sleepin

[sophie_1003]

Is it true that if you dont wake up when you have a falling dream you die?

[woofgang]

now how would anyone know?

[Peter Pedant]

This is a good example Sophie should you need one of a non-(scientific hypothesis).

because it is impossible to construct an experiment to prove it...untrue

any hypothesis worth its name has to be tested so that it could be false. Popper or Ilich, I cant remember whom.

Odd thing but there you are

[bernardo]

Obviously, it is true that if you don't wake up, then you will either die or remain in a coma for the rest of your life.  This is regardless of whether you are having a dream or not, or of what the content of the dream is.

[sophie_1003]

Ok then smarty pants I'll phrase it differently, Is it possible to wake up from a falling dream in which you don't hit the bottom?

[Piper-AK]

I've had a falling dream where I fell off a high cliff into a rageing sea - I survived.  When I hit the ground (or sea or beach) I just sort of 'glumped' into it and then had an action dream where I swam at the bottom of the sea.  I've had dreams where I was diving, though, and felt I was running out of air.  I then woke up gasping for breath, as I had, worryingly, been holding it.

[woofgang]

yes of course, There is evidence that some dreams only take a fraction of the time to be dreamed that they appear to or may even be dreamed in retrospect. Thus the sound of a fire engine might introduce a fire engine into the dream. You might perceive the dream as lasting for (say) an hour but in reality it can't have done as the fire engine would only take seconds to pass your house.

Similarly, the "bump" that wakes you in a falling dream is caused as I recall  by a myoclonic jerk sort of a whole body twitch which only lasts a fraction of a second and the brain constructs a back story of a falling dream to account for the sensation. That's the theory anyway.

[woofgang]

have a look here

http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon971114/skinnyon.html

[david_harry]

It was Karl Popper! I'm going back a few years but I think it went something like ...

He stated that the true test of a theory is that is cannot be falsified. For instance, if I state that all swans are white then seeing a white swan does not confirm that the theory is correct. However, If I saw a black swan then I can falsify the theory and prove it incorrect.

I suppose, therefore, that you could postulate the theory that if you are dreaming and falling you will die if you don't wake up and that it will hold true until someone has a dream, is falling, hits the bottom and lives!

Or something like that!

[sophie_1003]

ah good old popper, did about him in sociology alevel last year!

[ilovetazzy]

me no no

[sophie_1003]

What does that mean?!?

[Kenzo]

doing philosophy at the moment - doing an essay on Karl Poppers falsification theory!

he doesnt seem to recognise confirmation of a theory though. popper claims it is rational to accept a theory not shown to be false, but what if a theory has not one successful confirmation to its credit?

ive heard about the theory of falling while asleep, and if you hit the ground youre a dead man but i dont suppose there are many people to prove this correct!