5 ms·

It feels like since we evolved under conditions of sleeping for a third of our lives, there are probably lots of other biological mechanisms that depend on slee

It feels like since we evolved under conditions of sleeping for a third of our lives, there are probably lots of other biological mechanisms that depend on sleep happening to work.

marincounty 11y ago
I've wondered about that for years. I've always felt the body/mind heals/repairs itself during sleep. It's too bad our economic society doesn't value sleep? Never understood having to arrive at most jobs before 10 a.m. I've had so many jobs that want employees there the job site at 7 a.m.? I show up, but I'm not truly working until afer 10 a.m., and I'm not the only one? Then again--I have honestly never been a morning person.
- vectorjohn 11y ago
  Seems like a different issue. Nothing about the start time says anything about how much sleep you get. On the other hand people sleep better in the dark so if your start time implies you're going to bed when it's light out it could cause problems. Unless you use a prosthetic night (curtains).
  - developer1 11y ago
    >> On the other hand people sleep better in the dark I don't understand how people manage this. I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes if I lie down while the Sun is up in the morning, and stay solidly asleep until an appropriate number of hours have passed. Going to bed in the dark, I can toss and turn for anywhere from 30-120 minutes before finally dozing off. Night owlism is real, and it's seriously debilitating to be required to conform to working a 9-5/10-6 job. It's Friday night, so I get to live my weekend hours. It's 2:30am now, and I'll be up another few hours. Whenever I am on vacation, or between jobs, I instantly swap to a nocturnal schedule. It is extremely painful to have to work during the day, to the point where I burn out after 12-18 months at a job. For the first time in a decade, I've almost made it 2 years at a single employer. That time is running out. I need a reversion back to my normal hours for a while. :(
FatalLogic 11y ago
Your comment made me think that maybe: excess sleep is a wonderful survival strategy for an individual (stay out of danger, and conserve energy), but a disastrous strategy for long term development of a species (everyone sleeps in a cave for half the day, learns nothing, make no progress, fail to evolve faster than competing species that spend more time awake)
- pbh101 11y ago
  Funny, it struck me the opposite way: individually prone and helpless for 8 hours a day, vs being in a community where one is theoretically protected.
- matznerd 11y ago
  The brain only conserves 15–25% [1] of energy during sleep and does not appear to be a reason sleep evolved. It seems that the pressure between the cerebral spinal fluid and the interstitial fluid cannot build up to the required level while the brain is awake and fully active. [1] http://jap.physiology.org/content/70/6/2597 http://jap.physiology.org/content/70/6/2597
  - eloff 11y ago
    He's not talking about the brain conserving energy (the brain doesn't use that much energy anyway) but rather the organism as a whole by not performing other physical activity (e.g. an early human looking for food during the night when the African predators are active.)
    - AnimalMuppet 11y ago
      Well, IIRC the brain receives 25% of the body's blood flow. I think that means it's using a lot of energy (but I'm not a doctor, or a physiologist, or a biologist...)
      - redcalx 11y ago
        The figure I've seen is 20%. If you burn about 2000 calories a day that works out at about 97 watts on average. 20% of that is about 19 watts. Bit more detail here: http://heliosphan.org/bodyfatenergy.html http://heliosphan.org/bodyfatenergy.html

It feels like since we evolved under conditions of sleeping for a third of our lives, there are probably lots of other biological mechanisms that depend on sleep happening to work.

marincounty 11y ago

I've wondered about that for years. I've always felt the body/mind heals/repairs itself during sleep. It's too bad our economic society doesn't value sleep? Never understood having to arrive at most jobs before 10 a.m. I've had so many jobs that want employees there the job site at 7 a.m.? I show up, but I'm not truly working until afer 10 a.m., and I'm not the only one? Then again--I have honestly never been a morning person.

vectorjohn 11y ago
Seems like a different issue. Nothing about the start time says anything about how much sleep you get. On the other hand people sleep better in the dark so if your start time implies you're going to bed when it's light out it could cause problems. Unless you use a prosthetic night (curtains).
- developer1 11y ago
  >> On the other hand people sleep better in the dark I don't understand how people manage this. I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes if I lie down while the Sun is up in the morning, and stay solidly asleep until an appropriate number of hours have passed. Going to bed in the dark, I can toss and turn for anywhere from 30-120 minutes before finally dozing off. Night owlism is real, and it's seriously debilitating to be required to conform to working a 9-5/10-6 job. It's Friday night, so I get to live my weekend hours. It's 2:30am now, and I'll be up another few hours. Whenever I am on vacation, or between jobs, I instantly swap to a nocturnal schedule. It is extremely painful to have to work during the day, to the point where I burn out after 12-18 months at a job. For the first time in a decade, I've almost made it 2 years at a single employer. That time is running out. I need a reversion back to my normal hours for a while. :(

FatalLogic 11y ago

Your comment made me think that maybe: excess sleep is a wonderful survival strategy for an individual (stay out of danger, and conserve energy), but a disastrous strategy for long term development of a species (everyone sleeps in a cave for half the day, learns nothing, make no progress, fail to evolve faster than competing species that spend more time awake)

pbh101 11y ago
Funny, it struck me the opposite way: individually prone and helpless for 8 hours a day, vs being in a community where one is theoretically protected.
matznerd 11y ago
The brain only conserves 15–25% [1] of energy during sleep and does not appear to be a reason sleep evolved. It seems that the pressure between the cerebral spinal fluid and the interstitial fluid cannot build up to the required level while the brain is awake and fully active. [1] http://jap.physiology.org/content/70/6/2597 http://jap.physiology.org/content/70/6/2597
- eloff 11y ago
  He's not talking about the brain conserving energy (the brain doesn't use that much energy anyway) but rather the organism as a whole by not performing other physical activity (e.g. an early human looking for food during the night when the African predators are active.)
  - AnimalMuppet 11y ago
    Well, IIRC the brain receives 25% of the body's blood flow. I think that means it's using a lot of energy (but I'm not a doctor, or a physiologist, or a biologist...)
    - redcalx 11y ago
      The figure I've seen is 20%. If you burn about 2000 calories a day that works out at about 97 watts on average. 20% of that is about 19 watts. Bit more detail here: http://heliosphan.org/bodyfatenergy.html http://heliosphan.org/bodyfatenergy.html