Pre-lucid dreaming is the beginning stages of inducing the lucid dreaming process. At this stage, the dreamer considers the question: "Am I asleep and dreaming?" The dreamer may or may not come to the correct conclusion. Such experiences are liable to occur to people who are deliberately cultivating lucid dreams, but may also occur spontaneously to those with no prior intention to achieve lucidity in dreams.
The term "lucid dreaming" was first coined by Dutch psychologist Frederik Willems Van Eeden who introduced the concept on the 22nd of April during a meeting held by the Society for Psychical Research in 1913, but this phenomenon has been present all throughout historical periods with some findings even dating back to the writings of Aristotle. Stephen LaBerge, American psychophysiologist, introduced his method for physiological investigation of lucid dreaming through eye signals in the 1980s and ever since, more modern research has been established on the studies of the lucid dreaming process.
The term "pre-lucid dream" was first introduced by Celia Green in her 1968 book Lucid Dreams. It is preferred to the term "near-lucid" dream on the following grounds:
Historical priority: it has been in use since 1968.
Currency: it was subsequently adopted by other writers on the phenomenon of lucid dreaming, such as Stephen LaBerge (1985).
Clarity: lucidity in dreams may be thought of as a dichotomous variable: one either is or is not aware that one is dreaming at any given moment. Once lucidity is achieved it may have varying degrees of attainment, both from one person to another and from one dream to another within the same person. For example, one's memory of past events in one's waking life may be accessible and accurate to a greater or lesser degree. However, the bare fact of whether or not one is aware one is dreaming does not admit of gradations.
However, the term "pre-lucid dream" seems to imply that a lucid dream will follow, which is not necessarily true. The term "near-lucid" helps convey the often humorous "so close, yet so far away" aspect of such dreams.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.