dreams

i dont know if this belongs here or not.. if not sorry!

how many others dream in color, with sound, touch, smell?

does the ability to dream with such sense mean anything?

i ask because i never really delved into the world of dreams all that much and i've heard the "average" person doesnt dream in color much less with sound, smell, touch, etc or have the ability to remember their dreams with any clarity.

so answer this question for me at least, am i normal or no? because there there have been dreams that have happened later (this isnt a one time thing this has happened repeatedly from childhood into the present late 20's) and sometimes i can remember some dreams with such fine detail its weird. like i can actually remember "smelling" something in the dream or feeling something against my skin or hearing a persons voice. and being able to recallminute details that seem rather meaningless and i dont understand why such a detail or details would stick out in my mind.


the mind is awfully strange thing and i've always had a hard time trying to understand my own.

any insight on this is helpful.

The old saying that we only dream in black and white and our feet don't touch the ground is far from truth..too many people can attest quite the contrary. So nope nothing wrong with you there that I can tell

Also the more lucid you dream the more lucid the dream becomes, as in all your senses can awaken within the dream..you probably have very lucid dreams..enjoy it, as long as they are positive..
Magestica

wierd i just started thinkin about this stuff earlier in the week.

i read in the book heaven and hell by aldous huxley where he claims that two thirds of people dream in black in white.

recently i confirmed for myself that i dream in color.

I was at work in the residence halls at my college, and on break sometimes i pass out in some chairs in the air conditioned lounge. i put 2 chairs together so i could put my feet up and doze off.

I had a dream where some counselors for the summer programs at my school got on the elevator with me and the kids in the program stayed in the lobby.

On the way up i was lookin at the girl in front of me, admiring her rear end. Then she backed into me and i could feel her backside against me, i swear it was just like when im dancin with a chick at a party, and i think i put my hands on her hips and i could feel those too.

The wierd part was right after that when i looked at my shoes and the floor of the elevator, and instead of being white it was green. Since the color was off, i stared a little harder and the green floor looked like the green chairs i was asleep on. then i realized i was dreaming and woke up looking at my feet against/on the chair opposite me just as they were orientated in the dream.

That was my 15 minute break at 8:30am

it was kinda wierd. i dont know i hope that was an acceptable reply,

peace kids

I don't know if this is similar, shocker, but I often see things in my dream that are actually in front of me during my sleep......It seems silly, seeing posters in a dream where they have no relevance, but I always see them exactly as they would be from my point of view in bed........

interesting

i usually cant remember my dreams, although almost every night before sleep i think about how much i want to try and remember them. smoking weed before bed probably doesnt help.

a lot of these thoughts and ideas about dreaming came after i saw the movie "waking life" if you havent seen it i would recommend it.

it was shot with film and run through filters to give it a hazy cartoony look to it, similar to a dream, its cool though check it out

peace

Originally posted by shockerlove
interesting

i usually cant remember my dreams, although almost every night before sleep i think about how much i want to try and remember them. smoking weed before bed probably doesnt help.


peace

Thats weird........it has the complete opposite effect on me.....it makes the dreams more noteworthy and clear for me

my dreams are also a lot more intense when i have been sober for some time and even more so during naps.

i always have wild dreams when i take naps, but it could just be that since naps are short, i have less time to forget about what happened

Hmmm...I'd question the whole belief that most people dream in black and white too...as the majority of people I've asked say they dream in colour, and the others simply can't remember clearly enough to say either way.

But I always dream in colour, with full senses, full complete body. Think thats pretty normal actually.



Peace,
ALIEN

I feel sorry for anyone who does not dream in color, or with full senses, or with dreams that are in any way less real-seeming than reality.....they are missing so much....

I dont usually remember my dreams but every once in a while i will get one that i cant forget. i do dream in color and with all 5 senses. they're so real sometimes that i cant tell the diffrence between being awake or dreaming.

I don't remember ever NOT dreaming in color or with all the senses. Of course how vivid it is is linked to how vivid i remember the dream when i wake up.
Also, while dreaming my mind is able to recreate specific states of consciousness; I've had dreams where i've taken acid, for example, and then experienced tripping during the dream.

I will say that more of my dreams take place at night than during the day - probably at a ratio of about 85% to 15%.

My favorite aspect of dreams is the intuition it supplies you with; seeing one thing but knowing it's actually something (or someone) else. Or knowing that a certain room is dangerous to be in or that a certain event occured there even though there are no physical clues in the dream to make you think this. As if the dream is not just a reality, it comes with a memory and knowledge specific to that dream.

