Can you read in your dreams?

I've been watching a lot of Batman TAS this week (one of the greatest shows in my opinion) and I just finished watching the episode Perchance to Dream. So long story short Bruce is living in his fantasy world, his parents aren't dead etc, but he can't read. It's revealed at the end of the episode that he knew he was dreaming because reading is a function of the right side of the brain and dreaming is a function of the left, therefore he was dreaming the whole time. Is this true in real life? I've tried looking it up on several websites but their are many conflicting answers with people saying they have read in their dreams. 

Weird. I only watched one episode of that show. That's the episode. 
 
Anyway, yeah. I did some coding in my dreams last week. If you do something enough, you can dream about doing it. The show was probably moreso touching on the fact that his mind wasn't focused on what was in the books, just what the room looked like.

I don't know. I'm sometimes very lucid in my dreams. But I honestly can't remember a time when I've read something in them.  
 
But I definitely remember watching Batman The Animated Series on the WB when I was a kid, and it fucking rocked. I hate the way they animate cartoons these days.

I downloaded the every episode from that show last month and have been watching them since. YES I'M A PIRATE. 
 
Once I get onto this episode, I will come back and let you know my thoughts. (I never remmeber my dreams, so I'm going to say yes. I can read in my dreams, while playing videos games, watching Batman TAS and dreaming in my dream. 
 
BWWAAAAAAAA

I don't think I've ever tried.

Yeah I totally remember that episode (well actually not the episode just that part), and I really can't remember ever reading in a dream.

It's really funny just reading that topic made me remember that batman episode.  Yeah, I've read in my dreams.  I've even coded and written a paper in my dreams.  I think it varies in how you dream.  Maybe Batman isn't as lucid as a dreamer (I don't really want to speculate on batman's own psyche) and that's what tipped him off.  I think if you tend to dream more lucidly I think it's more likely that you'll be able to read.

What a weird topic.

When you sleep, in REM mode, you don't use the left hemisphere of the brain, that's why he couldn't read those letters in a dream. The left brain is the side of the brain that's reponsible for language and stuff like that. The right brain is what alot of artist uses, for visual imagination. When you draw, time passes by faster and you are using spatial awareness, seeing the big picture instead of getting caught up in detail of the left hemisphere. That's why alot of ppl dream in pictures and stuff because they are still trying to process things in the brain they haven't processed. I suspect the right hemisphere might be responsible for the subconcious thoughts and stuff.

Whenever I try to read in dreams the text will change as I focus on it. I can usually make out some words, but I've never been able to remember them upon waking.

I saw the thread title and came in to say "according to Bruce Wayne, you can't!" 
 
But yeah, BTAS is so good!

" I've been watching a lot of Batman TAS this week (one of the greatest shows in my opinion) and I just finished watching the episode Perchance to Dream. So long story short Bruce is living in his fantasy world, his parents aren't dead etc, but he can't read. It's revealed at the end of the episode that he knew he was dreaming because reading is a function of the right side of the brain and dreaming is a function of the left, therefore he was dreaming the whole time. Is this true in real life? I've tried looking it up on several websites but their are many conflicting answers with people saying they have read in their dreams.  "

Some things in dreams are legible and I can read signs etc but in some its impossible to make out letters or symbols really depends on the context of my dream I suppose.

Yes, but if you try to read the same thing again right after you just read it. It will say something completely different or make no sense at all. 

I've definitely read in my dreams, multiple times. I've always thought it weird as hell though

I have a lot pf dreams where I'm travelling around town, either by car  or on foot.I've never been reading, although it would likely be road signs if I did read.

" I don't think I've ever tried. "

I once had a dream where Batman makes out with me Spider-man 2 style

Alot of times I read/understand things in my dreams even if its not there. So even though the book makes no sense or the person had no voice its like I heard them/read it anyway. I also switch from first person view to third person.

In my dreams I browse through the Giant Bomb forums and read the topics. It's so bizzare compared to the actual forums though. There are 'relationship advice' threads, threads about people claiming to have OCD so they can feel quirky and special, stupid polls with asinine questions and there's this guy that's super obsessed with this fighting game. I forget what it was called, it had the tagline "The real fighting simulator" on it though. Anyways, yeah, super weird, glad the actual forums aren't like the ones in my dreams. 

I read what I see in dreams. If it be words, I read. I saw words on a banner last night. I saw a big SALE sign. I wonder where that came from?

