0:00:10.590,0:00:13.590 Let's start with a seemingly[br]easy question. 0:00:14.930,0:00:18.280 Who, here, is convinced[br]to be dreaming, right now? 0:00:19.920,0:00:22.600 Raise your hand, one, two - 0:00:24.040,0:00:25.540 not many, thankfully. 0:00:25.540,0:00:27.750 (Laughter) 0:00:29.500,0:00:34.000 Another question, linked to the first -[br]even though it doesn't seem so. 0:00:34.660,0:00:38.292 Who of you would trust someone 0:00:38.292,0:00:40.900 who betrays you every day? 0:00:41.940,0:00:48.440 Every day, every night actually,[br]it fools you into believing false things. 0:00:49.960,0:00:52.100 Is there someone[br]who would trust that person? 0:00:52.810,0:00:56.305 No, we all agree on this. 0:00:57.335,0:01:01.320 Yet this is what we do: 0:01:01.320,0:01:05.040 we trust someone[br]who deceives us every day. 0:01:05.040,0:01:10.000 This is what we all do,[br]because our mind fools us 0:01:10.430,0:01:16.010 every day, every night, when we sleep,[br]for about an hour and a half. 0:01:17.800,0:01:20.560 That is the duration[br]of the so-called REM phases, 0:01:20.560,0:01:24.840 the sleep's dreaming phase. 0:01:25.680,0:01:27.960 Which kind of experience is dream? 0:01:27.960,0:01:31.720 We all know that, we believe what we see. 0:01:32.640,0:01:34.680 If we're having a nightmare,[br]we are afraid, 0:01:35.240,0:01:38.440 because that monster is chasing us,[br]we believe it is true. 0:01:39.620,0:01:44.070 If we have a love affair[br]with someone, we believe it. 0:01:45.160,0:01:48.872 And the experience we are living,[br]we live it intensely. 0:01:51.760,0:01:57.240 Our mind deceives us[br]in an extremely convincing way, 0:01:57.240,0:01:59.240 involving all our senses. 0:01:59.840,0:02:03.480 It involves sight, involves hearing, 0:02:03.480,0:02:07.569 involves touch, involves emotions. 0:02:09.449,0:02:13.570 Our brain and our mind[br]create for us, when we dream, 0:02:15.240,0:02:20.840 some sort of movie,[br]natural virtual reality. 0:02:20.840,0:02:24.108 Some of you may have tried[br]to use virtual reality, right? 0:02:24.108,0:02:28.240 We are immersed in it, we believe in it.[br]Even more so in a dream. 0:02:29.000,0:02:32.847 It is a "natural" technology, so to say,[br]and it's even more effective. 0:02:34.370,0:02:38.080 Yet during the day, when we are awake, 0:02:39.080,0:02:41.040 we trust our mind, 0:02:41.040,0:02:44.200 which is the same[br]that betrayed us in the night, 0:02:44.960,0:02:46.760 the same that deceived us, 0:02:46.760,0:02:49.600 that perhaps inspired us during the night, 0:02:50.060,0:02:53.480 but still generating something[br]that just is not true. 0:02:54.040,0:02:57.520 It is fake, it is illusory,[br]it is a shadow. 0:03:00.458,0:03:04.150 This idea that our mind deceives us 0:03:04.150,0:03:09.880 has deeply crossed[br]our entire Western culture 0:03:10.560,0:03:14.240 generating two approaches,[br]two ways of thinking 0:03:14.240,0:03:16.440 extremely important for all of us. 0:03:16.440,0:03:18.205 We could not be here now 0:03:18.205,0:03:22.520 if we had not reconsidered[br]the deceptive nature of our senses. 0:03:23.252,0:03:25.080 One approach is science. 0:03:25.960,0:03:27.280 With the scientific method, 0:03:28.240,0:03:32.560 science wants to go beyond the limits[br]of the individual mind, 0:03:32.560,0:03:34.080 the deception of our senses, 0:03:34.080,0:03:35.853 That's why we use a meter. 