Staying Awake in the Digital Dream: Insights into Lucid Dreaming

Description

This presentation will cover the nature of our relationship with technology, the digital dream it simulates in our minds, and the importance of lucidity in this virtual world. The science of dreaming and wakeful perception will be presented as two sides of the same coin, each conducting similar neurological and cognitive functions. Technology and the all encompassing virtual landscape will then be introduced as a extension of this perceptual dream, along with the implications, opportunities and risks this situation imposes. Lucidity is offered as a means to navigate this uncharted digital world - by enabling focus, dissipating anxiety and cultivating comprehension. In order to promote wakeful lucidity, Aaron will present methods to achieve a lucid dream, in which the dreamer knows that they are asleep without waking up.

About the Speaker

Aaron Gazzola is a Sleep Scientist with a research focus on lucid dreaming. He has spent many hours awake, or “lucid” in his dreaming mind, while his body is asleep. From his research of, and experience within the dream world, Aaron has developed an in-depth understanding of dreams and their relationship to waking perception. He draws many parallels between the dreams we experience while asleep, and the increasingly immersive digital dreams we share while awake.