《盗梦空间》：深入梦境背后的科学真相

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a dream snatcher. He's an industrial spy, who steals secrets when his victims are at their most defenceless: when they are asleep, and dreaming. But he has an even rarer ability, that of inception. He can plant an idea in someone's sleeping mind, and watch it grow and take root in reality. "The most resilient parasite is an idea," he says.

身为工业间谍的多姆·科布（Dom Cobb：莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥饰）是一位掠梦者，他以窃密为生，当受害者们处在毫无防备的梦境之中时，他最好的下手时机就出现了。除了能进入他人的梦境之外，科布还拥有一项更为罕见的本领，即奠基（inception），他可以将一段意识植入他人的梦境之中，并看着它慢慢发展，扎根于现实。“最顽固的寄生物莫过于一段意念，”这是多姆·科布在《盗梦空间》中对我们的谆谆教诲。

Inception is a complex sci-fi thriller that lies somewhere between a James Bond film and The Matrix. Many of the film's themes are often covered in New Scientist, so we have assembled a spoiler-free guide to the science of the movie, and all you need to know about dreams and the unconscious mind.

《盗梦空间》是一部情节复杂的科幻惊悚片，其剧情介于007系列电影和《骇客帝国》之间。电影中的很多主题在《新科学家》中都曾经出现过，因此我们将这些话题集中起来，制作了一篇无剧透的观影指南，以深入剖析《盗梦空间》中的科学事实，让广大读者对梦境以及潜意识有所了解。

Is it possible to directly access someone's dreaming mind?

有可能直接进入他人的梦境之中吗？

In the movie, the dream-snatchers use a drug called somnacin and a dream machine to upload a scenario into someone's sleeping mind. One or more of them then go to sleep themselves, hooked up to the machine, and enter the target's dream.

在《盗梦空间》中，捕梦者们使用一种叫做自动梦素（somnacin）的药物和一台盗梦机器将情境上传到他人的梦境之中，然后若干名连入机器的捕梦者也进入梦乡，进入对方的梦中。

This fictional dream machine is called a Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous (PASIV) Device.

这种虚幻的盗梦机器被称为便携式自动梦素静脉注射（PASIV：Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous）装置。

A device does already exist that can effectively read someone's mind. A functional MRI scanner takes snapshots of brain activity, and then the software recreates images of what the subject was looking at.

实际上，这样可以读取他人思想的装置已经被发明了出来，它就是核磁共振扫描仪（MRI scanner），这种仪器可以抓拍脑部活动的照片，然后再通过某种软件就可以将受试者所看到的图像还原出来。

The researchers say it has the potential one day be able to record someone's dream - without the mess and danger (or the fun) of actually sharing that dream.

研究者们表示，有朝一日可以利用这种技术对受试者的梦境进行记录，完全不需要像电影中那样去共享梦境，搞得即麻烦又危险（或者说是滑稽）。

Using drugs like somnacin to access a sleeping mind is not possible, but there are drugs that can drastically modulate our sleep. These include modafinal, which can promote continuous wakefulness, and new classes of sleeping pills that can deliver "super sleep".

利用自动梦素这样的药物来进入梦境并无可能，但有些药物的确可以对我们睡眠进行调解，例如莫达非尼（modafinal）就可以使人一直保持清醒状态，还有一些新型安眠药会让人进入“超级睡眠”。

How can I control my dreams?

怎样才能控制自己的梦境？

The easiest way to experience a lucid dream is to train yourself to ask, "Am I dreaming?" while you are asleep. Keen video gamers, probably because they focus on a single task for hours per day, are particularly good at lucid dreaming.

要经历清醒梦（lucid dream）最简单的办法莫过于训练自己在入睡时对自己发问说，“我正在做梦吗？”一些狂热的视频游戏迷们特别擅长做这种清醒梦，因为他们经常一整天都在集中精力去完成某个游戏任务。

The dream team of Inception is highly trained at this, which may be why they are able to perform complex tasks - such as reading - which most normal lucid dreamers find difficult. Some of the characters in the movie have also militarised their dreamscapes, to protect themselves against the invasive dream snatchers.

《盗梦空间》中的捕梦团队特别精于此道，他们在接受高级训练以后可以完成很复杂的任务，比如在梦中阅读，对于一般的清醒梦者来说这就很难做到。电影中的某些角色还能在梦境中构筑防御，防止自己的梦境被其他捕梦者入侵。

Do dreams have to obey the laws of physics?