0:03:35.853,0:03:38.805 If I guess by naked eye,[br]something is five feet meter long, 0:03:39.478,0:03:42.200 I know I can deceive myself,[br]my mind is not that accurate, 0:03:42.720,0:03:44.410 I need to use a tool 0:03:44.410,0:03:47.840 to objectively measure that length. 0:03:48.603,0:03:50.690 This holds true for everything in science. 0:03:51.440,0:03:54.320 We set up models,[br]but we do not trust them. 0:03:54.320,0:03:57.920 We must run experiments,[br]we must take measures 0:03:57.920,0:04:01.280 so that our idea, our fantasy, 0:04:01.280,0:04:05.020 is somehow confirmed[br]by the external reality. 0:04:06.640,0:04:08.130 So the scientific method 0:04:08.130,0:04:10.760 is totally aware[br]of how deceptive our mind is. 0:04:11.700,0:04:14.160 And it doesn't count[br]a single scientist's opinion, 0:04:14.160,0:04:16.160 because she may have made a mistake, 0:04:16.160,0:04:20.279 she might have made experiments,[br]let's say, only in a certain direction. 0:04:20.279,0:04:23.040 Another scientist is needed 0:04:23.040,0:04:25.980 who questions, tries to falsify, 0:04:25.980,0:04:30.109 what the first scientist stated. 0:04:31.200,0:04:34.080 Another discipline[br]that strongly takes into account 0:04:34.080,0:04:36.680 the deceptive nature of our senses 0:04:37.280,0:04:39.560 is Western philosophy. 0:04:40.050,0:04:41.480 There's also the Eastern one, 0:04:41.480,0:04:44.362 but we are more familiar[br]with the Western one. 0:04:44.362,0:04:46.520 Think of Descartes, René Descartes, 0:04:46.520,0:04:50.960 a great French philosopher,[br]one of the fathers of modern thought. 0:04:50.960,0:04:56.200 He starts his philosophical study,[br]his philosophical exploration, 0:04:56.200,0:05:02.600 precisely from the fundamental doubt[br]about the relatability of his senses 0:05:03.320,0:05:08.760 and tried to find[br]a sounder base than his senses, 0:05:08.760,0:05:12.280 one that a philosophical system[br]can later be built upon. 0:05:13.060,0:05:15.600 And so he starts saying[br]"I think therefore I am", 0:05:15.600,0:05:16.610 which is well known. 0:05:17.600,0:05:19.720 You see, science and philosophy, 0:05:19.720,0:05:24.090 and various philosophical approaches[br]that we do not explore now, 0:05:24.090,0:05:27.690 are fully aware of our senses'[br]deluding nature. 0:05:27.690,0:05:29.910 But we, as individuals, 0:05:30.730,0:05:33.320 we rarely ask ourselves during the day: 0:05:33.320,0:05:34.800 am I dreaming or not? 0:05:35.900,0:05:41.040 Instead, we believe[br]in what our senses, all the time, 0:05:41.680,0:05:45.120 make us see, hear, feel, touch. 0:05:48.440,0:05:50.760 But I'd like to stress with you now 0:05:50.760,0:05:55.520 a particular method we can use 0:05:56.440,0:05:58.520 to become more aware 0:05:58.520,0:06:00.920 of our senses' deceptive nature. 0:06:01.960,0:06:04.880 And this happens just while we dream. 0:06:06.000,0:06:08.970 That is, while we are having[br]a normal dream, 0:06:08.980,0:06:11.690 trying to nurture the ability 0:06:11.690,0:06:15.080 to wonder if that is a dream or not. 0:06:16.161,0:06:19.460 Let's assume I'm chased[br]by a nightmare's monster; 0:06:19.460,0:06:25.000 while I'm running away,[br]I contemplate the situation 0:06:25.680,0:06:27.860 and ask myself: is this a dream or not? 0:06:28.960,0:06:30.840 And I turn my face to the monster. 0:06:33.560,0:06:37.620 It is an extremely difficult[br]change of conscience, it is not easy, 0:06:37.620,0:06:40.440 but perhaps some of you[br]will have experienced it. 0:06:40.973,0:06:42.990 Some of you may have had a dream 0:06:42.990,0:06:47.487 where you felt it was a dream[br]and maybe you guided it a little bit. 0:06:48.060,0:06:49.890 Those are called "pre-lucid dreams". 