Saturday, January 3, 2009

Pyschology Question of the Day - Question 2

Are you conscious while you are dreaming?

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes. You are conscious while you are dreaming.

Anonymous said...

i believe that you are conscious while you are dreaming because if there is a loud noise in the room then you will probably wake up which means that your senses still work. While you are dreaming however your senses are just not as sensitive, thus you tend to believe you are not conscious.

Liandra P said...

The only time you are conscious when dreaming is when you are lucid dreaming.

aqualls said...

yes you are conscious while you are dreaming because your body is processing thoughts that you are able to remember.

BBrown said...

No. You are not conscious. If you were conscious you would be able to control what you are dreaming about.

aqualls said...

what about when you get punched in the face and like fall asleep aren't you unconscious thugh?

Liandra P said...

"A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that they are dreaming while the dream is in progress, also known as a conscious dream. When the dreamer is lucid, they can actively participate in and often manipulate the imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can be extremely real and vivid depending on a person's level of self-awareness during the lucid dream."

Anonymous said...

I believe that you are in some form of consciousness because we are able to manipulate our dreams. Also we remember some of the dreams when we wake up.

BBrown said...

In that case Ashley, the punch to the face would cause your state of unconsciousness.

Ali Z. said...

I agree with tarek. i believe we have some conscious when were dreaming because if we didnt we wouldnt be able to remeber our dreams.

Anonymous said...

I changed my mind. I think you are conscious unless it is a deep rem sleep. Other then that i believe you are conscious for you are aware of your alarm or you may wake to a simple touch on the cheek

aqualls said...

idc what causes it you are still sleeping right, so what the difference between sleep thats caused by fatigue or sleep cause by a punch in the face

BBrown said...

Good point Tarek. Semi-consciousness could be a good possibility while dreaming because nyou do wake up when you have nightmares. So, I guess you must have some consciousness.

Anonymous said...

i agree with tarek..he makes a good point. for it you were unconscious you would not remember your dreams

jeffrey a said...

no

ctam said...

yeah you are conscious when you're dreaming.

Dank said...

Physically you are unconscious but you can still dream and therefore you are conscious. As long as your brain does not stop working you have consicousness.

JGaines1337 said...

We are conscious while we are dreaming because we have some degree of control over our dreams. They reflect things that happened during the day or things we hear while we were sleeping.

spotts4 said...

Yes i believe people are conscious when they are dreaming because you can some times control your thoughts as you are dreaming

Mr. Paulson said...

DanK, if a person is in a "vegetative state" where they have brain function, but they can't "think", are they still conscious?

jeffrey a said...

I believe we are concious while we are dreaming because at times our dreams are at least semi coherent. also, if we werent, how would you explain sleepwalking?

JGaines1337 said...

The dream state of consciousness is not considered to be real because, when we wake up, we realise that the world we experienced in the dream state does not fit in with the waking state world. Because there are discrepancies between these two worlds, we realize our dreams can't be real.

Kevin Bosl said...

we are conscious when dreaming, it is just to a different degree. it is a lesser consciousness where we do not have full control of ourselves or our minds.

Anonymous said...

Ok, if I am understanding this correctly then I believe a person is NOT conscious when dreaming because while they are dreaming they believe what is happening in the dream is reality and are unaware that it is in fact just a dream or once again imagination. Most of the time people do not have control over their dreams and are unaware that they are dreaming. I'm not really sure what people are defining as a conscious state though...

openbook said...

Yeah, i agree with basically everyone. You are concious while you are dreaming. But before we were talking about conciousness being a part of reality. So when we are dreaming it's not reality...but we're still concious?

Dank said...

Mr. Paulson, if you follow my definition of consciousness that I used in question 1 then they are not conscious. I believe you must have some brain function to be conscious.

spotts4 said...

yes there still conscious there brain may not work on the same level of conciousness but they may still have some control.

ctam said...

i think they do have control though. When someone has a bad dream, they can either continue it or they can wake up. They have a choice, margee ariel.

jeffrey a said...

i dont believe they are concious because they do not have any connection to the outside world.

Mr. Paulson said...

amber, what if you totally believe that what you are dreaming is real, what is the difference than between that and reality?

openbook said...

I don't kno mr. paulson, how can you prove reality?

openbook said...

Is it the senses? Cause in a dream state are you able to use all ur senses? in a dream i feel like you can't feel things, or smell things...you just watch things. Things just happen

jbonica said...

Waking up from a nightmare, you suddenly realize that what seemed real was in fact a dream. You were inhabiting a world cooked up by the brain, not realizing you were lying in bed. You were comprehensively deluded about your situation.

In what are called lucid dreams, you become aware of the fact that you’re dreaming – you become undeluded. Knowing that you’re dreaming allows you to appreciate something quite remarkable while you are dreaming: that dream reality can be just as vivid and detailed as waking experience. Having had a few lucid dreams myself, I can testify, as have many others, that the dream world seems just as present, tangible and real as what we experience when awake.

kaitlynb said...

no i dont think you are conscious when you are sleeping. you arent really aware of your surroundings.

sleeping walking for example.. they dont know that they are doing it and cant help it

Mr. Paulson said...

so, Jeff, what does that say about whether you are conscious when you are dreaming?

kaitlynb said...

tarek made a good point about remembering what our dreams are.. maybe we are conscious when we sleep, but we are definitly not completely conscious.

haileyr said...

i believe that when you are sleeping you are in some state of consciousness. you arent exactly aware of your surroundings, but if you have a bad dream you can wake yourself up and a lot of people remember there dreams the next morning.

jbonica said...

