Quote Originally Posted by FryingMan View Post
I sort of made this point earlier
That you did, and your post is helpful. I didn't see it exactly in that light, but now that you mention it I do. The mention of vigilance feels very relevant to me.

The goal of ADA is a challenging, yet fun endeavor; we are essentially aiming to naturally defy a large part of our "modern" definition of a dream (the lack of self-reflection). Just like the new Voss study, we are trying to 'ramp up' our (frontal) brain activity, though through awareness rather than external stimulation. Even though it can be frustrating, the fun part about lucidity for me is the success that comes from achieving it naturally...I like the idea of grabbing the reigns of my mind.

Which has a stronger effect from ADA: are we increasing awareness just to look for cues, or rather are we increasing our level of waking consciousness to the point where we don't lose as much of it when we dream? It seems to me the second, since no matter how much I can know that gravity only exists in a dream, a non-lucid dream constitutes a lack of self-reflection so I'll never notice. Even if I was aware in the day, the typical 'loss of self-reflection' by decreased frontal cortex activity in dreaming would not allow me to take note. I need that "frontal power" of my brain to self-reflect and make the observation, and as Ctharlhie has pointed out elsewhere, by using the above-mentioned practices we are making physical changes in our brain. So I feel like it is those changes, that come with practice, that allow you to carry that awareness into your dream state. And though it seems like it would take forever for those changes to occur, in my experience I was amazed at how quickly meditation seemed to take its effect on both my waking and dream life.