A famous "what was I thinking
William James describes a man who got the experience from laughing-gas; whenever he was under its influence, he knew the secret of the universe, but when he came to, he had forgotten it. At last, with immense effort, he wrote down the secret before the vision had faded. When completely recovered, he rushed to see what he had written. It was "A smell of petroleum prevails throughout."

Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy.
(unclestinky, Fri 24 Sep 2010, 6:54, 7 replies)

I spent a night on demerol once
and remember wishing I had a pen for the exact same reason.
(Tinfoil Hat, Fri 24 Sep 2010, 7:07, closed)

Isn't that...
..how the poem Kubla Khan was imagined by Coleridge under drug induced hangover of fevered remembrance?
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Fri 24 Sep 2010, 8:08, closed)

Yes, and apparently there was more, but he was interrupted by a visitor
(badgerlikespeed, Fri 24 Sep 2010, 8:27, closed)

Ah, that would be
The famous "Man from Porlock".

Or, Professor Urban "Reg" Chronotis.
(SatchmoR No, mummy, don't put knitting needles in my ears!, Fri 24 Sep 2010, 9:46, closed)

I read a similar case
...a man woke up in the night, sure that The Answer had been revealed to him in a dream. This time it was right, this time it would work, and no-one would have to get nailed to anything. He wrote it down, and went back to sleep, confident that the secret was safely recorded.

In the morning he read the note. It said: "All a matter of hemi-semi-quavers. Make much of this."
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 24 Sep 2010, 9:20, closed)

Maybe this was more suited to last week but oh well
The first time I took shrooms, I remember being sure that everything made sense and I knew the secret behind the universe. I woke up the next morning, only to recall that my epiphany pretty much boiled down to "the whole universe is totally fucked, so you may as well have a laugh".



I'm still half convinced I was onto something.
(oball needs Satan more than he needs me, Fri 24 Sep 2010, 11:59, closed)

that in turn reminds me
of something Ed Byrne said on some broadcast

on the subject of thinking of stand-up material while asleep, a friend of his sometimes woke up laughing quite hard but forgetting what was so funny in the morning. Taking the initiative to write the next one down, he woke up the next morning with great excitement to read... 'i am a hammer'.
(MaxZero ZeroMax, Fri 24 Sep 2010, 12:20, closed)