ON THE SCIENCE OF DREAMS
Dreaming is
generally thought of as the spontaneous self activation of the brain during
sleep. But the faculty of consciousness that dreams is different from the
brain, as unlike the brain, it cannot be physically seen, photographed or
clinically diagnosed. Brain is body matter powered by the heart and lungs
pumping blood which continues even in deep sleep, making it always active. Even
after the heart stops, the brain may not be dead immediately. Hence this
definition of dream may be misleading. Further, the spontaneity implies a
trigger. Without this trigger, the brain cannot self activate. This trigger for
the heart and lungs (also brain) is set at conception. For perception, the
external stimuli carried by the neurons to the brain are the trigger.
At any moment, our sense organs are bombarded by a
multitude of stimuli. But only one of them is given a clear channel at any
instant to go up to the thalamus and then to the cerebral cortex, so that like
photographic frames, we perceive one discrete frame at every instant, but due
to the high speed of their reception, mix it up so that it appears as
continuous. This happens due to an active transport system against
concentration gradient with input of energy. Unlike the sensory apparatuses
that are subject specific, the transport system in the opposite direction
within the body happens for all types of sensory impulses. The agency that
determines this subject neutral channel of active transport is called mind.
Without this transport system, we cannot dream, dreams are based on thought and
thought is the inertia of mind. It follows mechanical rules.
While mind facilitates the passage of impulse, the
interpretation of the state of superposition of various thoughts in memory is
done by the intellect, which is responsible for cognition. Hence even after the
breath stops, the person may not be brain dead. The difference between
perception and cognition is that during perception mediated by mind, we search
the memory for alternatives for matching. During cognition mediated by
intellect (the ‘I’ part in the perception “I know….”), we zero in on one
content. Thus, we have to consider intellect that cognizes separately from
mind, which is only the transporting agency.
The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines mind as: “The collective
conscious and unconscious processes in a sentient organism that direct and
influence mental and physical behavior”. But this definition does
not explain what are conscious and unconscious processes and how the
mind directs these. Further, it is difficult to apply in the context of
sociology where we speak of the mental qualities of a group or population (the
nation’s mind, group mind, team spirit). It is also difficult to apply in the
context of religion, where mind and spirit are associated with transcendental
concepts such as the way of life including immortal soul, the world mind, etc.
In our definition, since memory is most important for processing stimulus and
mind is only the transport system, these things are easily explained.
Dreams can be
analyzed from various perspectives like psychological, physio-chemical,
emotional, cognitive potential, paranormal, etc. Different aspects are
discussed in different texts. For example, one text classifies dreams into
seven categories: those related to 1) objects seen earlier, 2) heard earlier,
3) experienced earlier, 4) objects of desire, or 5) fantasies. These five types
of dreams are meaningless. The other two types are related to 6) extra-sensory
perceptions of signals leading to possible future events and 7) physical
discomfiture including diseases or impending diseases. The last two types are
meaningful. The above has been further classified into different categories.
The methods of interpreting the last two categories of dreams have also been
discussed elaborately.
Dreams appear as
the internal faculties, i.e., the various functions of the mind and intellect,
are activated without an external stimulus through the sense organs, as in the
wakeful state. This frees the faculty of consciousness from the restraints
imposed by the external physical world. For example, we have seen horses and we
have seen flights or birds fly. We can combine both concepts to dream of flying
horses, which are physically impossible. But we cannot dream of something which
is not stored in our memory. The Jungian Dreaming of the ‘collective
unconscious’, which are not so much a personal message to the dreamer, but
rather a more universal message that becomes less personal to the dreamer and
more relevant to the human collective, can be explained only through the
thought mechanism.
Any transport
system follows the laws of motion that are further governed by the fundamental
forces of Nature, which are five in number including radioactive
disintegration. They have macro equivalents also. Mind also follows these
rules. Lucid dreaming is caused by the equivalent of the weak force, which
unites the wakeful state with the dream state. Since both have different
causes, the mind has to oscillate between both the states rapidly. But the
oscillation is so fast that it appears as two distinct states.
