Dream communication: Going beyond sleep into the subconscious

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• August 8, 2022

Insight summary

Lucid dreaming, where individuals are aware they're dreaming, is unlocking new possibilities in communication, therapy, and creativity. This ability enables people to process traumas, enhance artistic inspiration, and solve complex problems during sleep. These developments could reshape healthcare, work norms, and even the study of human cognition, offering new tools and insights into the power of our dreams.

Dream communication context

During a lucid dream, an individual is aware that they are dreaming. Therefore, skilled lucid dreamers can remember instructions given to them before sleeping and have these types of dreams regularly. This skill enables dreamers in a laboratory environment to respond frequently with clever eye movements to onlookers who give instructions to the sleeping participants.

Scientists in the US, France, Germany, and the Netherlands conducted different studies in which they asked the participants basic questions while they slept. Sleepers would reply by twitching their faces or moving their eyes in a certain way to communicate their responses. With it being unusual to have lucid dreams, researchers recruited people with experience in lucid dreaming and taught these people how to increase the likelihood of having a lucid dream. Before going to sleep, the participants were also trained on how to communicate their responses. People's eye movements were monitored using complex sensors, and professionals judged their face motions to deduce meaning. 

Out of 158 trials, 36 people provided correct responses around 18 percent of the time while being incorrect 3 percent of the time. The majority of participants, 61 percent, did not answer at all. Chelsea Mackey, a researcher at the University of Washington who had not been involved in the study, feels the discovery is essential for neuroscience and the notion of collective dreaming. This discovery, according to researchers, will open the way for an improved conceptualization of dreams, enhanced monitoring of activity in the brain during sleep, and areas related to dreams during a human sleep cycle.

Disruptive impact

By gaining awareness within their dreams, individuals can actively engage with and neutralize perceived threats, transforming a distressing experience into a source of resolution. This approach could be especially beneficial for those grappling with traumatic events or deep-seated fears. By confronting these challenges in a controlled, dream-based environment, individuals have the opportunity to process and overcome their anxieties in a safe and guided manner.

The field of artistry stands to benefit significantly from lucid dreaming as a source of inspiration and experimentation. Artists, musicians, and writers can leverage the boundless scenarios of lucid dreams to trial ideas, refine concepts, and remember their creative experiments upon waking. This method allows for an unbridled exploration of creativity, where the constraints of the physical world do not limit the imagination. Consequently, the use of lucid dreaming could lead to a surge in creative outputs, marked by novel ideas and innovative art forms that reflect the profound depth of the human subconscious.

At a broader level, lucid dreaming holds the potential to revolutionize the way we approach problem-solving and cognitive exploration. Knowledge workers, for instance, could use lucid dreams to tackle work-related challenges, effectively extending their productivity into their sleep. Scientists studying lucid dreaming may uncover deeper insights into the workings of the human brain, leading to advanced tools and techniques for optimizing mental processes during sleep. This exploration could yield significant advancements in understanding human cognition, potentially leading to applications that enhance mental capabilities and offer new ways to harness the power of our minds even while at rest.

Implications of lucid dreams used for communication

Wider implications of being able to communicate through dreams, and to do specific tasks, may include:

• Enhanced therapeutic techniques in psychology, requiring comprehensive study and integration into university curricula, fostering a new wave of mental health professionals adept in dream-based therapies.
• The ability for individuals to tackle work tasks during sleep, potentially extending productivity hours and altering conventional work-life balance norms.
• Advancements in computer science, as professionals incorporate findings from lucid dreaming research into artificial intelligence development, potentially leading to AI systems with improved understanding of human cognition and creativity.
• Shifts in healthcare policy and insurance coverage to include dream therapy as a recognized and reimbursable treatment, reflecting a broader acceptance of alternative therapeutic methods.
• A rise in demand for dream analysis and lucid dreaming tools, spurring a new market sector and business opportunities in both technological and wellness industries.
• Changes in sleep culture, with a growing emphasis on sleep quality and dream optimization for personal and professional development, influencing lifestyle choices and consumer behavior.
• New ethical considerations and regulations in neuroscience and psychology, addressing the implications of manipulating and studying dreams, ensuring patient safety and privacy.
• Shifts in educational focus, with more emphasis on cognitive science and dream studies in both psychology and neurology disciplines, leading to a more informed and skilled workforce in these fields.
• Environmental impacts from increased production and use of sleep monitoring and dream induction devices, requiring sustainable design and manufacturing practices to mitigate carbon footprint.

Questions to consider

• Do you think the way people dream and the dreams themselves should be tampered with or experimented with by scientists? 
• Should lawmakers consider drafting new regulations that govern how external parties can interact with a person's dream? 
• Do you think people's dreams, through technological advancement, will one day be downloadable for review?