0:06:50.430,0:06:53.480 A lucid dream is an extremely[br]intense experience, 0:06:54.040,0:06:57.880 where we are fully aware[br]of the fact that we are dreaming. 0:06:59.400,0:07:02.840 You see, as a teenager[br]I had that experience 0:07:03.520,0:07:06.480 as I clumsily practiced 0:07:06.480,0:07:09.120 meditation techniques during the day 0:07:09.120,0:07:12.914 and one night I happened[br]to have a lucid dream 0:07:12.914,0:07:15.210 of this extremely intense type, 0:07:16.240,0:07:18.800 which shaped a bit, let's say, 0:07:18.800,0:07:22.480 the way I saw, and still see, 0:07:22.480,0:07:24.560 consciousness and awareness. 0:07:25.700,0:07:27.520 With the first dream then, 0:07:27.520,0:07:30.560 immediately reported[br]on the lucid dreams's book, 0:07:31.240,0:07:35.400 was the first in a series[br]of hundreds and hundreds of lucid dreams 0:07:35.400,0:07:38.690 that I had in my life[br]and still continue to have. 0:07:39.630,0:07:42.040 And they have a great[br]transformative power. 0:07:43.560,0:07:48.040 Initially with the first dreams,[br]you learn a little to play. 0:07:48.040,0:07:49.640 One thing I did, for example, 0:07:49.640,0:07:52.120 was to get up a few inches off the ground. 0:07:52.840,0:07:55.160 So I tried to challenge[br]the laws of physics 0:07:55.800,0:07:58.240 and move from one place to another 0:07:58.240,0:08:02.200 of that extremely detailed[br]dream reality, by sliding. 0:08:03.052,0:08:04.640 But then, why stop at that? 0:08:04.915,0:08:07.080 So in later dreams I elevated myself more, 0:08:08.320,0:08:10.560 and even passed through walls. 0:08:11.540,0:08:14.200 I had the chance to fly over a city, 0:08:14.610,0:08:17.080 to go from one city to another, 0:08:17.520,0:08:19.520 always with extreme realism. 0:08:20.360,0:08:24.960 Meeting people generated for us[br]by our dream world - 0:08:24.960,0:08:27.480 we cannot control the people in the dream, 0:08:27.480,0:08:30.880 they have a strange[br]independence of thought; 0:08:30.880,0:08:32.960 but we can decide to go to them. 0:08:35.558,0:08:38.039 We can transform our body, 0:08:38.568,0:08:41.280 because we have a dream body, 0:08:41.280,0:08:43.280 which is the same one[br]of when we are awake, 0:08:43.960,0:08:46.560 but if we look at our dream hands 0:08:47.240,0:08:51.997 we can transform them, with an effort[br]of lucidity and awareness, 0:08:51.997,0:08:54.600 giving them six or ten fingers, 0:08:55.120,0:08:58.040 or the hands of an animal,[br]to become a wolf. 0:08:58.760,0:09:00.240 One can become an eagle, 0:09:01.080,0:09:03.900 not only to fly but also[br]to have the body of an eagle. 0:09:05.240,0:09:07.345 It is possible to become a dog, 0:09:07.345,0:09:10.280 a woman if you are a man,[br]or the other way around. 0:09:11.410,0:09:14.160 It is possible to be[br]in two places simultaneously, 0:09:15.090,0:09:19.480 being aware of that -[br]and why not, even three places. 0:09:19.480,0:09:22.292 Once it happened to me[br]to be in three different places, 0:09:22.292,0:09:24.270 I was flying in one, walking in another, 0:09:24.270,0:09:26.295 and melted with the floor[br]in the third one. 0:09:27.520,0:09:31.520 Not so pleasant but interesting. 0:09:31.520,0:09:35.960 And anyway, you're in control.