梦境中的一切必须遵守物理法则吗？

This is a fondly debated topic, and Inception has it both ways. Sometimes impossible things happen - in one dream Paris gets folded like a huge sheet of paper - and optical illusions become "real". The endless staircases created by M. C. Escher, for example, exist in Inception dreams thanks to a manipulation something like that occurring in 3D virtual environments.

这是个颇为值得一辩的话题，《盗梦空间》对正反两种情况都有所展示。电影中会展示一些不可思议的事情，比如在某一段梦境中，巴黎就像一张巨大的纸张一般折叠了起来；而且某些光学幻象还会变得“真实”起来，例如在《盗梦空间》中就出现了M.C.埃舍尔（M. C. Escher）创作的无限楼梯，它就是利用在三维虚拟环境下的操作方式实现的。

However, the dreams follow some "real life" rules. As writer and producer Jeff Warren wrote about his own dream investigations: Without sensory input, consciousness appears to behave in predictable ways. Informal laws can be deduced, for example, the "law of self-fulfilling expectations" (what you expect to happen will happen) the "law of narrative momentum" (linger too long in one place and the dream world begins to fray).

但是，梦境也会遵循一些“现实生活”规则。身为作家兼制片人的杰夫·沃伦（Jeff Warren）就曾在一份梦境调查报告中这样写到：在没有感官输入时，意识似乎以某些可预测的方式在运作。梦境可以演绎出一些非正式的定律，如“自我实现预期定律（law of self-fulfilling expectations）”（你期望发生的事情发生了）和“叙事动力定律（law of narrative momentum）”（在某个地方徘徊太长时间，梦境就会开始变得焦躁）。

In Inception, the dream world "frays" when external influences from the real world intrude.

在《盗梦空间》中，当来自现实世界的外在影响侵入时，梦境就会“焦躁”起来。

What is the function of dreams?

梦的功能是什么？

Freud thought that dreams expressed our repressed desires. And so they do, sometimes, but much modern research suggests that dreams help in information processing and memory storage.

弗洛伊德认为梦是我们表达压抑欲望的方式之一，在某些时候，梦的确行使了这样的功能，但越来越多的现代研究表明，梦境还会有助于信息加工和记忆存储。

Dreams occur in both rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, and non-REM sleep. REM dreams are more story-like, with emotion and aggression, and non-REM dreams often involve friendly social interactions. People with depression often experience more REM sleep than non-depressed people.

在快速眼动（REM）睡眠期和非快速眼动睡眠期都会有梦境生成。快速眼动睡眠期的梦境更有故事情节，充满了感情和冲突；而非快速眼动睡眠期的梦境通常只会涉及友善的社交互动。那些情绪沮丧的人通常会经历更多的快速眼动睡眠期。

How does subjective time pass in a dream?

梦境中的主观时间是如何流逝的？

In Inception, dream time runs much slower than real time, and there is a scaling effect, such that if you dream within a dream, time passes even more slowly. So 5 minutes of real time equals 1 hour of dream time, a 5-minute dream inside a dream equals one week of second-level dream time, and so on.

在《盗梦空间》中，梦境中的时间比现实世界要慢得多，而且这里还存在一个尺度效应（scaling effect），即如果你在梦中做梦，时间流逝的速度会更慢。原本五分钟的现实时间等于一小时的梦境时间，而五分钟的梦境时间又和二级梦境中的一个礼拜时间相当，如此类推。

This is perhaps the cleverest part of the movie, but though intuitively pleasing, there is little evidence for it. In fact there is some evidence that in lucid dreams, at least, the perception of time in similar to that when the dreamer is awake.

这一点应该算是这部电影的最高明之处，但是除了惊叹于电影精巧的构思之外，似乎并没有太多的现实证据证明这一点。实际上，至少在清醒梦中研究者们已经发现了一些证据，当做梦者处于意识清醒状态时，对时间的认知的确会发生类似的变化。

A more pressing question for researchers is what happens when our brain's time perception goes faulty. In fact, the illusion of time may be created by the brain itself, which is at least as much of a head-scratcher as the plot of Inception.

对研究者们来说，一个更为紧迫的问题在于：当我们大脑的时间感知变得不正确时，究竟我们的脑子里发生了什么。实际上，虽然时间幻觉是大脑自身产生的，但正如《盗梦空间》的情节一样，这种幻觉也是个令科学家感到费解的难题。