10 ms·
Good sleep, good learning, good life
- sivers 17y agoI love this guy. Great article about him here: http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_woznia... See his apology at the bottom of http://www.supermemo.com/english/company/wozniak.htm http://www.supermemo.com/english/company/wozniak.htm
- michael_nielsen 17y agoThe apology is strange. It seems predicated on a false notion of efficiency, assuming that somehow one's interactions with other people can be "efficient" in the same sense as one's interactions with a book. But that's not at all true. I am reminded of Freeman Dyson's comment soon after he met Feynman: "Feynman is a man whose ideas are as difficult to make contact with as Bethe's are easy; for this reason I have so far learnt much more from Bethe, but I think if stayed here much longer I should begin to find it was Feynman with whom I was working more." More generally, working with and learning from other people requires dealing with all sorts of "inefficiencies"; they're not optional. But if you're working with the right people, those inefficiencies are more than compensated for in other ways.
- Luc 17y ago> working with and learning from other people requires dealing with all sorts of "inefficiencies"; they're not optional. I don't think he's all that interested in working with other people. In other words, he's not seeking to optimize his relationship with other people so much as he is finding a convenient excuse for not seeing other people at all.
- jamesbritt 17y ago"In other words, he's not seeking to optimize his relationship with other people so much as he is finding a convenient excuse for not seeing other people at all." Which is sort of foolish. A big problem with being hyper efficient and blocking out assorted noise and distraction is that you end up filtering out serendipity. You become very efficient at some local maxima. If nothing else you risk missing out on learning about some new, better way to be efficient, but mostly you miss out on the weird random stuff that comes from the odd conversation with people. It's like people who only listen to [right|left]-wing radio or follow [right|left]-wing Web sites. You get really good at reinforcing the same beliefs and attitudes. (Same is true for people who stop paying attention to new other programming languages and paradigms.) I've reduced the number of local gatherings and general conferences I attend because of, overall, a poor return on the time invested vs tasks I want to complete, but don't want to become a hermit altogether because at the better gatherings there's a reasonable chance I'll learn about something interesting out of the blue.
- Luc 17y ago> Which is sort of foolish. A big problem with being hyper efficient I think you're defining a metric by which your life is a success, but I'm sure you'll agree other people can be aware of this and still have other goals. This person probably doesn't need to work for a living (passive income from his software), so he can afford not following your otherwise quite sensible rules about serendipity. He can dig deep into a narrow subject, which may end up bringing him more satisfaction than aspiring to be something of a Renaissance man. He doesn't have to be all HackerNewsy, entrepreneurial etc. Besides, let him be a hermit if he wants to. It's kind of comforting to know that there is no high score or awards ceremony at the end of our lives. Local maxima don't sound so bad.
- Mz 17y agoI actually like his apology. It resonates with how I have been living of late. I don't expect to do things exactly like I this "forever", but if you have a serious goal, it can be extremely effective (and even necessary) to cut out distractions and refuse to participate in social expectations that you have realized add little or nothing of value but take away a lot from you in terms of time, energy, mental distraction and so forth. I also like this bit from the article and very much identify with the sentiment he expresses: Bundled up in parkas with fur-trimmed hoods, strolling hand in mittened hand along the edge of the Baltic Sea, off-season tourists from Germany stop openmouthed when they see a tall, well-built, nearly naked man running up and down the sand. "Kalt? Kalt?" one of them calls out. The man gives a polite but vague answer, then turns and dives into the waves. After swimming back and forth in the 40-degree water for a few minutes, he emerges from the surf and jogs briefly along the shore. The wind is strong, but the man makes no move to get dressed. Passersby continue to comment and stare. "This is one of the reasons I prefer anonymity," he tells me in English. "You do something even slightly out of the ordinary and it causes a sensation."
