Hey! SpaceGod here! I'm gonna talk about shared dreaming now.

So, I don't necessarily believe that there is a 'spiritual' realm where dreams occur, nor do I believe that OBE's or astral projections are anything other than bizarre dreams (don't worry, I don't criticize people who have beliefs conflicting my own). However, the idea of shared dreaming has always seemed so cool to me, and I was a bit discouraged that they tend to be more spiritual than anything. However, doing some critical thinking, I realized that we live in a day and age in which we are able to post our opinions on topics such as dreaming on an invisible thing, riding on energy waves and going to another, large computer in which the information is then easily accessible from any device connected to the Internet. Surely, we aren't that far off from a scientifically plausible method of sharing dreams, right? In my opinion, it seems perfectly plausible to share dreams through technology. Not only that, but it may come as early as April of next year! (The lucid dreamer device I talked about. Since I can't put links to their Kickstarter myself, I'm just going to reccomend that you at least take a look at what they plan on doing with the most advanced version; it's pretty neat!)

However, that brings up some questions. I'm going to answer the obvious ones with my opinions and my critical thinking skills. Feel free to give your personal opinions and questions about the matter.
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So, first and foremost; how would technology-based shared dreaming work?

It would likely use a piece of headgear that connects to the Internet, detecting your REM sleep and assisting with obtaining lucidity. To keep it simple, I will post the orders with descriptions of them directly above.

Wireless, public mask-to-mask:
Your Mask>Internet>Other Masks
-my thinking here is sort of like a server-based system. Your mask connects directly to the Internet, recording your brainwaves. Other people wearing a mask would receive stimulation following the pattern almost instantly, and sending its signal to everyone else. This could lead to massive shared dreams among hundreds of people. Problems with this method would probably be privacy, lag, and of course, trolls. Otherwise, it would be a pretty good method for shared dreaming.

Wireless, private mask-to-mask:
Your Mask>app>Internet>app>friend's Mask
-this method would be practically the same as how the above method would work, except an app is also included to moderate who is allowed to enter your dreams. It would cut back on 'lag' a bit, but it would require a smartphone. This is likely to be the first iteration of commercially available shared dreaming products.

Wired:
Your Mask>Computer>Mask of someone sleeping nearby
-this method would be the fastest, without any traffic, since the brainwaves would be only going through a wire. It would likely only allow 2-3 people share a dream at once though, and the same people every time.
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What about privacy?
Well, since a shared dream would have to be two different brains dreaming the same thing, they would likely both have control in the dream. Therefore, you wouldn't know what part of whom it is that something represents, and if you do something embarrassing by accident... Well, that's on you.
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Why should I want to have a shared dream?
That's up to you. It could help you understand your friends better, or you could have fun knowing that there is a real person in your dream, doing impossible stuff with you, to name a few.
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If you have any questions about this, I will answer them to the best of my ability, and if you have any alternate opinions on how a shared dream could work through science and technology, I'd love to see them! <insert awkward conclusion here>