PSI Dreaming and Quantum Discord

“… individual minds may combine into networks of entangled minds, giving rise to more complex ‘mind circuits,’ forms of awareness, and collective psi-effects beyond our conception” (Radin, 2006, p. 270)

How does quantum entanglement and discord relate to our experience of group (psi) dreaming? My presentation “Quantum Discord and Psi Dreaming” goes into this question. I have slightly revised it for readability.

Paper: “Quantum Discord and Psi Dreaming”

The 14th annual PsiberDreaming Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, 2016. Author: Ralf Penderak.

Universe at its birth: a nearly dimensionless boiling drop of pure energy containing what we now experience as different forms of matter and radiation, as extended over unfathomably wide spaces in eons of time.

What once has been so intimately in touch, what has been one, has now exploded, cooled down, the space inflated; the former unity is spread out like a spilled glass of water vaporizes in the desert sun. Are its parts still tuning in to the whole of universe? Are we tuning in to universe, and into each other?

No Psi for Newton

Classical physics sees the parts of the former unity still bound by natural forces, like gravitation and electromagnetism. Influence between parts — in this paradigm — is limited by the speed of light, and this means much in a universe measuring billions of light years. Influence between parts is also thought to be shielded by different forms of matter. Consequently, inside this materialist paradigm there is no place for genuine psi, which defies space and time, and disrespects physical shielding (Radin, 1997, p. 13). Dreams, so the classical, reductionist worldview says, only happen inside the brain, like consciousness generally (Radin, 1997, p. 263 ff).

As physicists encountered quanta in their search to understand the nature of matter and radiation, this classical, materialist worldview was challenged. “Quantum” is a technical term for what physicists observed researching sub-atomic particles and radiation: their physical properties occur at certain, discrete levels, other than classical physics predicted (Radin, 2006, p. 212).

Quanta Haunting Einstein

A new discipline, quantum physics, was born. Great minds like Albert Einstein battled with the idea of “spooky actions at a distance,” a consequence of quantum theory which has only later been proven experimentally. This challenging consequence is also called the “EPR paradox.” Later on, the now somewhat popular term “quantum entanglement” was coined by Erwin Schrödinger (Radin, 2006, p. 226 f).

To put it short: quanta, like pairs or larger groups of electrons or photons which have interacted once, keep on behaving like a unity, like they are one “object” or process, even if they are far apart from each other. They are “entangled.” Experimentally this has been proven for distances of 50 km, as of 2004 (Radin, 2006, p. 267).

If this is true, why are we not aware of tuning in to the whole of universe all of the time? There are different theories for explanation, and I will focus on two of them: local entanglement and quantum decoherence. Other theories go into the role of attention, intention, memory, and needs for survival.

With local entanglement I mean the interactions of quanta locally — like on planet earth — by far outnumber those which happened with now remote partners, say in our neighbor galaxy Andromeda (Radin, 2006, p. 271 f). Then, quantum decoherence means information is lost while the entangled system of quanta interacts with its environment (Radin, 2006, p. 224 f).

Discord Can Connect Us?

The undecided discussion about the role of decoherence made me doubt whether quantum entanglement persists in living systems, and consequently whether quantum theory can serve in understanding and furthering our experience of psi at all. So I turned more to the practice of psi dreaming, until in 2015 I saw a video of a presentation given by Dean Radin going into quantum discord.

Quantum discord is akin to entanglement, but it is a different kind of non-local connection (or coherence) of quanta. Other than quantum entanglement, it comes in degrees, and appears to be more stable:

“… But then somebody says ‘aren't quantum effects so fragile they can't have anything to do with living systems?’ … this is twentieth century. It's not true anymore. Why not? Because of the dawn of quantum biology. … it turns out living systems not only have quantum effects, they require them in order to work the way that they do” (Radin, 2014).

Radin then includes a New Scientist video on quantum discord in his presentation:

“It turned out that entanglement is only one kind of connection that particles in the quantum world can have; quantum discord is another. If entanglement is a perfect link, discord is a less than perfect link. It doesn't carry as much information, but still quantum particles interact in ways that classical particles can't.”

