Brüno

Having watched the new Sacha Baron Cohen movie Bruno or Brüno, I feel rather confused about the movie. The movie is very funny at times as well as very shocking at times with scenes of homosexuality. The movie can be hard to understand at times. I feel the movie has two aims, one to entertain the viewer as well as get a message across that homophobic views are still very strong. There is a scene where Bruno is pretending to be a fighter and is bragging about his heterosexually to build up the crowd. There are people in the audience wearing t-shirts with homophobic words. He then lets someone into the ring only to start kissing the guy. I feel this scene really shows how much people still find homosexuality offensive. I do not feel the movie is as good as Borat and I did not feel it would be. I would say anyone who likes Borat or Ali G to give it a go but I do not know if I will watch it again.

Dreams and Memory, the clone theory

As talked about in my dreams post, I remember reading something about how dreams are remembered but just not recallable. What if our memory works like a Blog in that everything is recorded and stored and tagged and time stamped and then stored away. When you want to recall a memory you either hit a tag or a time stamp. What if dreams are forgotten because they do not have any time stamps or tags applied? Memory does not work quite like this but go with it for a while. What if a dream that had the start of an event we did have and the end of an event we did have but a different middle? An example is needed, what is a man goes for a walk to a park and sees a young girl then goes home. What if he has a dream where he goes to the park and sees the young girl and talks to her and asks her name and then leaves? If for some reason the time stamps got mixed up he then might forget the reality and believe the dream. What if a dream could take place for a real event? How would he tell the difference?

How does anyone know their memories are real? One knows their memories are real because they are trigged by senses and objects. One can look at photos and see oneself there and remember it being taken. Those that cannot remember the event put it down to bad memory. What if there was a way to invent memories? All someone would have to do is invent a memory of them owing someone money or something and put an item they could have bought and they would believe it.

But this is just the start of what could happen. What if we could clone the world the new cloned world would have a copy of our memory. Would this world then believe its memories are real? How would we know we were the first world and not the new cloned one? What about if we were to tell the cloned world they are in fact cloned how would they believe it?

This theory is one of a view about a simulated world and will not get too into it now. All in all if we did clone the whole world and put it side by side the only way of telling would be to work out its location in space, nothing could tell the difference if it was a complete copy. If the world was started today and all of yesterdays memories were invented and the whole universe was just created today, how could you tell?

Nothing to report on dreams

I did like normal have dreams including a lucid dream last night. I cannot really remember it other than I randomly thought I might be dreaming and checked my hands. My hands looked normal but still felt I was dreaming. I then tried a new trick and tried to fly which was successful. After a few what seemed to be minutes of flying through walls and ceilings I had a false awakening and was in another dream. The dream did take place near 7:00 am as I had a second dream where I was getting up talking to people and then woke up for real and checked the clock and it was 7:26 am. It does seem like Wednesdays are a good time for me to lucid dream.

There will be another post later this week or tonight if I can finish it. This does not count towards the two average posts a week.

What if we are not meant to Dream

Seemly more and more people say they do not dream. I have read on lots of websites that everyone dreams and just most do not remember the dream (Yahoo Answers). I remember reading something about how dreams are remembered but just not recallable. It is because of this that we cannot recall having the dream. I will write a post more on memory later. What if we were never meant to be able to remember our dreams though? What if by mistake we can remember our dreams? If we did not know we dreamt ever then believing in this world would be more believable?

Let’s look at it like this, no one dreams or everyone dreams and no one ever remembers it. In this world when people go to sleep people would just wake up having not dreamt anything. What if someone then dreamt something or remembered it to the next day? It would be like going into another world. They would not be able to relate it to anything else because no one would have had a dream before. This would be more like a vision for that person.

