on to manipulate the dream to their liking — fulfilling fantasies such as flying, hanging out with their idols, meeting their spirit guides, or whatever else happens to float your boat. Perhaps the spirit guides aren’t the priority for cynics, but I want to be scientific here, so I’m not making any assumptions.
I have recently gotten back into lucid dreaming since covering methods of healing through dreams on my podcast last week. I’m an avid dream-journal-keeper and love to read/talk about dreams, but I tend to have a bit of trouble lucid dreaming.
Last night I was so close to becoming aware that I was dreaming, but then convinced myself within the dream that I was awake and that the flickering of the lights and other strange imagery were merely figments of imagination.
Despite the ultimate failure of this attempt, this was closer to lucid dreaming than I have been in a really long time. It’s also been less than a week since I determined to strengthen this skill again, and therefore I already feel like I’m well on my way to success. Looking back, it almost seemed as though the dream was trying to signal to me that it was a dream, and that I could take control.
In the light of my progress and for the sake of also signaling to my own unconscious that I am prepared to keep taking this skill to the next level, I’ve decided to use Descartes’ precepts as an outline for my approach to improving my lucid-dreaming ability.
Are you ready? Let’s go.
- Doubt everything.
This aligns perfectly with one of the most common bits of advice given to aspiring lucid-dreamers: start doing reality checks. Develop a signal to yourself that you will repeat throughout the day at random in which you will ask yourself, “Am I dreaming?” - Break every problem into smaller parts.
In my case, my current problem is that I am having trouble distinguishing between reality and dreaming because I am allowing myself to be distracted from this question. This contains two problems: lack of attention span and lack of definition between reality and dreaming. Perhaps you don’t remember your dreams, so you have to figure out how you can improve your dream recall before you’re soaring over California with James Dean on a hippogriff. - Solve the simplest problems first.
Taking my problems as an example, I might not be able to solve a lifetime of short attention span or my concept of reality overnight, however I believe the attention span issue is the simpler (if not truly easier) of the two. What’s good for a short attention span? Meditation. This is a classic way to improve dream recall as well and can also greatly alter my perception of reality, so overall this is a simple solution to the current conundrum I’m facing. - Be thorough.
This might seem vague, but in my opinion the takeaway here is that the more I describe my dreams in detail in my dream journal, the more I study the subject of dreaming, and the more time in general I spend focused on my goal of being a lucid dreamer, the more I am signaling to my unconscious that I am serious about this. And dreams happen in my mind, after all, so I can only expect that dedicating this much mental energy to the subject will yield progress
Whether you want to experience the exhilaration of flying, are in desperate need of a vacation, or want to find answers to some of life’s most puzzling questions, lucid dreaming is a practice that can open you to dazzling and fantastic new experiences in life.
Dreams are often dismissed as merely imagination run wild, but I would argue that the true cynic must first experiment for themselves in the world of dreaming before drawing such conclusions.
After all, in the words of Lewis Carroll,