[br]You can wake up at any time. 0:09:38.240,0:09:41.000 So, we said about philosophy. 0:09:41.810,0:09:46.650 There are various traces[br]of our awareness' ability 0:09:46.650,0:09:48.520 to move into the world of shadows. 0:09:49.360,0:09:53.680 And the best allegory for this idea[br]is a very famous one 0:09:53.680,0:09:56.720 I am sure that many of you[br]will have heard or studied. 0:09:56.720,0:09:58.880 It is the Plato's Cave, 0:09:58.880,0:10:02.160 or the Allegory of the Cave,[br]as it is also known. 0:10:02.790,0:10:04.720 It's a story, I recapitulate here, 0:10:04.720,0:10:08.280 written by Plato 2,400 years ago[br]in his Republic, 0:10:08.690,0:10:12.760 staged in a cave deep within the Earth. 0:10:13.480,0:10:15.880 There are prisoners in chains 0:10:16.640,0:10:20.600 who are forced to look[br]only at the bottom of the cave, 0:10:21.160,0:10:24.680 with no chance to move or look back. 0:10:25.253,0:10:26.360 That is their world. 0:10:28.250,0:10:30.800 Behind them, unbeknownst to them,[br]there is a huge fire 0:10:31.480,0:10:33.130 and between fire and prisoners 0:10:33.130,0:10:36.080 there are people passing with objects. 0:10:37.600,0:10:40.560 So the prisoners see,[br]at the bottom of the cave. 0:10:40.560,0:10:42.450 a number of moving shadows. 0:10:42.450,0:10:44.000 That is their reality, 0:10:44.560,0:10:47.480 and they therefore believe[br]that this is the only reality. 0:10:48.268,0:10:50.000 Those shadows are all that is there. 0:10:51.720,0:10:53.060 It just so happens, one day, 0:10:53.060,0:10:56.520 one of those prisoners[br]is released from the chains. 0:10:57.200,0:11:02.000 He is able to get out[br]of his limited world. 0:11:02.760,0:11:05.640 The first thing he does,[br]he sees that there is a huge fire 0:11:06.140,0:11:08.920 and he sees there are[br]three-dimensional objects 0:11:08.920,0:11:11.320 he had absolutely no idea of before, 0:11:11.320,0:11:12.880 And he understands that shadows, 0:11:12.880,0:11:15.430 once thought to be[br]the objects of the world, 0:11:15.430,0:11:20.280 are only a projection[br]of the actual three-dimensional reality. 0:11:21.240,0:11:24.000 Then, at a distance, he sees a light, 0:11:24.000,0:11:27.400 which is the entrance to the cave[br]he had lived in until then, 0:11:29.180,0:11:31.430 he goes there, he comes out 0:11:31.430,0:11:34.880 and sees that the world[br]is much more complex 0:11:34.880,0:11:38.280 and very rich, colorful, full of light 0:11:38.280,0:11:41.880 and there is a large fire,[br]much larger than that of the cave, 0:11:41.880,0:11:44.680 which is the sun,[br]which enlightens everything. 0:11:45.680,0:11:49.480 And he can interact with these objects,[br]he can run, he can touch them. 0:11:50.880,0:11:54.800 Awakened as it is - you see,[br]this is a metaphor for awakening - 0:11:56.080,0:11:57.720 but there is another passage, 0:11:57.720,0:11:59.947 which is what also happens[br]in lucid dreaming, 0:11:59.947,0:12:03.830 that is, he decides to get back[br]to the world of shadows. 0:12:03.830,0:12:05.640 He returns down inside the cave 0:12:06.100,0:12:08.610 where his inmates are still prisoners, 0:12:09.240,0:12:11.360 and he wants to tell them 0:12:12.010,0:12:14.960 that the reality of the shadows[br]is not the real reality 0:12:14.960,0:12:18.760 but there is a much more complex reality,[br]much richer, much finer, 0:12:18.760,0:12:20.920 much more true, out there. 0:12:21.710,0:12:25.640 As you can see, allegories[br]describe mental processes, 0:12:25.640,0:12:26.720 just as dreams. 