It says everything...

vtracey13 said...

valid point kaitlyn, I would say that you are some what conscious considering how deeply asleep you are. Foe example I can sometimes wake myself up of know my dream are dreams and control them. I usually dont know everything that is happening around me but I usually wake when there is abrupt change.

Ryan Squirrtle Sullivan said...

Yes you are conscience while dreaming. I know from expierence that when I am dreaming I know I am dreaming because I can FLY and sometimes I am batman. I realize that then I wake up and ruin the best dream ever. Or if an incident occurs in my room that produces a loud noise I will awake from my slumber, which mean my conscience is active while I dream.

LOUD NOISES

kaitlynb said...

i agree with hailey.

jbonica said...

The rate that time passes while lucid dreaming has been shown to be about the same as while waking. However, a 1995 study in Germany indicated lucid dreaming can also have varied time spans, in which the dreamer can control the length. The study took place during sleep and upon awakening, and required the participants to record their dreams in a log and how long the dreams lasted. In 1985, LaBerge performed a pilot study where lucid dreamers counted out ten seconds while dreaming, signaling the end of counting with a pre-arranged eye signal measured with electrooculogram recording.[13] LaBerge's results were confirmed by German researchers in 2004. The German study, by D. Erlacher and M. Schredl, also studied motor activity and found that deep knee bends took 44% longer to perform while lucid dreaming.

MakailaC said...

I think you are in some state of consciouness when you're dreaming, because some people talk and walk in thier sleep, and you can't do that if you're unconscious.

Ryan Squirrtle Sullivan said...

You copy WIKIPEDIA

Mr. Paulson said...

makaila, people who sleepwalk and talk do not remember what they did once they "wake up", so were they really conscious of what they were doing?

MakailaC said...

They might not be consious of what they're doing, but I don't think it makes sense for people to be able to move and talk if they aren't consious.

kaitlynb said...

good point kaila. how can people move aorund and talk in their sleep if they arent somewhat conscious?

The KW said...

I think that in some dreams you have more control than others. Espacially when you have a creative and imaginative mind. O and if you watch a lot of movies. I have some dreams that are like a outer-body experience where im watching myself like a movie, some dreams where its in first person view and i can control what i do, and the wierd dreams where it seems like both viewpoints are occurring.

Anonymous said...

You are not concious when you are dreaming because when you are dreaming you're unconcious. A dream state is classified under unconciousness.

Nick Jones said...

One is absolutely conscious while sleeping. I had a dream last night where I was able to consciously navigate the setting of my dream.

JBacker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JBacker said...

If consciousness is being aware of ones own existence, then yes, you are conscious during dreams.

In dreams, you usually know who you are. The fact that you know who you are shows a level of consciousness.

AMarshall3791 said...

i think that you are conscious while you are dreaming. you are a lot more sensative to noise and other surroundings than you would be if you were unconscious

also, when you are dreaming, the noises that you hear in your dream can sometimes be real noises.

dmenard said...

yes u are conscious because when i am dreaming i can hear noises around me like the TV

The KW said...

o and ive had a lot of dreams where i can hear something outside of my dream in reality, or i would realize that i fell asleep when doing something really important and try to force myself awake. it feels like being trapped in a dreamworld. u wan to move but ur body is like stone...trippy

AMarshall3791 said...

i think that you are conscious while you are dreaming.

kshea said...

i feel that you are conscious when you are dreaming because if a loud nosies happens you automatically wake up that has to mean u are conscious while your sleeping

jessica said...

absolutely not

Anonymous said...

i do beleive that you are conscious while you are dreaming

Anonymous said...

Yes, I believe that one is conscious while dreaming because you are able to control what you are dreaming in some sense. They realize that they are dreaming, and if you are aware of that, than you are conscious.
But what I'm confused about is how some people can't ever remember their dreams; like myself.

jessica said...

first of all he says sleeping and ppl alwyas ask themselves if there dreams are evn real so how can u be concoius if u dont evn know if a dream is real or not

kgilmore said...

I think you are conscious while you are dreaming because you can hear surrounding noises and sometimes surrounding noises or can work into your dream for example if someone os calling your name it will also be in your dream. Also some people have the ablity to make themselves dream something they want to dream about and inorder to do that there has to be some consiousness

Anonymous said...

jess, please explain in further detail

The KW said...

ima a loser

Anonymous said...

thats to bad the KW

khiggs said...

I am not sure if you are conscious while you are dreaming. I do think that you can hear somethings while you are sleeping but if you do hear it, but does that mean that you are some what awake. Idk just talking

Anonymous said...

i think that sometimes when you are hearing things when you are dreaming, and you like what you hear, you can turn it into a dream

The KW said...

Derricks a loser, Jessicas a loser and Nates a loser too....Is what i would say if this wasnt a school-friendly blog :)

jessica said...

oh yea KW well at least i dont call myself a loser