Six weeks into the resonance trials, we have enough data to draw some preliminary conclusions.
Overall Statistics
- 17 pairs participating
- 2 pairs dropped out (cited inability to remember dreams consistently)
- 15 pairs with usable data
- 247 documented attempts total
Success Categories
I've sorted results into four categories:
No Contact - Partners report completely independent dreams, no shared elements
- 6 pairs fall primarily in this category
- 112 attempts total
- 0 successful transmissions
Vague Overlap - Some shared elements (settings, feelings, themes) but no specific information transmitted
- 5 pairs fall primarily in this category
- 78 attempts total
- 3 possible transmissions (could be coincidence)
Partial Success - Clear shared experiences, some specific information transmitted but not consistently
- 2 pairs fall primarily in this category
- 31 attempts total
- 12 confirmed transmissions
High Success - Consistent shared experiences, reliable information transmission
- 2 pairs fall primarily in this category
- 26 attempts total
- 19 confirmed transmissions
(Harlan and I are in a separate category - 24/24 successful transmissions, but we have months of practice and obvious confounding factors.)
The Pattern
Here's what's interesting: success correlates strongly with pre-existing relationship.
The two high-success pairs are Martin/Lily (romantic partners) and Noel/Oscar (close friends who have spent many hours in deep conversation). The partial-success pairs also knew each other moderately well before the experiment.
The no-contact pairs were mostly strangers matched through the experiment.
What Does This Mean?
I think there's something like "mental synchronization" - a quality of attunement between minds that develops through deep familiarity. When two people have synchronized sufficiently, their dreams can merge. When they haven't, they remain separate.
This makes intuitive sense. Dreams are profoundly personal experiences. To share a dream, you might need to share something of yourself first - to build bridges between your inner worlds before you can visit the same place.
Implications
If synchronization is the key, that has important implications for our larger project:
Random pairs of forum members probably can't share dreams reliably. Deep relationship is required.
The seven of us who've been most active - we've been building synchronization through months of intense discussion. That might be why some of us can already share dreams.
To achieve larger group meetings in Ethel, we might need to become even more synchronized. Spend more time together. Know each other more deeply.
Thoughts welcome. I'll continue compiling data as the trials proceed.