269: TCMP

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 20:30, 7 June 2015 by Kynde (talk | contribs) (Explanation: Multiple Cueballs)
Jump to: navigation, search
TCMP
A big obstacle in experimenting with the mind's dream-simulation-engine is holding onto the details as you wake up. With TCMP you can bring back any information you want.
Title text: A big obstacle in experimenting with the mind's dream-simulation-engine is holding onto the details as you wake up. With TCMP you can bring back any information you want.

Explanation

Cueball trained himself to type while asleep, so he could communicate from inside his dreams. He calls this Trans-Consciousness Messaging Protocol, or TCMP.

He succeeds in using this system to send a message from inside his dream, but his friends, Megsn and another Cueball-like guy, are disappointed when that first message is a trollish "F1rst p0st!!", instead of something constructive.

"Bell & Watson" refers to Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas A. Watson. Bell is traditionally credited with inventing the telephone because he was awarded the patent for it although that is still controversial. His first phone call was to Watson in another part of their lab.

The title text explains how this protocol, if real, would be of great value in dream research since you then would not have to worry about forgetting the dreams after waking up like as in 430: Every Damn Morning. You can relay the dreams as you experience them.

However, in order for this to work the dream has to be lucid, where the dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming. This type of dream is very facinating to Randall as mentioned in the title text of 203: Hallucinations. But thus this could never work for normal dreams. And lucid dreams are probably easier to remeber anyway.

Transcript

Cueball: Hey, help me test the Trans-Consciousness Messaging Protocol.
Man: What's that?
Cueball: I've been training myself to keep my fingers moving slightly as I fall asleep. So I can type from inside dreams.
Cueball: I'm going to sleep now. My computer will relay my messages to you as I explore the dream world.
[In the dream:]
Cueball: So strange to think none of this is real. And yet I have this lifeline to the internet back home.
Cueball: A chance to speak from one reality to another. I feel like Bell & Watson. I get to write the inaugural TCMP message. Let's see...
[Outside:]
Megan: "F1rst P0st!!"?
Man: Great. He's jumped straight to trans-reality trolling.

See also


comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

F1rst p0st!!
...seriously, if I could remember, I would rather start with 'What Hath God Wrought!' That is far more solemn and dedicating... not just to Morse-sensee, either!Greyson (talk) 02:22, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_LaBerge
The second paragraph screams of this comic. I've been a big fan of the Lucidity Institute and their work since about 2010. 108.162.238.117 07:48, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, I was gonna say "Didn't LaBerge do something like this irl?" and then I found this little citation: LaBerge, Stephen P., et al. "Lucid dreaming verified by volitional communication during REM sleep." Perceptual and motor skills 52.3 (1981): 727-732. --173.245.48.90 19:53, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

There is a community portal discussion of what to call Cueball and what to do in case with more than one Cueball. I have added this comic to the new Category:Multiple Cueballs. Since there is clearly one Cueball that is the protagonist and do the "talking" he should probably be listed as Cueball. Just made a note that the other guy also looks like Cueball --Kynde (talk) 20:49, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

It's real! https://lsdbase.org/2012/05/11/hello-dream-world/ 108.162.215.122 04:13, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

I feel like there might be a connection to the Choices pentalogy just before this comic - "Will I wake up thinking this was a dream?" 162.158.103.197 19:23, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

A recent lucid dream two-way communication experiment! https://www.vice.com/en/article/4admym/scientists-achieve-real-time-communication-with-lucid-dreamers-in-breakthrough 188.114.111.209 15:50, 20 February 2021 (UTC)