| A start-up company called SHADOW wants to create a universal database of peoples' dreams. They are currently developing an iOS app for recording dreams and exploring their meanings. |
Dreams help define who we are and are essential to our consciousness, yet over 95 percent of them are not remembered.
The video above is an old speech by philosopher Alan Watts on the power of dreams, cut together the team at SHADOW.
SHADOW, is a company founded by Hunter Lee Soik to develop an iOS app for recording dreams and exploring their meanings.
Kate McCormick of SHADOW told us, "We’re a small start-up working to build the world’s largest dream database, and to spark a broader conversation about how mind blowing our dreams really are."
For several years the team has been inspired and guided by an admittedly idealistic vision of future technology in the study of dreams:
One day, everyone in the world will have an easy and private way to enter their dreams into a collective database we can all access and study.If that were possible, if such a massive database existed, researchers like SHADOW consultant, Kelly Bulkeley could learn so much not only about dreams but also about consciousness, culture, and our evolution. For Bulkeley, working with SHADOW has made it clear that the technology for creating a universal dream database is emerging very quickly.
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In an age where governments have used programs like PRISM to track and monitor their populations, the dream database also raises concerns over privacy. It is one thing to have your email and telephone conversation but the extreme personal nature of dreams is another thing entirely.
Bulkeley says that participants can set the standard by altering or removing any personally identifying details, such as the names of people and places from their dream reports. Participants can also exclude any content they simply don't feel comfortable sharing.
According to Bulkeley,
This database of the future might also give us a new appreciation for the "ordinary mystics" among us, people whose unusual dreams connect them with hyper-creative dimensions of the imagination. As a psychologist of religion I've always been struck by the parallels between mystical experiences in religious history and certain types of dreams that contemporary people have, dreams of magic and mystery and esoteric symbolism. My sense is that more people have these kinds of dreams than is commonly recognized. A large-scale database could open our eyes to the surprising prevalence of mystical dream phenomena among the general population.
Like so many of our expanding technologies, the potential risks are real, but so are the potential benefits. What's more, we probably haven't even realized what the eventual uses of the technology will be.
SOURCE SHADOW, Huffington Post
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