Your goal is to ask questions of the system in an attempt to guess what a dream, created by the computer, is about. You may guess or give up at any time, although it is suggested you ask enough questions to give yourself a chance to get it right.
The DreamNet (which is a particular instance of the DreamWeaver model) generates a file that approaches 200Meg. The dreams are phenomenally detailed, and can be very wide ranging in their coverage. A single dream can have hundreds of topics it hits upon. As a result, it is not as hard to get onto one of the topics of the dream as you might think.
Because of the detail, properly understanding the dream can only be done if a fair number of questions are asked. Ask at least 12 to get a feel for the dream. And if you have the patience, 50 or more questions will usually allow you to really understand the dream. Think of yourself as an explorer in an Adventure game, mapping out the further reaches of the "DreamSpace". You'll be surprised the places it takes you.
The DreamWeaver Program is capable of creating highly detailed dreams, but it takes time. When you click on the link below, DreamWeaver will automatically break off the dream creation and go with what it has. The longer you wait (up to a maximum of 40 seconds), the more detailed the dream. For that reason, we suggest you take the time to read the information below, particularly the How to use the system section below.
The DreamWeaving System is composed of several, interrelated parts:
Make sure you ask questions that are specific. Many people try to ask general questions, thinking they can narrow down to a specific topic. This never works and is dull besides. The best way to determine what a dream is about is to ask very specific questions. You will be surprised at how often your subconscious guides you to asking the right question. So let it take over and indulge in wild flights of fancy.
Also, do not assume that an apparent contradiction is an error in the parser. The parser has a better history of correct interpretation than many people. It scores over 97% in tests. Apparent contradictions are almost always caused by not understanding the context. For example:
Does it involve a politician? NO Is John F. Kennedy in the dream? YES
This may be caused by the dream being about JFK, but not about his role as a politician.
Feel free to use real people in your life in questions about the dream. The dream creation mechanism uses the notion of slots to define concepts that will be filled in at a later time (see the Scientific American article for more details). So if you ask a question about your Aunt Molly, the Dream Weaver may have a slot that Aunt Molly can fill. And if you don't actually have an Aunt Molly? Well, of course the system has no way of knowing that, but it actually doesn't affect the dream model. You could just as easily be dreaming about an Aunt Molly that you don't have.
You can make your question as long as you like. Even though the box displayed on screen may look small, you can type as much as you like into it and the text will scroll. So don't limit your questions based on length.
Some people are surprised when they run into a particularly long stream of YES or NO responses. Statistically this is bound to happen to some people, particularly if you are on a particular subject that the dream either is or isn't about. All we can say is: don't get discouraged by a lot of NOs in a row, and don't get frustrated by getting a bunch of YESs. Continued questioning will reveal that the dream is more complicated than you thought.
Experience has revealed that there are particular strategies which improve your chances of guessing a dream.
To start with, try letting your mind wander. Come up with any type of Yes/No question you can think of, no matter how absurd. The DreamNet is quite complicated and can accommodate a surprising variety of ideas. Think about the type of things you've dreamed about in the past and ask about them.
When you find one or two things that are true of the dream, start honing in on them. Ask about things you associate with the true facts. Try to figure out how the facts associate with each other. If the dream is about a bank robbery and an sailor, for example, see if the sailor is the robber. Try to figure out why the sailor would rob the bank, what the motivation is. Perhaps the sailor's boat has been seized by creditors. Look for some sort of narrative, however illogical it might be.
Click Here to start asking questions about the dream.
The Faculty of Law Artificial Intelligence Research (FLAIR) Project has created this resource. It is written by Bruce Atherton.