Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Imagine yourself transported away to a realm where the standard rules of reality no longer
00:05apply, and where every sensation and experience is completely alien.
00:10You've just pictured a standard trip to the surgeon's room.
00:13With the power of modern medicine, we've for decades been able to put patients into states
00:17of deep unconsciousness, temporarily disconnecting them from the world, thanks to anesthesia.
00:23One curious follow-on notion, though, is that this apparent disconnection could be akin
00:28to stepping into a wholly new plane of reality.
00:31Just as with dreams during our regularly sleeping hours, there's something that happens here
00:36to our brains, to our person, or to our essence, that changes everything.
00:42So much so that even the wildest claims perhaps aren't quite as far-fetched as they seem.
00:48This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question,
00:52Do we enter a parallel universe during surgery?
00:55Do you need the big questions answered?
00:57Are you constantly curious?
00:59Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
01:02And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
01:05As we know, the concept of parallel universes, also known as the multiverse theory, is one
01:10of modern science's most intriguing topics.
01:13At a base level, it suggests that our universe is one of many amidst a vast, potentially
01:18infinite sea of other universes, which all exist alongside or parallel to us.
01:24Each other universe could possess unique laws of physics, different constants, and in some
01:29versions of the theory, perhaps even variations of ourselves.
01:33One of the most prominent versions is the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics,
01:37which claims that every single quantum event creates a split in reality, with each possible
01:43outcome happening in its own branched-off universe.
01:46So after almost every single event imaginable, this kind of multiverse will grow in order
01:51to contain every single outcome that has ever been able to happen.
01:56Another leading explanation as to how parallel worlds could work comes from string theory.
02:00String theory is a well-known contender for a unifying theory of everything, aiming as
02:05it does to consolidate quantum mechanics with general relativity, and thereby to crack quantum
02:10gravity.
02:11It works by saying that at the bottom-most layer, all fundamental particles are actually
02:16tiny, vibrating strings.
02:18The frequency at which those strings vibrate is then what determines what a particle will
02:22be.
02:23From the point of view of a multiverse, string theory takes us there via what's known as
02:27the string theory landscape, a wide-reaching map of potential vacuum states which all could
02:33serve to again create different physical laws and constants.
02:37Finally, there's the concept of brains, short for membranes, to consider.
02:42These are fundamental to certain varieties of string theory, particularly M-theory.
02:47In short, and while our everyday lives are limited to three dimensions, brains can be
02:52multidimensional.
02:54For example, a one-dimensional brain is a string, and a three-dimensional brain could
02:58be the universe.
03:00But M-theory asks what if we go higher?
03:03What if the brains that make us can extend up to eleven dimensions in total?
03:08It would mean that our reality would really only ever be a 3D brain embedded in a higher-dimensional
03:14space, with effective parallel universes existing in or on the higher levels.
03:20It's all pretty mind-bending, so how do we get from here to the hospital operating room
03:24and surgery?
03:26The possible, or probable, bridge comes via another growing and increasingly exciting
03:30field of research, the true nature of consciousness.
03:33In simple terms, consciousness is the state of being aware of, and able to think about,
03:38one's own existence and surroundings.
03:41It's a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human.
03:44But as things stand, we have no real grasp as to how we develop consciousness.
03:49It isn't just there by magic, but it's also extremely difficult to trace, quantify, measure,
03:55to understand.
03:56The human brain in general contains an average of 86 billion neurons, and is undoubtedly
04:01one of science's biggest mysteries.
04:04But according to most theories, it's through the brain that we must sift if we ever hope
04:08to solve consciousness.
04:09If consciousness is a physical product, which many believe it is, then the brain is what
04:14holds the key, and increasingly complicated studies are ongoing.
04:18For others, though, there's reason to think that actually consciousness isn't dependent
04:22on our brains.
04:23It's thought, instead, that it exists independently of our bodies, more like a universal energy
04:29than an individual product.
04:31Others then even wonder whether all matter could have some form of sentience, or the
04:36potential for it, at least.
04:37And it's more so along these paths that we might forge a link between undergoing surgery
04:42and visiting other realms.
04:44Because if nothing else, we do know that consciousness isn't a static state.
04:48We know that it can be changed via external factors, such as by a person falling asleep,
04:53or by them taking certain substances, or during a near-death experience.
