On shared dreams (aka mutual dreams)

[ancientfeelings]

(searched for shared dreams but found nothing) A shared dream, as I understand it, is when two or more people have a dream (lucid or not) together; it is not 2 or more people having the same dream separately. In a shared dream, lucid or not, those involved can interact with each other and the environment and other characters, affecting the other persons’/people’s perspective equally, almost like a multiplayer game. I believe shared dreams are real, though not all the dreams we think are shared dreams necessarily are shared dreams. It is hard to confirm unless the other person/people can confirm it, much less document it. This is how I think it works: 1) a person has a dream, 2) another person or people have a dream, 3) somehow the people’s brain waves (like a cell phone’s radio waves, perhaps) connect while dreaming, and the dreamers’ minds “log on” to each other allowing for some kind of inter extra-cerebral communication 4) the shared dream is initiated. My reasoning is that the human brain is the most complex thing in the universe. And low frequency radio waves can be used to communicate (as in cell phones), the brain, I believe can also communicate with other minds via brain waves. To help move the cause of shared dreams forward, next time you have a dream and someone you know is in it, call them ASAP and ask them if they had a dream and if so what happened in it, to see if you in fact did have a shared dream with that person. I believe I had a shared dream with my wife, we were climbing a tree, there was a racoon; she confirms these details. We were not lucid. What are your thoughts on shred dreams?

[Michael]

I'm sure there are other species out there with more complex brains than us. I do believe in shared dreaming. I believe it's rare in humans because we haven't learned how to harness the ability yet.

[Gero]

This is how I think it works: 1) a person has a dream, 2) another person or people have a dream, 3) somehow the people’s brain waves (like a cell phone’s radio waves, perhaps) connect while dreaming, and the dreamers’ minds “log on” to each other allowing for some kind of inter extra-cerebral communication 4) the shared dream is initiated. Though at first I was going to laugh at this, I decided to look brain waves up, just to be sure before I act like a jerk. Now, I think it could be possible, though probably not able to do without some kind of machinery. Brain waves are rapid fluctuations of voltage between parts of the cerebral cortex that are detectable with an electroencephalograph) Now, let's take a look at the cerebral cortex... The cerebral cortex plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. Think about it; if it's possible to detect these waves using an electroencephalograph, and the cerebral cortex probably plays a large part in dreams, it may be possible to transmit the dreams between two or more people!