We sleep only
when our body exhausts energy and needs to recuperate it like many creatures hibernate.
Sleep can be categorized into two types: perception enabled (dream or REM
sleep) and perception disabled (deep sleep). In the first case, the mind is
receiving inputs/impulses from the agencies of sensory perception and memory,
but the later are not receiving outside impulse. In the second case, mind is
switched off from the agencies of sensory perception – thus, no perception.
Since these are cognitive functions, a brief discussion on perception and
consciousness is necessary to remove all confusion. Also, we must prove the
transport function and mechanism of mind.
How do we handle
the vast sensory inputs impinging on us? The provision of specialized sensory
windows specifically geared to receive specific ranges and categories of
sensory inputs, the incorporation of directing channels, the provision of load
restricting governors in the brain, and the existence of dynamic mechanisms for
attention, thresholds and signal detection, have different roles to play. The
built-in governors in the brain to prevent a break down due to load (excess or
impoverishment) cause us to sleep. Dream is associated with sleep. Lucid dream
hampers the mechanism of the built-in governors. Thus, its regular practice is
bound to have long term effects of a break down.
While
considering the above fact, we must remember that whatever be the varieties of
energies that impinge on the body, the sense organs convert all of them into
electro-chemical codes, which get processed and then decoded. When we talk of
electro-part, we must consider its complement magneto-part. Similarly, the
theory of transition states of chemical reaction stipulates a certain
temperature threshold for the chemical reaction to take place. Both have a
commonality in temperature divide.
The first
experience of decoding of the signals is the sensory impression is an
impression in isolation. This is uni-modal and the simplest of the transactions
that occur between our sensory modes and the observable. A sensation is a
combination of such sensory impressions and is multi-modal. Since measurement
is a process of comparison between similars, perception occurs when sensation
is accompanied by an interpretation with reference to what is already
experienced and stored in memory. Measurement is done at a time t, when the
result is frozen for use at other times t’, t’’, etc, even though the observed
evolves in time. As experience becomes less immediate and more remote, and as
the processes of inference increase, cognition enters the picture. Thinking and
knowing become predominately operative.
Consciousness is a physical phenomenon and beyond. But mathematics
including Tononi’s model, cannot explain conscious actions. The sense organs always reach out to the
incoming impulse, whether sound, electromagnetic radiation, or smell, taste,
touch. Over the years, views on the mechanism of perception of sound – how the
ear perceives the tonality of sound and the frequency range of auditory
perception - have changed. There is a reason why the human pinna is not
asymmetrical and folded. Experiments by Hero Wit (Spectra of cochlear acoustic
emissions – Kemp echos – Journal of Acoust. Soc. Am. 1981) showed the emission
of a continual sound from healthy human ears in the range of 1 to 2 kHz. This
implies that the ear sends out a reference wave and interacts with the incoming
wave to produce an acoustic hologram. This is facilitated by the unique
structure of the human pinna (Hugo Zuccarelli, New Scientist, 10th
November 1983 p-438). Similarly, our
eyes send out a reference wave to electromagnetic radiation emanating out of
the object (and not the object which emits these radiation). The form we see is
not the same as the object we touch and vice versa. Because when we touch, we
cut down the radiation and touch the mass that emits it. The same goes for
taste and smell.
At any moment, our sense organs are bombarded by a multitude of stimuli.
But only one of them is given a clear channel at any instant to go up to the
thalamus and then to the cerebral cortex, so that like photographic frames, we
perceive one discrete frame at every instant, but due to the high speed of
their reception, mix it up so that it appears as continuous. This happens due
to an active transport system against concentration gradient with input of
energy like the sodium-potassium pump, which moves the two ions in
opposite directions across the plasma membrane through break down of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The
concentrations of the two ions on both sides of the cell membrane are
interdependent, suggesting that the same carrier transports both ions.
