Jonathan Frost

We have scarcely begun to understand how our minds work or what function the subconscious has in human existence. There is a lot of frankly, bizarre hypothetical theories related to dreams: the driver of human emotions, of subconscious impulses and motivations, but honestly? Who really knows? I’m no psychotherapist or oneirologist, but I am an evolved human, and dreams play an important role in my novel Dreams of Eden.

One of the main protagonists, Isaac Goldman, is plagued by dreams, visions and voices in his head. These manifestations are a nightmare that has haunted his subconscious since childhood. He gradually becomes aware that these dreams are a connection to a past life and a harrowing vision of the future. They are also a communication link to other entities that exist invisibly alongside us and within the subconscious of the chosen. He discovers he is living a dual existence.

Dreams of Eden considers the possibility that among the other eight and half million forms of life with whom we share our planet, (Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot), there may be others. Why ignore the possibility, that other sentient life forms may exist, other extraterrestrial entities living unseen, unsuspected, in a parallel world along side us. The survival of this planet is as important to them as it should be to us. But why are we unaware of their existence? I’ll try and answer that. Humans have a limited visible spectrum, our senses dulled by our addiction to technology. We are constructing a human centric reality driven by AI algorithms; humans are becoming disconnected from the natural world, from our own planet, cutting ourselves off from the wonders of the Universe. If we can’t see it, how can we know it’s there? But as Aldous Huxley said, “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored” (Complete Essays Vol 2: 1926 -1929) Or, to paraphrase, life does not cease to exist simply because we cannot see it. Consider string theory, multiverses or as Stephen Hawking suggested, “…Einstein’s general theory of relativity  allows the possibility that we could warp space time…”

My other protagonist Elizabeth Fallon is an astrobiologist working for SETI. She leads a team of astronomers searching for evidence of life on other planets, a confirmation of Frank Drake’s prophetic equation. Think about this:

‘Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from somewhere to save us from ourselves…’ Carl Sagan, The Pale Blue Dot.

Our Galaxy is 13 billion years old. It is estimated that there are 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. There are approximately 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, that’s 100 billion suns. Currently, astronomers have identified over 5,000 exoplanets in the Milky Way alone, and new discoveries are happening every day. These exoplanets are those in orbit within the Goldilocks zone of the host star and are capable of supporting some form of life – not human life, probably life not recognisable to us, but nevertheless, life. Is that ‘life’ intelligent, capable of communication? Does that intelligent, extraterrestrial life form have the technology capable of interstellar travel?

You’ll have to read Dreams of Eden to find out.

Next time you go for a late night stroll with or without the dog, and the light pollution doesn’t obscure the sky, look up at the stars. As you gaze up in wonder, you are staring up at the past, our past, because many of those stars are no longer there. The light you see, has taken hundreds if not thousands of light years to arrive. In about 5 billion years, our own sun will become a White Dwarf. Astronomers on distant planets, located in star systems light years away from the lonely pixel we call home, may notice a distant flash in the cosmos.