Fifty Shades of Discord

The more discord a system has, the stronger its quantum behavior, while a system with no discord behaves classically, with no quantum effects. So the amount of discord is what determines the “quantumness” of a system. And when two particles are linked by discord it becomes possible to change one by manipulating the other. This means discord may be useful for things like quantum computers, which until now have relied on delicate entanglement to work.

Quantum discord is more fundamental than entanglement, and scientists are only beginning to understand exactly how it gives rise to all the strangeness of the quantum world. One thing seems clear: discord is more than just a way to link quantum particles. It is one of the rules that govern the most basic level of reality (Campbell, 2014).

Radin comments on the New Scientist video: “Things are connected all the time to various degrees … [Quantum discord] is probably much more pervasive. … Quantum discord basically is talking about mutual information, the sharing of informational structures between separate systems” (Radin, 2014).

So back to the questions at the start: are its parts still tuning in to the whole of universe? Are we still tuning in to universe, and into each other? Quantum physics appears to supply — especially with the discovery of quantum discord — a theoretical framework for non-local communication, which most probably includes brain and mind.

Caution is advised, as results of physicists' research can't easily be transferred to the experience of psi dreaming, or explain the range, the many colors of psi experience generally. It is tempting, nonetheless, to look for commonalities in these two realms. What I get out of the concept of quantum discord:

1. Universe maybe is coherent since the beginning of time; it seems to be an encompassing quantum system.
2. Possibly brains/minds and (“inanimate”) matter are tuning in to each other and continuously influence each other on a fundamental level in non-local and trans-temporal ways. From a quantum physics point of view they may be regarded as one system, as a unity.
3. These connections may vary, and be less than perfect.
4. Under certain circumstances local connections may be stronger than remote ones.

Fifty Shades of Psi

Now on to the experience of psi generally, and psi dreaming especially, matching with quantum discord. Watt and Tierney go into the phenomenology of spontaneous psi-related experiences as follows:

“ESP experiences are reported to take on four forms: realistic visual images (44%), intuitive impressions (26%), unrealistic visual images (21%), or hallucinations (9%…). Realistic visual images in ESP experiences most often occur as dreams, in which the imagery seems to refer quite literally and specifically to events. … ESP experiences usually include only partial information about the event to which they presumably refer. … The content often tends to be personally significant to the experient; to be related to someone emotionally close to the experient; … Thus, for the individual, the ESP experience seems to be purposive and meaningful” (Watt & Tierney, 2014, p. 243 f).

Dreaming Mind Makes Sense

The good “news” first: dreaming seems to be a state of mind adapted to tuning in to quantum coherence, and to dealing with the mostly fragmentary nature of quantum discord.

The experience of psi generally seems to include often only partial information, though it ranges from the slightest of gut feelings to fully blown-up images or scenes nearly perfectly tuning in to events in non-local or trans-temporal ways. We often get realistic images.

Unrealistic images may also contain elements of psi, as the substitution phenomenon shows: “… refers to the fact that the dreaming mind often shows very poor discrimination by identifying unfamiliar dream people, or things, with familiar and somewhat similar physical reality counterparts … which I called ‘the substitution phenomenon’” (Kellogg, 1997).

“Non-sensory perceptions are occasionally evoked in the brain because, as an exquisite pattern recognizer, it responds to ripples resembling similar undulations with previous events. … One implication … is that we wouldn't be able to perceive something with psi that we weren't already familiar with” (Radin, 2006).

Personal significance and emotional importance are factors apparently driving psi experience: the local entanglement or quantum discord appears to be more important than the more remote connections.

