The Russian philosopher P. D. Ouspensky believed that "man cannot in sleep think about himself unless the thought is itself a dream." Somehow, from this he decided that "a man can never pronounce his own name in sleep." In light of what we now know about the effects of expectation on dream content, you should not be surprised to hear that Ouspensky reported, "as expected," that "if I pronounced my name in sleep, I immediately woke up."

Another lucid dreamer, studied by the English psychologist Celia Green, heard of the philosopher's experiences and theories and tried the experiment for herself. She reported that "I thought of Ouspensky's criterion of repeating one's own name. I achieved a sort of gap-in-consciousness of two words: but it seemed to have some effect; made me 'giddy,' perhaps; at any rate I stopped."

In one more demonstration of the issue, Patricia Garfield described a lucid dream of her own "... in 'Carving My Name,' I proceeded to do just that on the door where I was already carving. I read it and realized why Ouspensky believed it is impossible to say one's name in a lucid dream: the whole atmosphere vibrated and thundered and I woke." Garfield, who was also familiar with the experience of Green's subject, concluded that it is "not impossible to say one's own name in a lucid dream, but it is disruptive."

I too had read Ouspensky's account, but I accepted neither his conclusion nor his original premise. I was confident that nothing would be easier than saying my name in a lucid dream and soon put my belief to the test. In one of my early lucid dreams I spoke out loud, the magic word--"Stephen, I am Stephen."

Beyond hearing my own voice, speaking my own name, nothing unusual happened. Evidently Ouspensky, Green's subject, and Garfield had been strongly conditioned by prior expectations. Of course, the same is true for all of us. In dreams even more than elsewhere in life, if you think you can't, you can't. As Henry Ford said,

SOURCE: Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge & Howard Rheingold, 1990, pp. 135-6. Primary sources: Ouspensky, A new model of the Universe (1931; 1971) p.252; Celia Green, Lucid Dreams (1968) p.85; Patricia Garfield, Creative Dreaming (1974) p.143.

EDITOR'S NOTE

I'm amused that Ouspensky's claim provoked a half-century chain of dreams, and admire LaBerge's clearly framed experiment ending it. Green's subject and Garfield just re-tested Ouspensky's hypothesis too uncritically, and failed to see their results fit either "Saying your name disrupts your dream" or "Your beliefs shape your dream." In contrast, LaBerge did not test Ouspensky's claim, but framed and tested his own hypothesis--that expectations shape the dream-reaction. And his result does refute Ouspensky. Clarify what you're asking!

As a lazy hypothesizer myself, I raise my hat to LaBerge. If I wear a hat. Unproven hypothesis. I'll go check now. I'm sure I have a head. Around here. Somewhere...

--Chris Wayan

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