Now back to our world where most people dream every night. Because it is so common no one really thinks anything of it. What if by mistake we remember our dreams and should have made us more aware of how unreal our world is. Ever had one of those dreams where it puts you something so unreal yet its completely believable and when you awake you need to adjust? What if our day time reality is simply just that? What if when we die or we complete what we are meant to do we wake up? There are two science fiction television shows that have done this. Life on Mars the USA version and Red Dwarf (Back to Reality) the UK version. Maybe when we dream our brain is removing our memory of those dreams because it does not want us become aware that there could be a world outside of this one. If we did not dream we could only know about this world and this reality it would be harder to reason with someone saying there could be something else.

If this is true what do we need to do to wake up? This is an interesting question as in The Matrix movies most people simply do not wake up. This is because they believe in their reality so much they simply do not want to wake up. Those that die in the Matrix do not wake up they just die. Only those that want out and are noticed are woken up. So the answer could be really one of three things, we wake up when we die, we wake up when have completed a task or are woken up or we simply are not meant to wake up. If the third one is true then there is no way of knowing. How can we doubt our reality’s exists if we see it to exist every day?

Further reading and other stuff used.

Yahoo Answers on Do you dream every night.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090503132611AA6mErX

TV shows, Red Dwarf and Life on Mars US.

Movies, The Matrix.

Dreams within a dream and becoming lucid, I saw into the mirror!

The following takes place between 6 am and 7:50 am on Wednesday 8th of July. I remember as I woke up and looked at the time.

The dream started with me dreaming about me, my mum and brother going to see my granddad and nanny. I remember thinking this was weird but did not know why. I then thought I knew why it was weird my dad was not there. This was not abnormal as he does not get on with my mothers parents that well. It was then that I noticed that granddad looked very much like my dad, even had my dad’s moustache. I then tried to tell other people in my dream about this. My granddad did not like what I was saying and my mother was telling me that I was being rude. I then said well I can prove it I will take a photo of him and compare it. So I got my phone out and took a photo of him and wow is the only word I could answer with it. The photo was very wrong. I took a photo of my granddad and got a photo of a newspaper, with two pictures and some words that I cannot remember. I then showed him and he said he did not like his photo taken. I tried again as I was becoming to realise this was a dream. Everyone tried to stop me but I kept pushing them away so I could take more photos. Every time I took a photo it looked more stupid like it was of a period woman dressed in some weird dress, after I took a photo of my granddad. I think the reason what really clenched it though as my granddad has never sat in the front room of his house. It was made into a living room after his death. Before his death it was a store room.

I then for some reason fell into another dream. I was walking around eating meals and seeing lots of people I knew. My teacher from college walked past me. I quickly told her about my journal asked if she had read it yet (something I had done at college). She said she was in a hurry and to see her after summer. I was disappointed as I wanted to talk to her about lucid dreaming.

I then woke up, well, I thought I woke up. My phone went off with the alarm and woke me up but the house looked weird and where I was sleeping was under the window where a cupboard normally is. I then did something weird I tend to do when half a sleep and checked my phone for the photos in my dream. I was telling myself they would not be there when to my amazement they was. I ran to the bathroom as I needed to go to the toilet. I opened the door and my dad was sitting on the toilet and said “do you mind?” I then said I need to look in the mirror and he said “oh not more of this again”. I did not say I thought I was dreaming only that I wanted to look in the mirror. I looked into the mirror and was shocked by saw, I looked normal.

Well I looked very pale and movement was weird. My lips looked more like they was getting bigger then going small when I moved my mouth open. I then thought I should try and find another dream sign so I looked at my hand and wow. I could not keep my hand still it looked like my hand was always moving from side to side. This meant I could not count my fingers clearly it also looked as if I was clenching my hand when I was not.

I then looked back at my dad still sitting on the toilet and he was going on about how this means nothing. I then replied quoting my earlier post “if you ask people in your dream if you’re dreaming they will say no”. He laughed and left the room. I then went back to looking at my self in the mirror and kept moving my lips and then a cut started to form and blood was there.

I then woke up. I sat there for a bit amazed I was able to have another lucid dream.

