This section brushes on the topic of sleep, and any disorders we may have that accompany it. There are many references to both theories on dreaming and our slips between consciousness and unconsciousness within them. The topic that epitomizes both of these at once is lucid dreaming.
Lucid dreaming is when a person is dreaming, but consciously aware of it due to their spectacular surroundings and has the ability to control their actions. It is uncertain whether we are completely awake or completely asleep during our state of lucid dreaming; and much like the movie Inception, it is metaphorically limbo between the conscious and unconscious.
While about twenty percent of Americans report having lucid dreams on a monthly basis, yet because of the lack of empirical evidence it is impossible to tell if one is actually experiencing a lucid dream, or rather just reports it upon awakening.
I believe that lucid dreaming is not, in fact, something that happens while completely asleep or unconscious. Hallucinations, visions, and daydreams are all perfectly commonplace with the human mind. The distinct part of dreams, however, is we cannot control them. When we have lucid dreams I believe we simply experience a mental phenomenon that seems like a dream because it is instantaneously following the act of dreaming. Lucid dreaming could also potentially be what dreaming during the process of waking up feels like. Whatever a lucid dream is, it is absolutely a bizarre human function worth further research.
YES! I love this kind of stuff, really interesting when it delves into intuitions, predictions, psychic phenomenons, and shamanism. The mind is a fascinating place indeed! Too bad it is so very tricky to study this kind of stuff, but at least there are people out there researching it. Slowly but surely!