Is It True That Dreams Connect Humans to “Another World”? An IPB University Physics Expert Explains
Dreams often evoke experiences that feel so real they lead to the assumption that humans are accessing another reality or even a parallel universe. However, is this claim actually true?
Prof Husin Alatas, a Professor of Theoretical Physics at IPB University, emphasizes that to date, there is no scientific evidence to support this claim. According to him, dreams can be better explained as the result of complex brain activity during sleep rather than as a gateway to “another world.”
“From a physical-chemical perspective, the brain is a complex system consisting of billions of neurons interconnected through electrical signals and chemical communication via neurotransmitters,” explained Prof Husin, who also teaches the Biophysics and Complexity course in the Master’s Program in Biophysics at IPB University.
When a person is awake, he continued, the brain actively receives, integrates, and processes information from the environment to form perceptions of reality.
“During sleep, brain activity does not stop. In fact, during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase, activity in certain brain regions approaches that of the waking state. It is during this phase that dreams occur most frequently and are the most vivid,” he said.
During the REM phase, the brain reprocesses experiences, emotions, and memories acquired while awake. The hippocampus, together with the cortical networks, plays a role in the memory consolidation process, allowing various people, places, and events that have been experienced to reappear in dreams.
“The brain also has the ability to creatively combine various memory fragments with imagination,” Prof Husin added.
Why Do Dreams Feel Strange?
Prof Husin explained that the spontaneous activation of various brain networks during REM causes the sequence of events in dreams to often defy the logic of everyday life. Based on neuroscience findings, this phenomenon is an internal construction of the brain. It is this condition that makes dreams feel as though they originate from a different reality.
On the other hand, he acknowledged that modern physics does recognize a number of concepts regarding the possibility of other universes. One of these is the Many-Worlds interpretation in quantum mechanics, which proposes that every possible outcome of a quantum measurement is realized in a different branch of the universe.
In addition, there is also the multiverse hypothesis in cosmology, which evolved from the theory of cosmic inflation.
“Nevertheless, both of these ideas remain theoretical and lack direct observational evidence. To date, there is also no theory in physics that links brain activity during dreaming to access to a parallel universe,” he emphasized.
Therefore, Prof Husin believes that the claim that dreams are evidence of the existence of parallel universes is better viewed as philosophical speculation or metaphysical interpretation rather than a scientific conclusion.
He added that while the mechanisms behind the formation of dreams are still being studied, based on current scientific knowledge, dreams are understood as the result of complex interactions between memory, emotions, perception, and imagination during sleep, not as a window into another reality. (dr) (IAAS/DON)