Oh one other note, I did not have cuts on my hands in my dream that I do have on my hands in what we call reality. I did not notice this in my dream but did when I woke up and checked my hands. I should also note I have been taking vitamin B. What really gets me if it tends to be Wednesdays and I feel this is really weird, I only can remember my dreams on Wednesday? If the weirdness didn’t stop there it happens in the morning. After I have woke up once to check the time. This brings me to the point the changes to my life since my first dream is, I am going to bed earlier on a Tuesday, I am taking one vitamin B in the morning and one in the afternoon (meant to be one a day) and I am sleeping in bed where as I normally just crash out on the sofa when I am tired. The fact they have been on Wednesday I feel is because I am going to bed earlier the night before. I do remember remembering my dreams when I used to go to college and I used to go to bed early the night before then. Oh well maybe I will see next Wednesday.

Lucid dreaming the basics

Lucid dreaming is when the dreamer becomes aware he or she is dreaming. The reason depends on the dream. Having a lucid dream allows the dreamer to be able to control the dream.

Lucid dreaming can be very difficult to start but can be a very useful experience. Lucid dreamers can use ways and techniques to detect whether or not they are dreaming. The techniques are sometimes called reality checks. Reality checks from Wikipedia:

• The pinch reality check: Pinch any part of your body and if you feel no pain (or if it feels "different" or "obstructed" compared to waking life) then it is a dream.
• The nose reality check: As if crossing your eyes, look down at the bridge of your nose. In a dream, you will not see your nose.
• The nose reality check: Pinch your nose and if you are able to breathe without using your mouth, it is a dream.[34]
• Try to stick your finger through the palm of your hand.[34]
• Looking at one's digital watch (remembering the time), looking away, and looking back. As with text, the time will probably have changed randomly and radically at the second glance or contain strange letters and characters. (Analog watches do not usually change in dreams, while digital watches and clocks have a great tendency to do so.)[35]
• Flipping a light switch. Light levels rarely change as a result of the switch flipping in dreams.[36]
• Looking into a mirror; in dreams, reflections from a mirror often appear to be blurred, distorted, incorrect, or frightening.[36]
• Looking at the ground beneath one's feet or at one's hands. If one does this within a dream the difference in appearance of the ground or one's hands from the normal waking state is often enough to alert the conscious to the dream state.[37]
• Pick up a book and look inside. Often, the pages will be blank, or change after the second look.
• Look at your surroundings. If the placement of the buildings is different from what it ought to be, you are in a dream.
• Look at your clothing. If you are dreaming, there's a good chance that your clothing is out of the ordinary, too small or too large, or not even there.”

The only signs detected personally by me are, the light switch, looking in the mirror and looking at the surroundings. I have never been able to tell it was a dream just by the third though. I have noticed lots of changes and not been able to realise it is a dream. I have also looked at the time in a dream but not noticed anything out of the norm. Light switches in dreams for me tend to make the bulb change but the room stay the same or when I look away and look back at the room the light has changed. Looking into a mirror I have only managed once and I woke up.

There are also Dream Signs a dreamer can look out for, these are signs he or she is dreaming. Wikipedia includes the following dream actions.

• Action — The dreamer, another dream character, or a thing does something unusual or impossible in waking life, such as flying, jumping or running great distances, walking through walls, teleporting/changing the dream setting, or noticing photographs in a magazine or newspaper becoming three-dimensional with full movement.
• Powerlessness — There is a sensational loss of bodily strength. This can mean being unable to move entirely, simply that you are unable to run away from something you otherwise would. This can also include a loss of senses, such as severely limited vision or hearing.
• Context — The place or situation in the dream is strange and includes fictional characters or places.
• Form — The dreamer, another character, or an object changes shape, is oddly formed, or transforms. This may include the presence of unusual clothing or hair, or a third person view of the dreamer.
• Awareness — There is a peculiar thought, a strong emotion, an unusual sensation, a loss of normal logic, or an altered perception. In some cases when moving one's head from side to side, one may notice a strange stuttering or 'strobing' of the image.
• Clocks — The dreamer looks at a clock or watch, looks away, then looks back, and the time could have changed, unintelligible symbols appear on the watch face or even the watch can be gone all together.
• Fingers — The dreamer seems to have an abnormal number of fingers (e.g. more than 5 on a hand).

