Dreams - Alternate Realities/Dimensions???

Hi All,

I was wondering what you all thought about this idea. I think it was a documentary by physicist Brian Greene. It talked about how with every action, every possible outcome of that action is a new dimension/alternate reality/paralell universe. I think the theory its based on is M-Theory or Super-string theory. It's really interesting stuff.

But I was wondering, is it possible at least, that dreams are seeing one of those alternate dimensions/paralell universes, from your perspective? In other words, when you dream, you assume the role of 'your double' in that paralell dimension.

What do you all think about that?

answers01

Ive heard about this.That would mean there are millions of you and me.Pretty wild stuff.I do believe there are different or parallel dimensions whats in them?I have no clue ,but that theory is definitely possible.Would that mean we have millions of souls?

That's a good point, about the millions of souls. That would mean that if there is a God, he was ALOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! more busy than we give him credit for. lol.

The reason I ask, is sometimes I have dreams that are as real as life. But their weird. Like I had one, (I hadn't played Half-life 2 or watched War of the Worlds in months before this), where it was completely real to me in the dream, I was living my reality. Their were people running every, screaming, then these huge tripod came around, disintegrating stuff, and people were running trying to get rocket launchers and stuff.

I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, I think it is too, and as I type it, i can't believe i'm typing it, but while I was in that dream (as with most others) it was as real as being awake. And the few seconds between a dream, and realising your awake, has always seemed very weird to me. For a few moments, sometimes upto a minute, It's like you don't have a reality. As if your mind is stuck in neutral.

Any one else ever think/feel that?

That last part you mention is a common source of OBE and alien abduction reports.

I guess if dreams are a way of looking into our alternate selves, then I'm due to save the world any day now. I've already done it in every other reality...

Alas... no... dreams are just our brains perceptual centers being active while our cognitive centers are not. That's why everything seems real, but over the duration, nothing makes sense.

Lucid Dreaming is a state you can fairly easily enter where you are aware that you are dreaming and able to take control of the dream. I think this alone shows that the dream really is within our own minds, and not a connection to an alternate reality.

Thanks APC.

That's interesting about the alien abduction reports. I've always heard strange noises outside at night...

I wish I could Lucid Dream. I've seen a few How.To type sites, but they require keep a journal about your dreams for years. I don't think i could be bothered lol.

But dreams are funny. Time never seems to be a factor. And sometimes when I meditate, or just close my eyes for a while, Time seems to slip away. I wonder if Time is a construct of the mind, just a by product of neuron firings always keeping sequence, or if it is an actual physical or somehow tangible 'thing' that makes up the universe.

Oh well. guess oneday we'll know.

I think that the term dimension is being used in the wrong context here, but I fget your meaning.

I do believe that dreams are a valid, but seperate aspect of reality. Much as our waking life is an aspect of reality thatwe will one day wake from the same way we wake from a dream. And who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes after that.

If one takes a hallucinagenic drug, I believe that's another way to view the waking version of reality, and alter the common perceptions formed by experience and expectations.

Basically, there are many, many levels to our own existance, but we are almost forced into one pattern that we are told is reality.

If we dream of dreaming, and wake from the dream, are we still dreaming?

Originally posted by lookingforanswers01
But dreams are funny. Time never seems to be a factor. And sometimes when I meditate, or just close my eyes for a while, Time seems to slip away. I wonder if Time is a construct of the mind, just a by product of neuron firings always keeping sequence, or if it is an actual physical or somehow tangible 'thing' that makes up the universe.

Yup the human perception of time is a construct of the mind. It can be manipulated.

Rasobasi420
I do believe that dreams are a valid, but seperate aspect of reality. Much as our waking life is an aspect of reality thatwe will one day wake from the same way we wake from a dream. And who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes after that.

If one takes a hallucinagenic drug, I believe that's another way to view the waking version of reality, and alter the common perceptions formed by experience and expectations.

If dreams are a valid aspect of reality, then I'm totally screwed. I owe like three billion dollars in back child support.

And while hallucinogens are interesting, they aren't that profound. In my rather extensive experimentation with '___' and other alphabetic adventures in the past, I can safely say that while the operating mechanisms of the mind are severely manipulated, the experience fully takes place right here in the "real world".

[edit on 9-10-2006 by apc]

True, it does take place in the "real world", but you see aspects of the real world that aren't seen by others. Does that make the experience any less real? Is your perception any less valid than that of another? Your brain chemestry may be altered, but it doesn't make the experience invalid.

I think it does. It is a generated experience by the mechanisms of perception themselves. Just as with dreams, it is purely a creation of the mind.

While it indeed may be argued that reality itself is also purely a creation of the mind, it is a creation that is generated using "real" external stimulus. Dreams, hallucinations, and other "intangibles" can not be indentically shared between individuals, and can therefore not be taken as an authentic aspect of reality.

But if we are assuming the lives of our alternates when we dream, then are they assuming ours when they do?

