I'm not going to get into an extended discussion about this.
I will, however, address the questions and concerns you've raised.
 Originally Posted by StephL
I did look into the IASD repeatedly, and kept respectfully quiet. Show me one example, which would convince me, if the experiment would have been conducted seriously and under controlled conditions.
No real life contact between sharers for a while beforehand for example, and not using content overlap, but information transfer - both of which your psychology reference lacks.
Could you please define the difference between "information transfer" and "content overlap"? Given the nature of dreams, I would think statistically significant content overlap would be sufficient to show phenomena such as mutual dreaming exists (if not necessarily explaining the mechanism behind it). If you are seeking evidence of telepathy or similar, there are more straightforward experiments which eliminate the inherent variables introduced by the dreaming mind.
Regardless, I'll see if I can get a copy of the study I have in mind (not sure it's been published yet). Though you might have to pay for that, too.
 Originally Posted by StephL
Even if it wasn't completely void of validity to take reports on an internet forum as evidence - the actual examples really didn't convince me. Did I overlook the ones, where I actually had to start arguing?
Probably not. Most of the "evidence" I've seen presented on these forums wouldn't convince me either.
 Originally Posted by StephL
And what comes to mind, is that the couple lived together, and they simply synchronized their dreams by close daytime contact - which then lead to dream-content overlap in about a third of their dreams, which they themselves selected for analysis.
If I remember the study correctly, they recorded and identified the shared dreams independently of one another (the experiment was a double-blind study, afterall). As for the close contact throughout the day contributing to overlap: this is a valid observation. However, I would think (from my experience sharing [as in communicating with words] dreams with my SO each morning upon waking) such high overlap in somewhat exotic content (they provide a number of transcripts of the dreams in the article) to be rather unusual.
 Originally Posted by StephL
Then - what does male unblinded subject mean?
At the end of the experiment, they trained the male subject to quantitatively evaluate the content overlap using the same methodology as the other twelve independent, blind analysts. Since he would be able to tell whose dream was whose, on what date they occurred, and the purpose of the experiment, he would be considered an unblind analyst.
 Originally Posted by StephL
Nobody would claim that dream-content overlap in a couple in close contact would be down to change - so this "impressive" number doesn't say anything without insight into their methods and mathematics.
Not convincing.
The math and methods are all presented in the article and have been extensively peer reviewed before publication.
 Originally Posted by StephL
And why content overlap - why not password transfer?
See my reasoning above for why password transfer at the dream level is wildly unnecessary, inefficient, and impractical.
 Originally Posted by StephL
I needed to see the actual study, to form an opinion - until then I'm highly sceptical, and I won't pay for it - shame it's not open access.
Go to a local university or library. They'll most probably have a copy there for you to read in the serials section or in their academic database.
 Originally Posted by StephL
Remember the Randi-challenge?
Why did that couple not go ahead and win the 1.000.000 Dollar?
For one, they (as a couple) would have been largely ineligible under the terms of the application: Challenge Application
 Originally Posted by StephL
How do you know, this is true?
I don't. But along that line of reasoning, how do you know that I or anyone else on this site has had any lucid dreams at all?
 Originally Posted by StephL
You even say, the salient content wasn't ever publicly available - but then you expect people to believe you?
There are chat logs and other records floating around, but I wouldn't expose their identities out of respect of their privacy. I'll point them towards this thread, and if they choose to comment on the matter, so be it.
 Originally Posted by StephL
Are you one of them - or how would you know?
Is it difficult to think that someone who's been in the LDing community as long as myself doesn't have a number of friends I met here but now converse with outside these forums/the community?
 Originally Posted by StephL
And no - when I look into the IOSP these days - people struggle to become lucid in the first place - that's why it's quiet in the beyond. I struggle to become lucid as well - so my sincerest sympathies and no harm meant.
But if it really would be quiet, because of threads like this one, bringing a bit of common sense and clarity into people's heads -
that would actually be quite beneficent on different levels. People could stop wasting their time, trying to hunt down the SDing phantom, which simply doesn't make sense, instead of exploring lucidity for the wonder that it truly is for one. There are more worthwhile things out there to be passionate about!

And I agree. Folks who can't get lucid regularly shouldn't even be bothering with pursuing shared dreaming (except maybe as an "end-game" motivator) when they already have so much to explore. On the flip side, I'd imagine after a few hundred (or thousand) lucids a person might start seeking something deeper.
|
|
Bookmarks