Similarly, the same carrier transports the external stimuli in the opposite
direction to the cerebral cortex.
This carrier is the mind.
In the mechanism of perception, each sense organ perceives different kind
of impulses related to the fundamental forces of Nature. Eyes see form by measuring
(comparing) the electromagnetic field set up by the object with that of the
electrons in our cornea, which is the unit. Thus, we cannot see in total
darkness because there is nothing comparable to this unit. Tongue perceives the
chemical composition when the object is dissolved in the mouth, which is macro
equivalent of the weak nuclear interaction that leads to changing chemistry.
Nose perceives the distinguishing characteristics of the mass of the object, when
the finer parts of an object are brought in close contact with the smell buds,
which is macro equivalent of the strong nuclear interaction. Skin perceives heat
and cold when they are in motion leaving the body that is macro equivalent of
the radioactive disintegration. Ears hear sound waves that come near or recede
from us or stay at a fixed distance (all signifying the relation between two
bodies) that is macro equivalent of the gravitational interaction.
Individually the perception has no meaning. For example, what we see is
the radiation emanating from out of the body and not the body proper. What we
touch is the state of the mass that emits radiation and not the radiation it
emits. Since eyes cannot touch or hand cannot see, individually they cannot
describe the body fully. They become information and acquire meaning only when
they are pooled and stable in our memory. In the lower animals, all the sense
organs are not fully developed. Hence their capacity to function in tandem is
limited. Thus, they only respond to situations based on memory. In human
beings, the sense organs are fully developed. Hence they not only respond to
situations, but also plan future strategies. This is the difference between
them.
Since all these sensory
perceptions are nothing but measurement of the objects in space in time, they
are not ghostly, but real. Measurement implies the existence of the Conscious
Agent who does the measurement of an object in space in time using an apparatus
(of sensory perception). The result of measurement is information about the physical
Cosmos of Atoms and organic matter stored for future use. Thus, they are
related. All perceptions require energy to reveal the object and take the
reading. In fact, energy connects both. But information or perception is not
energy, but stored stable data.
The Cosmos appears to be a single
field for two reasons: First, as the background structure (a General Field
of Cosmae), it is common to all. Secondly, perception of information is
common to all. The content of all perceptions is: “I know…..”. This part is
common in all perceptions, though the object of perception change. Without this
commonality, there cannot be communication. What we express must be understood
by others exactly as the same. The gaps are not in the field, but in the
non-linear distribution of mass and energy that seem to violate the integrity
of the common description (density) and not that of the single field.
We hold that mind (Information-Assumption), which is also
an instrument of perception, functions mechanically and thought is the inertia
of mind. Once we receive an external impulse, our mind compares it with all
stored similar or related impulses due to inertia that we call as the train of
thought. Like inertia of motion is destroyed due to air friction, gravitational
attraction or impact with other bodies, thought is destroyed by evaluating the
impulse with all stored memory (knowing whatever is possible), getting the
object of desire or pain that distracts our attention.
Perception is the processing by a
conscious agent of the result of measurements of different but related fields
of something with some data stored in memory to convey a combined form “it is
like that”, where “it” refers to an object (constituted of bits) and “that”
refers to a concept signified by the object (self-contained representation or
information). Measurement returns restricted information related to only one
field at a time. To understand all aspects, we have to ‘integrate’ these
aspects.
In communication technology, the
mixing is done through data, text, spread-sheets, pictures, voice and video.
Data are discretely defined fields. What the user sees is controlled by
software - a collection of computer programs. What the hardware sees is bytes
and bits. In perception, these tasks are done in the brain. Data are the
response of our sense organs to individual external stimuli – e.m. fields by
eye, etc. Text is the excitation of the neural network that carries these
impulses to the brain. Spreadsheets are the excitation of the neural network in
specific regions of the brain. Pictures are the inertia of motion generated in
memory (thought) after a fresh impulse, linking related past experiences. Voice
is the disturbance created due to the disharmony between the present thought
and the stored image (this or that, yes or no). Video is the net response that
emerges out of such integration. This is ego. Hardware includes the neural
network. Bytes and bits are the changing interactions of the sense organs
(string) with their respective fields generated by the objects evolving in
time. Software is the operations of mind. Split personality is a malfunction of
the mechanism for mixing the fresh impulse with stored memory.
