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ABSTRACT Perception in Dreams: Implications and Phenomenology E. W. Kellogg III, Ph.D. NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE: E. W. Kellogg III, Ph.D. Ed Kellogg earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Duke University. A proficient lucid dreamer, he has a long-standing interest in the phenomenology of dreaming. He has presented numerous papers and workshops on such topics as the lucidity continuum, lucid dream healing, and mutual dreaming. In 2002 Ed organized and hosted ASD’s First Online PsiberDreaming Conference. Summary of Presentation Many dream theorists promote the idea that dreams consist only of
internally generated imagery derived from stored memories. However, the
repeated validation of psi-dreaming of external targets in scientific studies
has made "strictly subjective" theories of dreaming outdated and
untenable. This paper will discuss the phenomenology of perception in dreams.
Evaluation questions:
Abstract Perception in Dreams: Implications and Phenomenology
E. W. Kellogg III, Ph.D. Until the 1960’s evidence for psi-dreaming consisted mostly of anecdotal reports. However, at that point researchers at Maimonides Dream Laboratory (1) took the next step, and in a series of controlled scientific studies demonstrated that subjects could repeatedly tune into randomly selected external targets in their dreams. Since that time, research in remote viewing has demonstrated that human beings in general have the ability to tune into designated targets outside the range of the physical senses. In 1996 Dr. Jessica Utts, a statistician hired by the CIA to evaluate SRI's Remote Viewing experiments, concluded: "psychic functioning has been well established. The statistical results of the studies examined are far beyond what is expected by chance. Arguments that these results could be due to methodological flaws in the experiments are soundly refuted." (2) And it seems generally agreed that spontaneous dream-state psi occurs much more easily and often than waking-state psi. For theories on the nature of dreaming, the validation of dream-psi seems the equivalent of the Michelson-Morley experiment in physics, with the exception that few have realized the profound implications. For example, psi-dreaming has made strictly subjective, solipsistic, theories of dreaming outdated and untenable. We need to change in how we think about dreams, and to understand that dreaming involves a kind of perception. One can describe ‘visual perception as process’ as follows:
This process distinguishes between what one sees, and what one perceives. Even if two individuals see "the same" ink blot, they may perceive it quite differently. In dreams, much more so than in waking life, I identify what I experience in terms of those objects and processes familiar to me, even if the match seems very poor. To the dreaming mind, "similar to" often becomes "identical to." I wrote about this "The Substitution Phenomenon" in 1985 (3) and developed this concept in subsequent papers (4-7). Psi-dreams offer unique opportunities to observe how dream perception works. Figure 1 illustrates this process, comparing a precognitive dream image with the actual target image. As commonly observed in remote viewing experiments (8, 9), although the dream image matches the target as an abstract pattern, the dreamer misperceived it. Considering the problems with validation, it seems no surprise that evidential reports of spontaneous psi-dreams occur rarely. And yet, as the Maimonides studies showed, it seems remarkably easy for people to induce psi-dreams. Even in "ordinary dreams", we may routinely use dream-psi to semi-randomly tune into different channels of information, based on conscious and unconscious interests, "day residue", etc. The most mundane dreams may have unrecognized psi-elements. When we consciously focus our intent we begin to control the selection process, allowing us to tune into specific information. REFERENCES 1.Ullman, M, Krippner, S., and Vaughn, A.,(1973) Dream Telepathy: Experiments in Nocturnal ESP, Penguin Books, Baltimore. 2. Utts, J., (1996) "An Assessment of the Evidence for Psychic Functioning " The Journal of Scientific Exploration, 10(1), 3- Page 3-30. 3. Kellogg III, E. W. (1985). "The Substitution Phenomenon" Dream Network Bulletin, 4(5), 5-7 4. Kellogg III, E. W. (1989). "Mapping Territories: A Phenomenology of Lucid Dream Reality". Lucidity Letter, 8(2), 81 - 97. 5. Kellogg III, E. W. (1992). "The Lucidity Continuum", a paper presented at the Eighth Annual Conference of the Lucidity Association in Santa Cruz, June 28, 1992. Copies of this paper available from the author by request. © 1992 6. Kellogg III, E. W. (1997) "A Mutual Lucid Dream Event", Dream Time, 14(2), 32-34. 7. Kellogg III, E. W. (2001) "ASD 2001 Telepathy Contest: A Precognitive Approach", Dream Time, 18(2-3), 20, 41. A longer version appears online at the ASD Website: http://www.asdreams.org/telepathy/contest2001/kellogg.htm 8. Swann, I. (1991), Everybody’s Guide to Natural ESP: Unlocking the Extrasensory Power of Your Mind, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., Los Angeles. 9. Graff, Dale E. ( 2001). "Learning from Psi Dreams", Dream Time, 18(1), 14, 15, 33.
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