In November 2020, the Australian portal Gizmodo published an article by author Daniel Kolitz, in which scientists answered a question sent in by readers about whether or not it is realistically possible to share dreams. Science fiction films and novels have certainly been fantasizing about this ability for a long time, but is it something we could ever actually do in real life?
What if you could transmit your own dream via the computer or a special interface, and another person could see it through your eyes? According to professor of neurology and neurobiology Susana Martinez-Conde, the lack of such an opportunity so far lies not in technological barriers, but in the absence of a way for us to decipher the neural code of the brain. This is why we cannot yet download our consciousness onto a computer, and this is a question for several more decades.
Adam Haar Horowitz, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the inventor of the Dormio dream control device suggests that we are closer than ever before to making dream-sharing possible. As Horowitz comments, “there have been strides already at decoding the visuals from a dream using brain imaging.” However, as the scientist maintain that, since dreams are always embedded in personal context and experience, it means that we can never actually see the same dream.
Research Associate of Philosophy, at the University of York in Canada, R. A. Davies divides this issue into two components: the ability to have the same dream (dream together); and the ability to see someone else’s dream using advanced technology (dream scanning). According to the philosopher, while there is mention of the experience of shared dreams in the sources of ancient civilizations, from the point of view of modern Western culture, it seems impossible to achieve.
Would you like to share your dreams, for example, on social networks or with friends?