Good Intentions Clear the Path

It appears intention and attention play an important role for the successful incubation of psi dreams. From a quantum physics point of view Radin comments:

“To navigate through this space [of correlated quanta], we use attention and intention. From this perspective, psychic experiences are reframed not as mysterious ‘powers of the mind’ but as momentary glimpses of the entangled fabric of reality” (Radin, 2006, p. 264)

From my own experience of psi, especially in focused group dreaming, I can refer to many instances of dream-to-waking physical synchronicities between group members, and a good part of them seems mundane, and apparently without meaning in regard to our focus or goal — spare reminding us of the fact we are connected. These synchronicities may serve as an example of brains/minds of a group getting entangled in a quantum field. Through focusing on a shared goal we are tuning in to each other. A study of focused group dreaming may point this way, but it needs a larger sample size to possibly achieve significant results (Penderak, 2008). These experiences of synchronicity may be akin to the effect focused groups seem to have on random number generators. Radin writes: “We were able to predict synchronistic-like events” (Radin, 1997, p. 173).

Discord Makes Our Day …

Putting the parallels of quantum theory and research and the experience of psi dreaming in a nutshell: we seem to be connected, anyway, in ways defying space and time. We are able to tune in to each other and universe through attention and intention. The nature of these non-local and trans-temporal connections, though, may be fragmentary, and their perception depends on our personal “tunnel of reality” and the state of consciousness we are in.

For the practice of intentionally tuning in to psi through dreams, I would offer the following suggestions. It may be useful to refer to psi as a signal, an information passed from a source/sender/target to a receiver, though quantum physics speaks of correlations in systems of quanta, and our experience may amount to: we are one, anyway. The task at hand is increasing the signal and reducing the noise:

• We increase the signal by focusing our psychic antennae on the signal through intention and attention, through using incubation techniques.
• We reduce the noise by blending out day residue (the strong local entanglement). We also analyze dreams for structures, elements, patterns and themes, so as to get around the substitution phenomenon the best we can.
• We should also develop an intuitive sense for which elements in dreams feel like psi, before we see the target in conventional ways.

… If We Tune Into Each Other …

There is a relatively new development, at least for post-industrial culture, and it is group psi dreaming. In regard to increasing the signal and reducing the noise, it seems to offer new ways of fostering the practice of psi dreaming. The Group Psi Game (GPG) of the PsiberDreaming Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams may serve as an example (Fatooh, 2016).

Reducing the noise: when a group of 41 dreamers (like in GPG 2015) focuses on a precognitive task, it is possible to look for repeating elements in the multitude of dreams. Through the different dreaming styles coming together, it also gets feasible to more easily evade the substitution phenomenon, because all player-dreamers cast their vote for possible targets based on all dreams of the group.

… and Enjoy It

Increasing the signal: it is the atmosphere of the GPG which makes me (as a participant and a facilitator) feel like the group is more than the sum of the players, like we are tuning in to an entangled group mind, into field consciousness, while tuning in to the target. Dean Radin shared Roger Nelson's recipe for fostering field consciousness:

“[It] involved times and places that evoke unusually warm or close feelings of togetherness, with emotional content that tends to draw people together, where personal involvement is important but focused more toward a group goal involving a deeply engrossing theme, located in uplifting physical sites like the ocean or mountains, during creative or humorous moments, and enlivened with a sense of freshness or novelty” (Radin, 2006, p. 184 f).

Sometimes it rather feels to some participants like this group mind were playing with our dreams, while we think it is us directing the game. And so far the group voting process has landed on the target, or the target received the second-most votes.

Looking forward to tuning in, again!

Bibliography

• Campbell, M. (2014). Quantum discord: entanglement's noisy twin. New Scientist.
• Fatooh, J. (2016). Group Psi Game. IASD PsiberDreaming Conference 2016.
• Kellogg, E. W. (1997). Mutual Lucid Dream Event.
• Kellogg, E. W. (2010). Developing Dream Psi Abilities: A Workshop Intensive.
• Penderak, R. (2008). Da-Fu Mu and Evolution.
• Radin, D. I. (1997). The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. San Francisco: HarperEdge.
• Radin, D. I. (2006). Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality. New York: Paraview Pocket Books.
• Radin, D. I. (2014). The Extended Mind: Past, Present and Future (lecture).
• Watt, C., & Tierney, I. (2014). Psi-Related Experiences. In Cardeña, Lynn & Krippner (Eds.), Varieties of Anomalous Experience (2nd ed., pp. 241–272). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.