All of these are digital, but
none of these are conscious. They act mechanically according to the laws of
conservation, inertia, language, command and control like the hardware and
software of the computer, where the brain acts like the CPU. The computer can
be operated with electric energy. The heart provides this energy through
pumping of not only blood, but also oxygen. Consciousness (the ‘I’ part) is the
operator, which is beyond all these. It not only switches on the electricity
and the computer, but also perceives and uses the information. Like space and
time, it is infinite – hence present everywhere – not outside the biological
world.
The consciousness of a person is
detected only as whether he/she is alive or dead or at best whether he/she is
awake or sleeping. Beyond this, whatever is detected is his/her emotions
expressed verbally or through non-verbal communication. In the wakeful state,
the sense organs receive impulse from the physical world, which are bound by
the laws of physics. Like a sculptor making a die, a mirror image of the
impulse is carried by the sense organs. The neurons do not interact with the
external world, but carry the mirror image from the sense organs to appropriate
regions of the brain to make an imprint there giving the proper image. Hence
they are not bound by the laws of the physical world. During dream, the link
from the external world is cut off, the neurons are still active. Thus, the ego
can integrate various stored images in a dream without any constraint. If we
have earlier seen horses and some birds flying, we can dream of flying horses
or ourselves flying, which is not possible in wakeful state. These two states
are causal states. During deep sleep, the neurons cease to act. Though the ego
remains active in deep sleep (we get up if someone calls us), it cannot act on
its own till some impulse is received by it as its only role is integration of
impulses. But consciousness remains the observer as long as the energy
circulating system is active in the body.
Since consciousness is infinite,
it cannot be enlarged. Perception by the ego or memory can be enlarged. The
first time we perceive, we do not cognize it properly, but it gets registered
in our memory. The next time we perceive it, we cognize it as “It is like
that”. Color blindness is due to defect
in our sensory organs either individually or collectively in some geographical
location. Sub-conscious learning and subconscious memory are like ordinary
memory, where there is a delay in retrieval of the response to the received
impulse. Freewill is not an illusion. The basic mechanism of action is as
follows: If we feel a deficit of or a necessity for something, and from our
memory, if we could find a way to fulfill our requirement, then we have a
desire to do that. The appropriate part of our brain issues necessary command
to the necessary body parts to act accordingly. When our knowledge is total,
our action appears as freewill. Otherwise, we act as if in doubt. It is true
that the brain acts as a quantum computer, but it is still an inert body part,
as there is no difference between the brain of a person just before and after
death. Thus, brain is not conscious.
In lucid
dreaming, this process is hampered with attendant consequences. These may
appear as affecting thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, and
imagination, etc. Further, thought is generated due to previous knowledge,
repeated efforts, indulgence, and unusual sporadic experience. By the practice
of lucid dreaming, mind is naturally attracted towards it. Thus, the ability to
judge reality in all its aspects is seriously restricted making one an expert
in a limited field like a frog in the well. Such people with find it difficult
to adjust in the society. We treat the body including the brain, the neural
network and the mind as inert and go beyond it. Apparently, there is nothing
wrong in experimenting with lucid dreams. But it does affect the personality in
the long run. Hence the effect will not be evident immediately. In this
connection, we have briefly discussed about sleep in our previous post. You can
look into the following aspects.
During lucid
dream, if research (which is a function of wakeful state as it involves
examining objects present physically or as concepts in memory) is conducted,
there is a continuous transformation between the unimodal and multimodal
sensory impressions. This draws more energy necessitating more rest, which is
hampered by the process of lucid dream. Thus, this has double impact. Lucid
dreams can be dangerous.