0:12:26.720,0:12:29.960 indeed allegories and dreams overlap,[br]they have a close connection. 0:12:29.960,0:12:31.760 In this allegory of Plato 0:12:31.760,0:12:35.000 there is this mental process of awakening, 0:12:35.430,0:12:37.130 A hard process, 0:12:37.130,0:12:39.320 also because initially[br]it's hard to wake up, 0:12:39.320,0:12:41.360 blinded as we are by light; 0:12:41.360,0:12:44.160 but little by little,[br]we wake up completely. 0:12:44.160,0:12:46.700 But then you see,[br]there's this second passage, 0:12:46.700,0:12:49.070 the return to the world of shadows, 0:12:49.070,0:12:52.806 the return to sleep,[br]the return to the illusory condition 0:12:52.806,0:12:56.360 where we try to interact[br]but from an awakened standpoint. 0:12:56.920,0:13:00.170 So you see how it is like[br]to wake up in a dream. 0:13:02.420,0:13:05.700 Recent neuroscientific research 0:13:05.700,0:13:07.940 has focused on this phenomenon. 0:13:07.940,0:13:10.650 It used to be the exclusive[br]realm of philosophy 0:13:10.650,0:13:13.400 or maybe some anecdote[br]told here and there. 0:13:13.400,0:13:16.230 Then it became a mostly[br]psychological field, 0:13:16.707,0:13:18.950 and now even of neuroscience. 0:13:19.290,0:13:23.200 So what happens[br]in a lucidly dreaming brain? 0:13:24.160,0:13:27.015 Well, the message is this, 0:13:27.015,0:13:29.870 we have a part of the brain[br]that is critically important, 0:13:29.870,0:13:31.909 called the prefrontal cortex, 0:13:31.909,0:13:33.737 the one we have behind the forehead. 0:13:33.737,0:13:35.680 And you can imagine its role 0:13:35.680,0:13:40.650 as a sort of conductor[br]of all of our mental abilities. 0:13:40.650,0:13:42.290 It directs the vision, 0:13:42.290,0:13:45.030 which decides when to pay attention, 0:13:45.030,0:13:48.160 what we must pay attention to[br]in our visual range. 0:13:48.660,0:13:50.200 So the conductor - 0:13:50.200,0:13:53.000 as it doesn’t play an instrument itself 0:13:53.000,0:13:57.240 but regulates, let's say, the productions[br]of all the other instruments. 0:13:58.080,0:14:01.640 Thus it is a kind of boss of our mind. 0:14:02.160,0:14:05.440 That's when we have normal,[br]ordinary dreams, 0:14:05.860,0:14:07.940 the prefrontal cortex is off, 0:14:08.840,0:14:12.040 while the rest of the brain[br]is normally active 0:14:12.040,0:14:13.440 almost as if we were awake. 0:14:14.088,0:14:17.600 So it's a very active brain,[br]but in the prefrontal cortex. 0:14:18.770,0:14:22.200 What has been discovered is,[br]when we have a lucid dream - 0:14:22.200,0:14:25.720 a very rare event,[br]very hard to reproduce in labs, 0:14:26.320,0:14:30.260 prefrontal cortex gets activated, 0:14:30.260,0:14:33.040 not just as completely[br]as if we were awake, 0:14:33.600,0:14:37.960 but in many substantial parts[br]it's more active, consumes more oxygen. 0:14:38.920,0:14:40.010 It was also found, 0:14:40.010,0:14:42.800 those who are most prone to lucid dreaming 0:14:42.800,0:14:46.980 or developed this ability[br]to be conscious in their dreams, 0:14:46.980,0:14:50.000 have a thicker prefrontal cortex, 0:14:50.000,0:14:52.720 we can measure it with an MRI, 0:14:53.440,0:14:56.000 which signals a greater predisposition 0:14:56.000,0:15:00.136 to be the conductor, 0:15:00.136,0:15:03.080 to have an active conductor in their mind. 0:15:03.792,0:15:06.310 Many studies - and many are still ongoing, 0:15:06.310,0:15:08.720 is an extremely recent research topic. 