h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I used to have flying dreams. I never knew how to control my flight in them and they were quite scary.

>> And you tried to run, but it felt like you were running through water...? <<

Since that post was made in April I have learned
of a natural phenomenon in which the sleeping body
secretes a paralysing toxin when it detects threats.

A sound or movement nearby might indicate a prowling
predator nearby. This causes the body to freeze - a trick
that prevents the sleeper form making any noise or motion
which would alert the predator to the presence of the sleeper.

It is now theorised that this on-board neuro-toxin may be
the root cause of sleep apnea and can be triggered by any
random noise - wind, traffic, neighbors...

~jwf~

JWF, that may be related to sleep paralysis, a condition in which the unconscious mind awakens prior to the capacity for volitional movement.

Very uncomfortable and frightening.

'unconscious' was supposed to be "conscious"

I vividly remember the last flying dream I ever had, flying along in clear blue sky like superman.

Then I noticed another fellow flying a couple Meyers to my right, a couple of meters higher and about half a meter behind.

Next I landed in what appeared to be a leafless tree, but proved to be a steel pipe construction coated with concrete modeled and painted to resemble the bark of a tree, climbed to the ground, walked away and haven't a flying dream since.




Sometimes, though, I still have dreams of running on all fours on the pads of my feet and knuckles, or swinging through the trees from branch to branch overhand.

'Myers' was supposed to be "meters"

Really I must first d time this upcoming week to write the authors of this dysfunctional beta- word system a strong letter.

I'm nearly ready.

jwf - Wow! I've never before heard of such a thing - how interesting! I'm going to google and find out more about this paralyzing chemical of which you speak...

ITIWBS -
What a wild flying dream! The other dreams sound pretty crazy, too! Made me think of that scene in American Werewolf in London where the poor guy starts turning into a wolf...

>> proved to be a steel pipe construction coated with concrete
modeled and painted to resemble the bark of a tree, climbed to
the ground, walked away and haven't had a flying dream since. <<

Hmm.. that's a very interesting dream. Certainly marks some
definitive change in your approach to the Reel Whirled. The
fact that ever since you see yourself in a more primitive human
knuckle-dragging state with a more realistic tree-swinging
capability seems to suggest you have a firmer grasp of reality
and your evolutionary core (and corps). You no longer allow
yourself to indulge in pointless and impossible flights o' fancy.

A very healthy mind I must say.

~jwf~

>> this paralyzing chemical of which you speak <<

I wish I could be more helpful and give you a name
for this neuro-toxin or a source link to some of the
research that's been done, but I am not a scientist
and I just buy into these things when I read about them
in a very careless layman's way, grasping the general
principle but unable to state a proper case for it.

Good luck and please do let us know what you discover.
I know many people here could/would/should be made more
aware of it in definitive terminologies I cannot muster.

I am a generalist, a large worn out sponge lurching from
piddle to puddle and absorbing a bit of this. Then that.
And some other stuff.

~jwf~

I just woke from a strange dream.

I dreamed I was sound asleep, that people were rapping noisily at all the doors and windows and the house WS shaking as though in an earthquake and I woke up groggily crying out, "What? Who is it? What'# going on?"

Then I woke up.

Most of my flying in dreams starts off as just long strides, stretching longer and longer as I speed up. Then I stop striding and just glide a few feet above the ground. These are mostly semi-lucid dreams and it's just my way of getting somewhere quickly.

I clearly remember my first flying dream. I believe I was reading So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish at the time and also reading about out of body experiences. I was really exhausted that evening and really was deeply asleep. At some point I rolled over and fell out of bed. But I didn't hit the floor. There I was with my nose mere inches from the floor. I didn't question this as I knew to do so would result in smacking the floor and a bloody nose. As I relaxed, I floated higher until I was about 4 feet above the bed. I decided to try to adventure out, so I floated over to the window. I somehow reoriented vertically and just willed myself through the window as I felt I wasn't a corporal body. I did feel like this might be an out of body experience. Once I went through the window, I got a bit nervous and pressed my (non)body against the wall of my apartment. I slowly regained confidence and flew over the town. I remember flying over the home of some schoolmates and I think I remember hearing evidence of a domestic spat between their parents. I then floated over a nearby highway and remember seeing a car accident with ambulances in attendance.

The next morning I was sure I'd see a report of the accident in that day's paper or the next, but none were reported.

It was a very realistic dream.

I wonder if swifts - which spend almost all their lives flying and sleep on the wing - have walking dreams

>> I somehow reoriented vertically and just willed myself through the window <<

Sounds like a orbiter mission. Some subconscious connection to the
minds of your space station fellows at NASA with some space walking
thrown in for good measure. Quite an enviable dream.


~jwf~

Oftentimes at school I was said to be a high flyer yet my feet never left the ground.

Sometimes I fly not by leaving the ground but by allowing the ground to leave me

When I was grass high to a kneehopper I found virtual state vertical propulsion particularly prohibitive.

One of my favourite films - a clip from it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMNT5aBWbOU

Touching.


Here's one of my favorite flying dreams.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs

Kind of reminds me of what I had to say about the tardigrade, glimpsed through a window in its egg before it hatches in its four legged form, undergoes its first moult emerging as a six legged form and it second and final moult, emerging as an eight legger..."Its still only a schmoo!".

Coincidentally last week I read about the only "known" extinction of a species by a single cat - the cat belonging to the lighthouse keeper of Stephens Island (last chapter of Bill Bryson's 2004 A Short History of Nearly Everything). But according to Wikipedia more recent studies indicate feral cats were more to blame:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephens_Island_wren