Originally posted by Purgatory
But if we are assuming the lives of our alternates when we dream, then are they assuming ours when they do?

Dang, I was gonna say that. But I would say that dreams are a kooky thing and just because something seems incredibly real doesn't neccesarily make it so.

To paraphrase freud sometimes a dream is just a dream. For example a few months back my friend woke me up out of a deep sleep because evidently I was singing...loud.

I remembered the dream it wasn't anything special just for some reason I was singing.

She did say that it wasn't so much the fact that I was singing in my sleep that annoyed her but I was singing very badly in my sleep. So even in my dreams I'm still tone deaf.

But it sure felt real in the dream because I was somehow participating on a number of levels hence the sleep singing.

I don't really know how "dimensiol jumping" of this nature would work unless it's like a being john malkovich situation where (for lack of a better term) your conciousness is transferred to another "you" though I don't quite know how that would work either considering all the other possible yous out there.

I've certainly had similar experiences where the dream just feels so real at the time and your doing things that are odd or unfamiliar or somehow intrigueing but to me I think yes it could be a "reality" but must be viewed as a true "virtual reality".

Your brain (the super computer) draws from scenarios in the data base (your mind) and projects those scenarios as three dimensional/interactive images on your own personal holodeck (REM sleep).

IT seems real but the simulation/program ends when you wake.

But considering we have absolutely know idea what most of the brain does or is capable of I won't dismiss your theory completely out of hand but will say the odds are slim.

IMO of course and this is one of those situations where I would love to be proven wrong.

Spiderj

Originally posted by crowpruitt
Ive heard about this.That would mean there are millions of you and me.Pretty wild stuff.I do believe there are different or parallel dimensions whats in them?I have no clue ,but that theory is definitely possible.Would that mean we have millions of souls?

If that theory is true there would not be millions of you, there is an infinite number of you and no there isnt an infinite number of souls simply because there is no such thing as a god.

Originally posted by Lecter

Originally posted by crowpruitt
Ive heard about this.That would mean there are millions of you and me.Pretty wild stuff.I do believe there are different or parallel dimensions whats in them?I have no clue ,but that theory is definitely possible.Would that mean we have millions of souls?

If that theory is true there would not be millions of you, there is an infinite number of you and no there isnt an infinite number of souls simply because there is no such thing as a god.

I would think it would be multiple you's, one soul as I am gathering from the posts your linked to all the diffrent realities.

[edit on 9-10-2006 by Aleksander]

I remember I thought I woke up from one dream and decided to look out my bedroom window still feeling slightly tired. As soon as I looked out the window, I realized I must be dreaming. The sky and everywhere seemed to have a red glow. I was looking at multi-story brick buildings but I knew my bedroom in reality was on the first floor not 2 or 3 stories up. As I looked in the distance, I saw the strangest plants and large strange alien creatures eating or grazing with the sun of this place providing a red glow. I don't remember when I actually woke up for real but I was captivated by what I saw in this dream. Just when I thought I was awake and it was safe to look out the window.

The other thought I had could be a nightmare to some. What if what you are experiencing is really a dream and you are really asleep in another reality? You are already in the alternate dimension within your own mind. This could be like the movie Total Recall where you could be experiencing your own reality.

As far as dreaming of alternate realities, I have created so many different realities in my dreams (I used to lucid dream a lot without even trying) that it wouldn't seem to matter too much where my dreams actually took place.

What if this reality here is not real but a shared dream of billions of humans? It would be real for now in that we can live and die and feel everything as if it were real. If we suddenly die to this reality, we may wake up in a 5th dimension. However, if we are all here to learn and grow in this 4th dimensional spacetime, we may only come back again and again and again forgetting our times in other dimensions and the past itself each time. It might make you really think if we were to keep coming back living a life all over again each time in random bodies learning different experiences. I think that would be a multitude of different realities for the individual all in this world.

One thing i've been intrigued with, is how what I'm doing before sleep, affects the types of dreams dramatically. For instances, if I was say watching tv or a dvd or something, not really doing any creative thinking, the dream was average/pointless/or I didn't dream at all.

But if i'm doing something creative, writing a script/novel, investigating all the # in the world, anything really intense, the dream is almost always sexual in nature. This really doesn't make sense to me. If your doing something intelligent, your dreams are animalistic in nature/not intelligent. But if i'm doing something lame/not intense, the dreams can be interesting, or fairly average, or not have a dream at all.

Any else have any thoughts on that?

You probably won't find a great deal of consistency comparing your experiences to others, but you are correct in the timing. Your activities or focus before falling asleep almost always affect the nature of the dream. However, the contributing elements of those activities and how they assert themselves can be a little difficult to predict.

Your probably right apc.

Oh well, keep on dreaming (and trucking...thought preferably not at the same time

I think it's a small possibility. You never know, but it isn't something clear you shouldn't put all your eggs in the basket either. But keep an open mind.

In other words, it's possible. But it's not a guarntee.