I was just going to say that I saw it on TV, but forget which show. THAT was the show! The episode was about the 'sense of self identity', and what is self awareness? It was episode: "What makes us who we are?" I still have it recorded on my PVR. It's something I have questioned and tried to discuss with others and I couldn't help, but bring up the 'dream-self' and the fact that I lucid dreams. (Always a conversation stopper!) The show focused on dreams too and perhaps our true selves are who we are in dreams. The show said, "What if we could see our dreams and study them?"

We lucid dreamers take it for granted! I forget sometimes that many people don't do that and wish they could.

But anyway, in Japan there are people working on it. They showed simple images like a line or a 'addition sign' to people as a machine scanned their brain. The machine knew the symbols and read the brain to see the correlation. Then they tried showing brand new simple images like letters and the machine, after learning the correlation from the previous tests was able to display a rough, black and white, pixelated image of the letters. It's crude and in it's infancy, but shows that recording a mind's thoughts, and even a sleeping mind is possible. (EDIT: I just realized Highlander conveniently posted a link to the exact point in that show. I summed it up, but watch the real deal, and it is only a few minutes long.)

That would make dream journaling way easier and more truthful. Because even I, myself wonder if I ever wrote it down correctly without my own bias.

But with all technology, before anybody gets too excited, you always have to think to yourself. Can it be used for evil? Can it be used for mind control? (if you reverse the process....) Just saying. I'm happy without it and always be careful what you wish for. (Why do I always have to be such a dark pessimist?... or am I a realist?)

I think you are being more realistic. Just imagine if some one could alter your dreams with a machine, they could take over your dream and if that post you wrote about logic and illogic dreaming is true HAGART that machine could change our mindset to think illogically in the real world. What kind of power yells you have with that machine?, you could make people think they are dreaming in the real world...just think of the mayhem when they enemy's of the US try to fly cause they think it's a dream.....Ohk I think I'm the one that's paranoid now.

The difference between dreams and logic is such a slippery slope. Tread with caution.

I'll bring it up again: Paprika was an excellent movie and it touched on that and I still reference it sometimes and I feel people don't fully understand me until they watch it! In the movie there is a device that records dreams, but it fell in the wrong hands and starts being used to influence minds. It's a strange, psychological movie.

I saw something like that on an episode of House, and that's not science fiction so I believe it does exist. Maybe one day something like that will become affordable, but even on the show it was million dollar equipment and showed very fuzzy images. Maybe in 15-40 years.