04:58Arguably, though, nothing alters our brains quite so intensely or reliably as anesthesia
05:03during surgery does.
05:05On a practical level, what's known as general anesthesia, rather than local or regional,
05:10is administered to ensure the total loss of consciousness and sensation during an operation.
05:15Its name, from Greek, literally means, without sensation.
05:19Take it away, and surgery would be hellish and impossible.
05:23But thanks to the controlled state of unconsciousness that it delivers, surgeons can freely cut
05:28into our bodies to combat what ails us.
05:31Anesthesia works by interfering with our brain's ability to process sensory input and
05:35create memories.
05:37Key signals that are usually passed to the brain all the time are stopped.
05:41The neural activity responsible for that, to some degree the activity that's responsible
05:46for consciousness, becomes suppressed.
05:49The patient is entirely disconnected from external stimuli.
05:52They are in a completely altered state.
05:55Barring any issues, they're put to sleep.
05:57And it's as though they never existed on the operating table at all.
06:01These conditions, while common in terms of how often anesthesia is used worldwide, are
06:06typically uncommon for the person being anesthetized.
06:10For most people, having major surgery isn't a regular thing.
06:13Nevertheless, it's well known that anesthesia can induce some highly surreal experiences.
06:19Patients are often completely unaware of the passage of time.
06:22They rarely have any memory of any stage of the procedure they've had.
06:25They often recall having the strangest dreams.
06:28For the brief period that it's working on your body, it's as though it transforms your
06:32brain into something else altogether.
06:34And ultimately, even now, anesthesia affects our brains in many ways that we just don't
06:40completely understand.
06:41Generally, in mainstream science and philosophy, the idea of being transported to another dimension
06:47by altering consciousness is not accepted.
06:50But on the edges of conventional thought, there are rumblings.
06:53Such as with simulation theory, which suggests that reality is an entirely artificial construct
06:58– a simulation run by higher powers.
07:02In some tellings, our brains then double up as a kind of signal tower connecting us to
07:07that wider, higher structure.
07:08So, for sim theorists, perhaps anesthesia is enough to scramble those signals and offer
07:14a glimpse into realms that we can't usually see.
07:17Perhaps it opens up glitches in the simulation.
07:19On the opposite end of the scale, however, there's phenomenalism, which claims that
07:23physical objects are only ever defined in terms of sensory experiences.
07:28If this is the case, then altered states of consciousness – such as going under for
07:32surgery – are, more simply, different ways of perceiving a reality that is already there.
07:37There is no parallel worlds, exactly, but there is what we can usually experience, and
07:42what we can't.
07:43In this sense, perhaps anesthesia is more like a veil-lifter for our senses, with all
07:48the strangeness that comes with it actually being a series of revelations as to what has
07:53always been there or possible in our minds.
07:56All in all, there are a number of ways to look at the title question.
08:00First, if the many worlds interpretation is considered true, then we certainly do enter
08:05a parallel universe during surgery.
08:07Almost by default, in the same way as we enter them when we make most decisions in our lives.
08:12But such a phenomenon wouldn't be exclusive to surgery, and it doesn't imply anything
08:16special for our brains under anesthesia.
08:19On the other hand, with a multiverse model that's more in line with string theory landscape,
08:24parallel worlds via surgery aren't really possible.
08:28This is a framework where universes exist beyond our own, yes, but there are no suggestions
08:33that altered consciousness could ever transport us to them.
08:36String theory landscape, and others like it, is a cosmological approach, and therefore
08:40doesn't relate to individual experiences.
08:43Nor does it afford any one person anywhere near as much significance or power to just
08:48travel through the multiverse at will.
08:50Brain theory is similar.
08:52Nevertheless, there is still so much about consciousness that we don't understand.
08:56And if it is, in whatever way, connected up at a higher point, so that individual consciousness
09:01gives way to some other, greater state… then really, anything that rewrites consciousness
09:06in the here and now could arguably offer something new.
09:10Anesthesia for surgery is an interesting thought.
09:12There's no proof that it does open any kind of existential doorway, but it clearly messes
09:17with our minds more than most other things.
09:20And in all the unique confusion it can cause, some will always wonder.
09:25What do you think?
09:26Is there anything we missed?
09:27Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
09:31subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.