Atheists, generally speaking, are some of the most contemplative people I have ever met. I suppose that comes with the territory. Overcoming religious beliefs takes a lot of reasoning and, once one discovers the value of reason and empiricism, it becomes an indispensable tool in everyday life. For instance, it's wise to approach the information you come across with skepticism, especially in this day and age. As well, it's also a good idea to have an open mind for whatever evidence we find; but we should never believe anything on bad evidence. Of course, this is probably nothing you didn't already know. But, there is a particular case in which, I think, the sensibilities of most atheists are deceived. What's more, it could be costing them a lot of incredibly interesting, and even fulfilling, experiences.
I'm talking about Lucid Dreaming.
What is lucid dreaming?
A lucid dream is when you know that you are dreaming while you are dreaming; you can act as willfully as you do while awake, but everything you experience, even your own body, exists only in your mind. In the scientific community, it has been called a hybrid state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep. When one becomes conscious in a dream, certain areas of the frontal lobes become more active, similar to activity seen in a waking brain. In the simple act of the lights coming on in a dream, we become open to the full range of human experience (beyond the constraints of the physical world).
Why Atheists Overlook Lucid Dreaming
A few years ago, I would have said the reason most atheists aren't oneironauts was because lucid dreaming wasn't very popular. It still isn't as well known as meditation, but ever since Inception came out, more people know about it now than ever. The main question is why hasn't it taken hold? I have a few ideas.
Lucid dreaming is used as nothing more than a minor justification for the events in bad horror/scifi films.
Searching for lucid dreaming online produces some pretty spiritual results, which likely turn atheists off.
There isn't much lucid dreaming research to draw from for them to take it seriously.
They haven't fully conceptualized the idea and don't understand the deeper implications.
The subjective experience is seen as less important, or is too closely linked to spirituality.
Despite these concerns, lucid dreaming is easily something that can be tested empirically. For those with the curiosity to find out if it exists for themselves, I think this can be a rather enjoyable process.
Why You Should Care
The most superficial reason I can think of is that lucid dreaming is a skill that anyone can learn. Yes, anyone. If you sleep, you can lucid dream. Even if you don't remember your dreams, you need REM sleep to survive, so it's 100% certain that you dream (unless you have an incredibly rare disorder). In the lucid dreaming community, how well you remember your dreams is called 'Dream Recall', which can be improved by keeping a Dream Journal (exactly what it sounds like).
The efficacy of the dream journal has been documented as far back as the 1800s, by Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys in his book Dreams and the Ways to Direct Them: Practical Observations. Essentially Saint-Denys became a skilled lucid dreamer with little more than simply documenting his dreams daily. These days, dream journals are widely accepted among lucid dreamers as highly effective; the proof is in the pudding.
Going a bit deeper, I think that the lucid dream experience is something that would be highly valuable to most skeptically minded people. Lucid dreaming is a practice with a lot of uses and endless possibilities. It doesn't have to just be a pursuit for fun or a way make use of the time spent asleep, although this is often the case. It can also be used for practical applications, or even be used as means to improve your life. One can practice waking life skills in dreams, which has shown to actually help people improve. Artists can gain inspiration by going to an art museum in their dream, for instance. Just as easily, you can meditate within the dream, which often produces very positive experiences. Or, you could investigate the nature of your own consciousness and have a dialogue with your subconscious. You could practice aversion therapy to overcome fears without consequences.
After almost a decade of lucid dreaming experience, I've found that simply interacting with yourself via a lucid dream provides an opportunity to learn more about yourself; the more you learn about yourself, the more easily you can integrate the bad, and harness the good. I have discovered a few things about myself and even gotten valuable perspectives on the person I was at certain times in the past. Having such insights gives has given me a better compass for who I should be and how I should conduct myself in my daily life; a way to course correct, if you will.
Why It's Relevant for Atheists
I think lucid dreaming is a nearly perfect source of personal enrichment for those who don't believe in bullshit. It's an inherently scientific practice. In order to lucid dream, we keep a dream journal (documentation), we do reality checks--a test to see if we are in a dream or awake, which begins to occur in dreams with time (experimentation)-- and we generally attempt to become more mindful in our day to day lives, as well as of the process of falling asleep (observation). It's a practice that doesn't require any specific beliefs; if done correctly, the process will work even if you think it's bullshit.
Another note to hit is that it can give life just a little bit more meaning or instill a slightly better sense of purpose. That's not to say that atheists need "something to believe in" (I sure don't), but that it is something which can improve well being, if only you use it for the right reasons. As well, experiencing lucid dreams and experimenting with them could give you a more solid ground to refute certain metaphysical claims (shared dreaming, physical healing through lucid dreams, astral projection, etc).
At the end of the day, I think lucid dreaming has some value to add to your life. I've met very few atheists who don't have an interest in evolution, consciousness, the brain, etc. Lucid dreaming is closely related to those interests and may be a perfect match if you think that entirely subjective conscious experiences are worth investigating. Right now, the subjective experience doesn't seem to be taken very seriously; but I believe that in order to fully understand consciousness, we will eventually have to more empirically prod it from within (as well as without). This process, I think, begins with lucid dreaming.
Getting Started
If you're interested in learning to lucid dream, here are a few reliable sources, from one skeptic to another:
Are You Dreaming? Exploring Lucid Dreams: A Comprehensive Guide by Daniel Love
The most modern and rational book on the topic (probably the only one you need to learn).Team Lucid Dream, a youtube channel I'm involved in with over 100 videos covering the basics and beyond.
World-of-Lucid-Dreaming.com, a fairly good website on the topic that has been around for quite some time. You might find a few 'out there' things on the site, but overall it's a pretty good source that has some good info.