Entangled worlds:Physical and Dream world reflecting quantum mirror

 

The summer night was hot, so I decided to sleep on the terrace. The sky was a dark, deep blue, scattered with countless stars. Looking up at them sparked so many questions within me. Let's explore them one by one.

Dream World or Sensory World: Which is Real?

Dream World: I won’t simply reiterate the scientific or common definitions of dreams that are easily found online. Instead, I define it as the world we experience through our consciousness while asleep.

Sensory World: This is the world we perceive and experience through our sensory systems and consciousness when we are awake.

Commonalities Between the Dream World and the Quantum Realm

(Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that the dream world and the quantum realm are the same.) As I mentioned earlier, both worlds seem to be shaped by consciousness. The dream world feels akin to the quantum world. In our dreams, we don’t possess a physical body; instead, we have a consciousness-based existence, and sometimes we can even fly. Shifting our focus to the quantum world, there's a similar peculiarity: gravity is weak at the quantum level. We can also find particles existing in multiple locations simultaneously, much like our presence can shift and change in dreams. Even the way dreams unfold feels like superposition – unpredictable and uncertain.

In quantum mechanics, the observer effect suggests that the act of observation can influence the behavior of quantum systems. Similarly, the content and experience of a dream are entirely dependent on the dreamer’s consciousness.

 * Lack of a Fixed Physical Body: In dreams, we don’t have a stable physical form, and we can experience things like flying. This resonates with the idea of quantum particles not always having a definite location or properties until measured.

 * Weak Gravity: I've point out that gravity is weak at the quantum level. While the connection to dreaming isn’t direct, the feeling of weightlessness or the ability to fly in dreams could be seen as a departure from the usual physical constraints of the waking world.

 * Superposition and Uncertainty: The unpredictable and shifting nature of dreams, where scenarios and even our own identity can change rapidly, feels akin to the quantum principle of superposition, where particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously until observed. The uncertain unfolding of dreams mirrors the probabilistic nature of quantum events.

Memory: Physical vs. Dream World

In the sensory or physical world, we maintain a consistent identity and naturally accumulate experiential memories over time. However, in the dream world, our identity can fluctuate from day to day, even within a single dream. This mirrors the quantum world, where matter behaves as both particles and waves. If we consider electrons, we can't predict their exact spin path; it's constantly changing and uncertain. Memories from the dream world are typically not accessible in the physical world, and vice versa. However, in certain instances of intense emotional experiences, memories can sometimes bridge both realms. Yet, considering the physical world where the continuous carrying of memories plays a crucial role in our experience of reality, one might wonder: what if memories in the dream world are also being carried forward in a more consistent way than we currently understand?

Memory and Identity: The fluctuating identity and inaccessible memories in dreams are compared to the dual wave-particle nature of matter and the unpredictable spin of electrons in the quantum world.

Is Sense Just Sense?

Moving from the intriguing inconsistencies of memory between worlds, we arrive at another fundamental question: what exactly is sense? In the sensory world, we rely on our sensory systems to perceive and experience reality. In the dream world, we are solely dependent on our consciousness. Yet, there's a twist. In dreams, we can experience our senses without the aid of our physical sensory organs. Take erotic dreams, for example; in these cases, even our physical body can respond without external sensory input. This highlights the powerful nature of dreams. However, if we delve a little deeper, science suggests that the brain isn't truly creating senses without a system; it's merely mimicking them. This makes one wonder if having conscious control over this mimicking ability could be a form of superpower. Lucid dreaming offers a glimpse into this possibility, requiring specific procedures and practice. However, this control is generally limited to the dream world. Upon waking, our physical senses resume their normal function, negating the need for mimicry. You might then ask if we can mimic senses in the physical world. The answer is yes, but not in the readily accessible way we experience it in dreams, manifesting instead as hallucinations or illusions.

The Science of Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreaming, on the other hand, is a well-documented phenomenon studied by neuroscience and psychology. It’s the state of being aware that you are dreaming while you are still asleep. This awareness can range from a mere recognition of the dream state to the ability to consciously influence and control the dream environment, narrative, and even your own actions within the dream.

Neuroscientific studies reveal that lucid dreaming, the awareness of dreaming during sleep, is characterized by brain activity exhibiting features of both waking and REM sleep, particularly increased activity in frontal and frontolateral regions associated with higher cognitive functions. Neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine, are thought to play a role, and various induction techniques like reality testing, wake back to bed (WBTB), mnemonic induction (MILD), senses initiated lucid dreams (SSILD), external stimulation (including tACS), and dream journaling are explored. Lucid dreaming appears to be a trainable cognitive skill with potential applications in treating nightmares, enhancing creativity, and facilitating personal growth.

Is Dream Consciousness Mimicking the Senses, or Are They Real Senses in Themselves?

When we experience something through our sensory system in the waking world, we often express it outwardly. Consider babies: while sleeping, they smile, laugh, cry, and even appear angry. At this stage, their sensory systems are not fully developed, and they have limited real-world experience. Yet, they still seem to experience senses through their dreams.

In adults, the example of erotic dreams is straightforward. Even someone who has never had a sexual experience in the physical world can experience it vividly in a dream, with their physical body even reacting.

This leads to the fundamental question: which is more real – our sensory system-based experiences or the experiences generated by our dream consciousness? And one more question also arise "who is really mimicking?"

Particles possess extraordinary capabilities, but when they become part of complex arrangements, they often lose the ability to fully express their potential at each stage. Similarly, in the dream world, if you harness the power of lucid dreaming, you can achieve anything you desire. However, this mastery of dreams, and the inherent abilities of our dream consciousness, tends to diminish when our sensory system awakens and integrates with our consciousness, much like how particles behave.

The Real World

In reality, both the physical and dream worlds hold significant importance, requiring us to find our own sense of tuning and balance. The physical world can be seen as a kind of matrix, where everything is constructed from fundamental particles and operates under the constraints of the laws of Physics. This raises the question: if this world is truly real, why are there such limitations? In contrast, the dream world is not bound by these restrictions. Like individual particles in their own realm, dream elements seem to possess an independence.

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