All of the above seem to be very common in dreams and I have not been able to notice I am in a dream from them. I have tried to look at my hands a lot in the day time to try and cause myself to look at them in my dreams. I have had the powerlessness feeling of being unable to walk in an earlier dream.

A direct quote from Wikihow.com, “If you ask people in your dream ‘Am I dreaming?’... most of the time they'll say ‘No.’”. This is interesting because I sort of remember asking someone in a dream something similar and cannot remember the answer. Another quote is, “When recalling a dream upon waking, try not to move. Activating your muscle neurons can make it more difficult to access the parts of your brain that allow you to recall your dream.” I find this very true getting up to go to the bathroom can cause dreams to be forgotten quite quickly.

The Best time I find to have good dreams is early morning around 7 am. I tend to be able to remember them as well. I feel this is because it is close to waking up. I have a category of dreaming which I may add more to.

Further reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream
A how to guide
http://www.wikihow.com/Lucid-Dream


This I was not happy with as I feel it is pieced together in places. I posted it anyway as I quoted it in my next post about a dream I had. Hope it is of some use.

Channelled thoughts

I remember hearing about a theory that all the information and experiences in the world are shared in a kind of pool and that, the more people who know about something the harder it is for people to disbelieve. I think I heard it on the movie Waking Life directed by Richard Linklater. The movie is about a man who is experiencing a lucid dream and is told stories and random stuff by people. One of the stories he is told about is some studies that had been done were if you take yesterdays crossword and present it to a new audience today, because a lot of people have done it yesterday it is easier to complete. I told a quote from Waking Life found on the imdb forum, "It's like once the answers are out there, people can pick up on 'em. It's like we're all telepathically sharing our experiences.”

I have my own theory based around this. My theory is, maybe we are not sharing our experiences but living what we are told to and thinking what we are told to. That the pool is already there and we are not adding to it but feeding from it. What if say everything we think of is what we are being made to think about. An example might be a soap opera, what if the writers are not inventing this but providing a way for us to see another world. This is even for my standards hard to believe and the only excuse I can provide to why this is hard to believe is that we are being told not to believe it. This is also my excuse for a few other theories.

Surely if we are doing and thinking what has been set for us to do and think it is just fate. I do not think this is the same as fate because, I believe we are channelling our thoughts and actions and do have some control over what we do with the channelled information. I also believe we are told more information than what we know. I feel the thoughts and memories that we have forgotten are forgotten because we chose not to play those actions or thoughts out. This theory has a few holes and it is hard to believe because given my example above it could be possible to go into Eastenders and have a pint in the Queen Vic, if we managed to find a way to explore their world. This is enough to put a lot of people off due to the random hard to believe events that can happen in a soap opera. Also what about science fiction movies are they all played out? Is there a world with vampires and werewolves roaming the streets and country side of England?

This theory is also not that we are living in a simulated world but the world we live in is influenced by other worlds. We may also be influencing other worlds by our actions and thoughts. This theory assumes there are lots of worlds and universes where lots of different kinds of people and ways of life are played out. If we could visit these worlds we could go and see and learn. I wonder what people would think when they go into a world and walk into a bar to see Earl Hickey from My Name is Earl sitting at the bar. This theory is more science fiction but I feel it is still entertaining to read and think about.

Getting back to the waking life theory though, surely if all of the knowledge etc is available we could find a way to channel it for us to use. If we are taking an exam we could channel the answers the teacher knows. If the exam is taken different days the group that comes second should have a better chance then the first group. Maybe we are just denying the thoughts that are presenting themselves to us. Maybe the feeling we get to remove our stocks and shares or the feeling we get when we should be doing something else, is just us denying what we was meant to be doing. I know this theory will not be believed by many but I feel it is interesting all the same.