Could our waking conscious experience be an extension of primitive REM sleep? Imagine primitive species with really basic neural circuitry that respond to a stimuli, then re-engage that circuity during a restful state to consolidate that response and make it more efficient next time. It would be advantageous in this case to engage that circuity without actually performing the action, in a similar way to REM. Maybe simulating the environment was such an advantage that animals spending more time in a 'simulated' state were selected. Fast forward millions of years... we spend the majority of our time in this simulated 'REM-like' state?
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Could our waking conscious experience be an extension of primitive REM sleep? Imagine primitive species with really basic neural circuitry that respond to a stimuli, then re-engage that circuity during a restful state to consolidate that response and make it more efficient next time. It would be advantageous in this case to engage that circuity without actually performing the action, in a similar way to REM. Maybe simulating the environment was such an advantage that animals spending more time in a 'simulated' state were selected. Fast forward millions of years... we spend the majority of our time in this simulated 'REM-like' state?
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