We dream in both Black/White and in color.
There are two stages of sleep that have to do with dreams.
One stage that is in early REM i believe and is characterized by dull dreams that are not in color. The other stage is called Parodoxyl (spelling) sleep, in which dreams are more intense, realistic, and in color.

i can be more specific on this tommorow when i dig up my Psychology book.

Quango-
interesting points, and I would like to inquire if anyone else has ever dreamed that they were someone else, somewhere else, with a lifetime full of memories....I dreamt once that I was someone else, named joshua, and lived in a small town, and my friend Paul, who only existed in this dream, was just coming home from the military and was soon to be married to his long time girlfriend ashley. I, as joshua, had a full lifetime of memories of growing up with paul and ashley, from chilhood to having a fight with paul over ashley attention while teenagers, etc. I knew all the peoplein the town, knew where everything was in the town.....it was so strange....never, in the whole dream, was there anything that was the slightest inkling of being me....anyone else ever have that happen?

Baal, I dont know if I agree with that, beit from a book or not...I have never, ever, remembered a dream in black and white, and I remember 3-5 dreams a night....

Baal, I dont know if I agree with that, beit from a book or not...I have never, ever, remembered a dream in black and white, and I remember 3-5 dreams a night....

Sleep Cycles: sleep is constantly going through the different stages during the sleep. Once REM stage is reached you are slightly aroused, then relaxed, back to sleep, and REM state again. The cycle repeats itself over and over.
The average person goes through the cycle (4 stages+REM) about 5-8 times during a night of sleep.

Delta Sleep (slow wave sleep)
1- 3 - 5 cps Delta waves
2- Dreams are dull, no color, difficult to recall, and nonemotional.
3-No Safety Mechanisms
4- predominate chemichal= serotonin
5- Autonomic responses are regular
6-Not a response During Slow Wave Sleep.

Paradoxical (REM sleep)
1- 20- 25 cps
2- Dreams are vivid, in color, easily recalled, and emotional.
3-Has safety mechanisms of Cataplexy(muscle weakness) and Paralysis (prevents movement)
4-predominate chemical= Norepinephrine
5- Autonomic responses are irregular
6. penile erection typically occcurs Vaginal moistening occurs.

any more question?

I am well aware of sleep phases and such, but just because a book says I must dream in black and white, that means nothing to me. That was book will tell me that half the dreams I have are not possible. I have yet to read any literature on sleeping or dreaming that is anywhere near accurate, so.....having anything more in depth? like how such a conclusion was reached? It would do many people good to remember a theory in a book is not a fact....

Saturnine -
I have had dreams like those you describe (where I'm somebody else) but not often, and I notice these differences about them:
1. They are harder to remember afterwards (even though they leave a strong impression ie. Wow! that was like a movie!) - and to me, this is because I don't have an active role. It's more like I'm watching events happen through someone else's senses; i'm not as conscious as usual (making decisions or even thinking - just watching). I'm sometimes aware of the person I'm occupying's thoughts - this is how i can identify myself as someone else - but i'm not thinking the thoughts, i only "hear" them.

2. They are less fantastic. The plots are usual mundane and nothing that's only possible in dreams usually happens..

3. OTOH, what I do remember is usually well-structured. They do flow just like movies to me, with the plot being well-connected and no jumps in space or time or logic, like in normal dreams.

These happen to me probably no more than once a year and although i wake up amazed, they recede so fast all i can usually say about them is, "this one I was a member of the French resistance", or, "this one took place in a minimum security prison", etc.

quango-
My dreams of that sort, I am not watching them....though I have had that sort...but in these, I am that person, with no recollection of being me....I wake up feeling very confused. The plots are normal life situation and everything, in that, we are the same, and they are always linear. I have them about once a month, and they are really very....I dont know...its strange to wake up confused over who you are. I still remember many of the memories of the "joshua" that I was, just like they are real memories....very strange. lol

I haved dreamed with everything but smell.

I remember one dream where I was walking along the road near my parents house (I was still at school) and had just had a terrible day and could see trouble looming up the road and I pinched myself in the dream because I couldn't believe life could be so #. i remember being really unhappy when I didn't wake up and had to continue my dream which I was now convinced was reality. Although I was really that morning when I woke up.

The most colourful dream I ever had that I remember was again 20 or so years ago and involved a laser/nuclear explosion in a park close to where I lived really spectacular display with coloured mushroom cloud and various colours of lasers shooting about in all directions.

The dream I have remembered for the longest time is one I had a number of times as a 7/8 yr old which involved a huge red moon faced beastman in a stairwell in a tall building chasing me up the steps.

Actually I am remebering a lot more dreams now that I start to think about it.