Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works • Hacker News Board

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#201

Post by burntoutfire » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:00 PM UTC

josefrichter wrote: post #79

Wow. I didn’t know this, but I was actually able to observe this state on myself. When going to sleep, my mind is wandering. But at one point it drifts from real world thoughts to completely abstract concepts and wild imagination that sometimes makes no sense. It’s almost like a hallucination. What’s most interesting is that sometimes I am able to notice the transition to this state and consciously observe it. Usuall…

> Sometimes I am fascinated by the idea generated at that stage.

Same here. In periods of my life when I'm more into artistic creation (or even consumption), often quite vivid and elaborate images come to my head in the 10-15 minutes before going to sleep. That, or really rich and elaborate (original) music. Unfortunately, I don't have the skills to put them into paintings or compositions, or even to make a quick note of them so that I could remember them in the morning. But still, it's quite fun.

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#202

Post by mdp2021 » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:06 PM UTC

diatone wrote: post #99

Anecdote: I distinctly remember being on the edge of sleep writing a song one night in 2019. I was about to fall asleep on the floor with a notebook in my hand, and just at that moment, the music came into my mind. For whatever reason, I was able to stay awake and flesh it out as a recording. After reflecting on it the next day I realised I had written an acoustic fingerstyle piece that moved across keys as if there…

You must know of the "Trillo del Diavolo" from Giuseppe Tartini (first half XVIII century).

(He asked the devil in a dream to play something for him, and the very pale imitation is the Sonata per violino in sol minore he wrote from memory once wake.)

Of course, also Kubla Khan from Coleridge comes to mind.

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#203

Post by nelblu » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:09 PM UTC

emi2k01 wrote: post #177

elboru wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a really similar experience during college. I was trying to display a binary tree in the command line. I was not able to solve it while awake. I went to bed with that problem in my mind. Then I dreamt the solution. I woke up and the dream made sense. I couldn’t believe it so I tried in the code and it worked! That was a surreal experience.

Dreaming of code is something that happens to me very frequently when I'm working on difficult problems and only the first few times was cool. Now, when I dream of code, I can hear my inner self saying "no, please! I actually want to rest" because most of the times I feel like I'm in a loop exploring the same solutions over and over. I've had to get out of bed and do something else so I can go back to sleep without h…

Wow. You described my experience exactly! I used to love earlier when I dream solved complex problems, but now I don't like it.

My technique to get good sleep is to fantasize that I am in a spaceship flying through the galaxy or observing Andromeda galaxy. Other times I dream of the Shire and that works too!

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#204

Post by loehnsberg » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:10 PM UTC

bakul wrote: post #45

This may have to do with being relaxed, not really thinking about the problem at hand and letting your intuition take over. I have had experiences where working intensely on a problem, even for weeks, didn't solve it but walking away from it and being totally relaxed and the solution just popped in my head. It could be in a shower, having a meal with friends, in the middle of the night or on a walk. You already have…

I often have really good ideas under the shower that eluded me while thinking hard about it at my desk. I really wonder when they can reproduce the creative boost of taking a shower in a lab experiment.

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#205

Post by aydwi » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:28 PM UTC

thesz wrote: post #60

Both Dali and Edison did not have families and children to rise. They were multimillionaries also. If you are also childless and multimillionaire, you can experiment with what essentially a sleep deprivation, having hallutinations that are useful in a work of... genius? Also, in case of Edison, he used an army of assistants to comb through his ideas and patents avaiable at the time to find what is useful. Again, a pr…

> These techniques cannot be used by a person who have to walk a dog early every morning, help his son to go to a school and work with complex code base.

Of course they can. Just not by you. Mutual exclusion does not apply here.

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#206

Post by INTPenis » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:33 PM UTC

rubicon33 wrote: post #142

distantaidenn wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I have this exact same experience before falling asleep. It feels like a direct shift in the thought processes, and as you described it, it feels as though you have become a passive observer of your own thoughts. The images are sometimes so absurd and creative that I almost laugh to myself. But I also, don't KNOW if the images are creative or absurd, but just my brain believing it so -- is there even a differenc…

I'm kinda jealous. I couldn't be more different. I can't remember the last time I had a dream. Months ago probably. Random question but - do you consume any caffeine?

I don't drink caffeine and I rarely dream, just to chime in. When I dream it's almost always because something is disturbing my sleep. An upset stomach is the most common cause of dreams to me.

Or quitting cannabis, in which case I have vivid and wild dreams for a couple weeks and then back to normal.

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#207

Post by diatone » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:34 PM UTC

diatone wrote: post #99

Anecdote: I distinctly remember being on the edge of sleep writing a song one night in 2019. I was about to fall asleep on the floor with a notebook in my hand, and just at that moment, the music came into my mind. For whatever reason, I was able to stay awake and flesh it out as a recording. After reflecting on it the next day I realised I had written an acoustic fingerstyle piece that moved across keys as if there…

To everyone asking for a recording: I appreciate the curiosity, but we were very much a live act.

But I hope my little story encourages you to pursue the arts, and nurture them in your local area. Your local live music scene needs your support, so we can see serendipities like this appear :)

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#208

Post by Vedor » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:39 PM UTC

smusamashah wrote: post #185

Vedor wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, too, rarely have (or remember) dreams – once per month, maybe. But lack of dreams is not a problem for me. What I find annoying (and I'm really curious if you have similar experience) that I don't have feeling of passed time. My sleep is like blink of an eye. It's night, I close my eyes, then I open them, and there is morning already. I's always the same, no matter how long I have slept, whether I am well rested o…

You dont even have slight hallucinations while falling to sleep, just like in the linked article? My first sign is I usually start hearing voices which I almost always know are not real.

I think I had them when I was kid, but not anymore.

And just to be clear, I didn't mean that I fall asleep as soon I close my eyes. It's just that there is no "transition" between being conscious and sleeping. And then, suddenly, I'm awake.

I have that idea that my mind suppresses the memories of dreaming and falling asleep, because when I was a kid I had two recurring nightmares that I dreamed of almost every night. Still, never did proper research on this topic.

edit: typo

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#209

Post by djmips » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:41 PM UTC

lrem wrote: post #198

djmips wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did the same thing and no one would probably believe it except I recorded it as a MIDI stream. The next day I played it to my boss and he wouldn't accept that I composed it. (edit - it was a complex classical piano piece)

Can we have a link?

I wish I still had it but it was on a 3.5 inch floppy that was misplaced in the chaos of time.

Re: Sleep technique used by Salvador Dalí works

#210

Post by alvarlagerlof » Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 12:58 PM UTC

diatone wrote: post #99

Anecdote: I distinctly remember being on the edge of sleep writing a song one night in 2019. I was about to fall asleep on the floor with a notebook in my hand, and just at that moment, the music came into my mind. For whatever reason, I was able to stay awake and flesh it out as a recording. After reflecting on it the next day I realised I had written an acoustic fingerstyle piece that moved across keys as if there…

Can you share this?