Do you know why we dream? The question has puzzled humanity for millennia, if not longer, and it still causes much debate and head-scratching. Now we have an idea of why dreams have persisted until this day, and they may have . contributed to our survival throughout history With this post, I would like to suggest that we are of a persistent and (in the case of the metaverse) collective that has the potential to help us in the same way natural dreams helped our ancestors. inadvertently creating a man-made version dream What are dreams? We’re not entirely sure yet. But here’s a list of things we do know: Dreams are a that you see in your mind when you sleep, series of events and images Dreams take pieces of our memories and reconstruct them, Dreams use these pieces of memory to , simulate probable future events Lucid dreaming is when you are aware you’re dreaming and can influence the dream. Thanks to the above, dreams may have helped our ancestors (and us): Be when awake ( ), more alert for specific dangers Threat Simulation Theory Consolidate, enhance and incorporate memories, Process emotions, that might happen, Prepare for events Understand and in real life. solve problems Have you ever to a problem you’ve been brooding over? That’s one way you may have experienced the benefits of dreams. woken up with a specific thought, idea, or solution Note that , and not everyone remembers their dreams all the time, but it on a subconscious level. not many people have experienced lucid dreaming doesn’t mean that dreams aren’t helping So a dream is a where you can in the real world – where you can – and it may have helped our ancestors tackle challenges in innovative ways. non-physical environment test out things that might happen simulate real life Sound familiar? We use this concept today in many areas. In the tech world for example, where we test out applications in a before launching them into the real world. safe and realistic environment We call this a environment. sandbox The connection with virtual reality You’ve probably guessed what I’m getting at. We already have , which give players the freedom to explore and experiment. Virtual worlds allow you to try things that may make you uncomfortable or scared in the physical world, they . sandbox games allow you to fail and to try again Of course, I know we can do this without virtual reality. Humans have been using simulations (or their imaginations and dreams) to prepare for challenges since long before virtual came around. But, wouldn’t you try to make your sandbox more realistic to when going to production? make sure your solution works You can imagine scenarios about it, write it down, draw it – but seeing and living it is something else. We can identify a few ways virtual reality may act as a dream. It can help us with: Fears and anxieties, such as strong phobias Strong emotions and psychological distress Training for real-life emergencies Virtual reality has been and is currently being tested to (flying and heights for example), to train , and with more accurate results — and the list of examples is growing. treat various phobias patients to cope with difficulties study human emotions Ironically, there has already been . lucid dreaming training in VR A sandbox for life It’s thought that Mother Nature, at some point in our evolution, “decided” that more vivid dreaming was beneficial to our species. Dreams expose us to virtual, controlled threats and create simulations to help us develop skills that we might need in real life. Now we’ve created our own version. A “sandbox for life” that we can control. An increasing number of non-programmers will also be able to engage in productive experimentation in their worlds as it becomes using visual builders and SDKs. easier to modify virtual spaces It will become even more immersive when we bring so we’re not restrained by chunky headsets or that simulate movement. higher-quality virtual content into the physical world treadmills As an occasional lucid dreamer, I can say that I look forward to having an immersive virtual space that I can control even when I’m awake. But on a larger scale, I think that having the ability to experiment in a realistic environment for more than just 4 hours per night could help us find new ways to approach the world.

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

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