I can't remember actually reading anything in my dreams. Instead it sort of goes straight to my head without even looking at it. 

I've read in dreams for a number of times.

What surprises me is that some of you guys read in your dreams.
 
 
I mean, wtf, you could be riding a fucking dragon while being a space pirate, and you want to read a fucking book?

" What surprises me is that some of you guys read in your dreams.   I mean, wtf, you could be riding a fucking dragon while being a space pirate, and you want to read a fucking book? "

In my dreams I never have my glasses on, and I'm totally blind without them, so I can never read.

Of course not, your eyes are closed.

I can't recall ever having a dream where text was involved in any way, so I don't know.

@Jethuty said: 

" I mean, wtf, you could be riding a fucking dragon while being a space pirate, and you want to read a fucking book? "

" I once had a dream where Batman makes out with me Spider-man 2 style "

Read? Yes.
Color? Yes.
Change things? Yes.
Think outside the dreams limits? Yes.
Pull out to a 3rd person view of myself? Yes.
 
I found the more I mess with stuff the less time I can spend in the dream state though.

i don't know. i never tried and i don't think i have read in my dreams. i've only had one luicive dream.

I nailed my friends diabetic girlfriend in a dream recently. I hope I didn't catch anything.

" I remember reading in dreams, but i've also felt pain in dreams too, which is also supposed to be not possible. So er...yeah. "

I can read in my dreams but only one word at a time, and it is always makes a sentence that is just nonsense.

Add me to the pile of those who came here thinking of that Batman episode.
 
Not only do I recall reading many times in my dreams, I recall recently calling bullshit on that specific episode within the dream itself because I somehow knew I was dreaming yet could still read. 
 
Weird that in stayed on mind after more than a decade of seeing it.

" @Shirogane said:

" I remember reading in dreams, but i've also felt pain in dreams too, which is also supposed to be not possible. So er...yeah. "

So, you're the devil? Either that, or you're Harry Potter. "

Nope. My understanding is that the part of the brain that reads language and does math is what's resting when you sleep and waking it to the point of comprehending things will usually bring you out of the sleep state. Such is a thin line to walk for those interested in lucid dreaming. The trick is to recognize signs like old Bruce. Deceased relatives are always a dead giveaway for one (bad pun), but realizing you can't read is tough since the realization function ties in with the part of the brain that can't process such logic.  Actually reading and "knowing" what something says when looking at it are two different things.
 
The writer of that episode has clearly had a parent die. Every night for a couple years after his death, I used to dream my father was still alive. But after a number of emotional "but I was there when you died" situations you begin to realize that you must be dreaming upon sight.
 
I tend to dream I'm back at the last day of highschool and I'm stuck there with no ride home and somebody chasing me. Eventually I think to search my pockets for a cell phone to call for help, but then am unable to remember/comprehend which numbers are where on the phone even though I can remember clearly the number to dial. It's like the correct numbers and my fingers are magnets with the same polar charge. And don't even get me started on traction.
 
I've being noticing that when I think or believe that something might happen, it always does. And I've been able to use that to gain better control of my dreams. Pain is totally possible in dreams if you continue to believe it's happening after being inflicted. Melatonin helps a lot for lucidity.
 
edit: people calling bullshit clearly don't have any concept of subjectivism.

I have on occasion read in dreams, nothing too extreme, just newspapers, magazines, or a page of a novel and the like. I have also felt pain in my dreams. Though at the end of the day, I think that reading in dreams is probably a waste of the dreaming time; there are way more exciting things to do in dreams than read.

Now that you mention it, this might explain why I can't remember what I've read in my dreams. Maybe because I can't read in my dreams, although I remember I was "reading" something.

I can only read in a dream within a dream.

" I downloaded the every episode from that show last month and have been watching them since. YES I'M A PIRATE.  Once I get onto this episode, I will come back and let you know my thoughts. (I never remmeber my dreams, so I'm going to say yes. I can read in my dreams, while playing videos games, watching Batman TAS and dreaming in my dream.  BWWAAAAAAAA "

"  BWWAAAAAAAA "

I've tried several times, but have never been able to.

I know i can't and from what i hear you're not supposed to be able to. I read these tests to check if you're awake or not and that was one of them. Another one was turning on or off the lights, as apparently the light can't change in a dream. And the last one was trying to push your fingers through the palm of your other hand, i use that one a lot. :)

I don't think so, but a few nights ago I died in one of my dreams, and didn't wake up...is that bad?