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What if we could peek inside our brains and see our dreams \u2014 or even shape them? Studying memory-specific brain cells, neuroscientist (and ex-hacker) Moran Cerf, found that our sleeping brains retain some of the content we encounter when we’re awake and that our dreams can influence our waking actions. Where could this lead us?[1]<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Moran Cerf\u2019s TED talk can be accessed here:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/moran_cerf_this_scientist_can_hack_your_dreams<\/a><\/p>\n Advances in technology are enabling neuroscientists to interact with the brain on a cellular level making possible the mapping of the brain\u2019s response to specific stimuli. Conversely, the brain\u2019s behavioral output on a cellular level can be learned by computer. Feeding this learning back into the brain\u2019s cells enables the computer to \u201ccontrol\u201d the dream. A simple example is a patient suffering from war-related PTSD triggered by the sounds of war in his dreams. The methodology makes possible overlaying the dream sounds with pleasant stimuli. When awake, the anxiety formerly aroused by the dream is reduced and over time may be eliminated entirely. As Cerf says, \u201cNeuroscientists are now giving us a new tool to control our dreams, a new canvas that flickers to life when we fall asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n Note that Cerf says this tool is being given to \u201cus.\u201d So, what are we<\/i> to do with such a tool and all that the further development of such a tool implies?<\/p>\n Before responding to that question, I want to bring in another development. Major technology CEOs and others are investing heavily in the \u201cnext big thing,\u201d which is virtual reality<\/i> (VR) in its various forms. VR is an immersive<\/i> technology which \u201ccreates\u201d a three-dimensional world that one is immersed in.<\/i> Programming content for VR will be unlimited. While the impact of VR on the brain is only beginning to be studied, it is already clear that immersive experience has a sizeable effect on reducing pain. The exact neural nature of this effect is not yet clear, but the phenomenon itself is what is prompting huge financial investment. Chronic pain can be relieved by immersive experience in VR. <\/p>\n Now imagine, if you will, computer programming of immersive experience while dreaming. One might say that dreams are already immersive and from the perspective of consciousness, a kind of virtual reality itself. But these ideas are not accurate because consciousness is missing. We already know about lucid <\/i>dreaming where consciousness is present while dreaming. The new technologies promise that computer-controlled dreaming would make possible \u201cbeing there\u201d as well.<\/p>\n Ultimately what is being promised is the replacement of what we now call \u201creal\u201d experience with programmed virtual experience. <\/p>\n All of this, and more, is coming about with exponential speed.<\/p>\n In his book, The American Replacement of Nature: The Everyday Acts and Outrageous Evolution of Economic Life,[2]<\/b><\/a> <\/i>William Irwin Thompson argues that we are in a time where \u201chistory is replaced with movies, education is replaced with entertainment and nature is replaced with technology.\u201d <\/p>\n As I noted in an earlier blog post, we are now deep into the robotic replacement of humans. One step along the way, will be the robotic replacement of dreams and as this unfolds dreams will be monetized. You will soon be able to buy the dreams you want. Or, as advertising becomes ever more successful, you will want<\/i> to buy what others<\/i> want you to dream.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n Be ready!<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> From advertisement for Moran Cerf\u2019s TED talk. Filmed February 2016.<\/p>\n
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