0:15:09.720,0:15:13.600 The prefrontal cortex[br]is my favorite research topic, 0:15:13.600,0:15:15.300 so I started dealing many years ago 0:15:15.300,0:15:19.360 on how the prefrontal cortex[br]regulates and directs our behavior. 0:15:21.210,0:15:24.520 So what can we do, in order to increase 0:15:24.520,0:15:28.600 our ability to be aware[br]while sleeping, in the dream? 0:15:29.290,0:15:32.652 Well one technique is that[br]of asking yourself, even when awake, 0:15:32.652,0:15:34.080 if we are dreaming or not. 0:15:34.080,0:15:37.440 I mean, all of a sudden,[br]am I dreaming or not? 0:15:38.630,0:15:42.000 Asking the question,[br]rather than giving the answer, 0:15:42.880,0:15:44.510 casting some doubt 0:15:44.510,0:15:47.560 on how actually real is what we see. 0:15:48.120,0:15:52.800 If it is our projection[br]or is an objective fact. 0:15:54.040,0:16:00.280 Repeating it several times during the day[br]makes us, say, create a kind of habit. 0:16:01.120,0:16:05.560 And it may happen, one of these times[br]we ask that ourselves, 0:16:05.560,0:16:07.810 that we are actually dreaming. 0:16:08.420,0:16:11.920 And so I'm talking to someone[br]in my dream world, 0:16:12.520,0:16:14.160 and I stop for a moment, saying, 0:16:14.160,0:16:19.160 am I really talking with this person,[br]am I really watching a TED talk 0:16:19.940,0:16:21.640 or is it a dream? 0:16:23.080,0:16:27.000 And try to give youself a valid answer. 0:16:28.360,0:16:31.280 Doing this several times during the day - 0:16:31.800,0:16:35.520 but let me get this straight,[br]not to escape in a dream world! 0:16:35.520,0:16:37.620 Exactly for the opposite purpose: 0:16:37.620,0:16:41.465 enhance awareness, lucidity and presence 0:16:41.465,0:16:43.640 in what we are experiencing. 0:16:44.680,0:16:48.440 By doing so, we can become[br]experienced lucid dreamers. 0:16:48.440,0:16:52.620 And which advantage do we have[br]in our conscious world? 0:16:52.620,0:16:56.520 Think of a situation when you're hit[br]by a negative event: 0:16:56.520,0:16:58.320 for example, you're fired. 0:16:59.040,0:17:00.920 Bad, objectively bad. 0:17:01.520,0:17:07.000 But how much negative projection we create[br]around such an objectively bad event? 0:17:07.760,0:17:11.239 We began to underestimate ourselves:[br]why have they fired me? 0:17:11.239,0:17:14.369 I didn't deserve that job, 0:17:14.369,0:17:18.444 I never showed that I was good at it,[br]or at that other thing, 0:17:18.444,0:17:21.740 I have no more chances left.[br]What will my family think about me? 0:17:22.200,0:17:24.749 All this, you see, is dream-like: 0:17:24.749,0:17:27.800 it is a dream dress 0:17:27.800,0:17:31.080 we put on real and concrete facts. 0:17:31.960,0:17:33.560 Training to lucid dreaming 0:17:33.560,0:17:38.570 helps us to tell objective reality[br]from our projection. 0:17:38.570,0:17:42.363 In this way we can live better. 0:17:42.363,0:17:45.640 Not to escape in a distant world, 0:17:45.640,0:17:47.760 but to be more present in reality. 0:17:48.220,0:17:49.920 Thus getting closer 0:17:49.920,0:17:53.920 to the freed prisoner of Plato's Cave 0:17:53.920,0:17:58.240 and be able to go around,[br]out in the outside world, 0:17:58.240,0:17:59.320 in light of the sun, 0:17:59.320,0:18:04.560 or even return to the world of shadows[br]and not let them to capture us again. 0:18:05.320,0:18:11.029 So I say goodbye to you with a wish[br]for a good awakening in dreams. 0:18:11.029,0:18:15.428 (Applause)