- goodside 17y agoDisclaimer: I'm not a doctor, a neurologist, or an endocrinologist. I'm in no way qualified to be talking about this. I have a fairly severe form of delayed sleep-phase syndrome: left to my own devices, as when I was on summer vacation back in school, I would gladly stay awake for 24 hours and sleep for 12. I've long noticed anecdotally this pattern is associated with geeks. Ask yourself: if a 6:00 AM Twitter update says your geekiest friend is waiting for his code to compile, is it because he woke up early or because he hasn't been to bed yet? It turns out there's a reason for this. There's a gene called the ASMT gene, which codes for enzymes responsible (in part) for the synthesis of melatonin from serotonin in the pineal gland. This gene is often deleted in individuals with autism or Aspergers syndrome, which results in extremely low levels of serum melatonin. The effect is so strong that even family members of autistic children, even those not themselves diagnosed with autism or Aspergers, have been shown to have abnormally depressed melatonin levels. More information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2199264/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2199264/ Melatonin is one of the biggest chemical regulators of the sleep cycle in humans, and increased melatonin at night has been shown experimentally to reduce the time of sleep onset. I'm not aware of any studies comparing the effect size between autistic/Aspergers patients and healthy controls, but it stands to reason that the former group might stand more to gain. I've personally experienced tremendous benefit in my sleep patterns from taking melatonin. I spent my entire teenage life showing up to classes in a sleep-deprived haze because I wasn't aware of this. Hopefully I can save someone else from that. Now, for the catch: We have no idea why Aspergers symptoms are associated with reduced melatonin synthesis. Melatonin is a regulator of neural plasticity during fetal and early childhood brain development. Melatonin is synthesized from serotonin, and serotonin levels at various stages of development are drastically different in autistics/Aspergers compared to healthy children. We don't know to what extent these are causes or effects of autistic symptoms, and what effect there might be on development from long-term melatonin supplementation during early childhood. However, in healthy adults, the safety of long-term melatonin use, even at doses many dozens of times higher than the maximum clinically effective dose, has been shown to be completely safe. How you generalize from that is up to you.
- Mz 17y agoI've personally experienced tremendous benefit in my sleep patterns from taking melatonin. I did better with taking co-q-10 in the morning. For a long time, I couldn't tolerate melatonin. I would feel like I wasn't fully awake for up to three days after taking it. When my health improved enough that I could tolerate it, I still needed co-q-10 in the morning to feel fully awake. Co-q-10 is the co-enzyme of melatonin and wakes your brain up in the morning. It is made in the body in a complex (17 step?) process. A bottleneck at any stage can leave you deficient, so many people are deficient. If you take co-q-10 in the morning, your body will produce a small melatonin spike about 12 or so hours later. If you take melatonin, it does not increase production of co-q-10. So taking co-q-10 can do a lot more in terms of healing both sides of waking/sleeping cycle of the brain chemistry. It is also gentler/subtler than melatonin. Lots of people use melatonin to good effect, so I'm not trying to knock it. Just trying to expand on the topic of nutritional supplements and brain chemistry wrt the waking/sleeping cycle. Thanks for bringing this up. :-)
- kiba 17y agoHigh school students like me, unfortunately do not have means to get the necessary good sleep that everyone needs. The school system will continue to impose this miserable condition on us.
- epochwolf 17y agoJust wait until you do regular 8 hours shifts at a warehouse. School will seem like a pleasant dream you were rudely awakened from.
- Xichekolas 17y agoWhile the 8 hrs of just about any manual labor job is much more work than 8 hrs at school, at least you don't have to worry about it when you go home. I worked several manual labor jobs during summer breaks in high school, and the freedom to think about whatever you wanted at night (instead of homework or activities) was at least mentally liberating, even if I was dead tired from moving boxes of tomatoes all day.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- OldHippie 17y agoYeah, wait until you're older and have a corp desk job. The days spent toiling moving furniture will feel like your past life as a greek god. You'll look back on stuffing any food you want into a naturally evolving muscular machine of a body as your ass slowly forms into a chair shape around the dent of your paid for yet unused Snap-Fitness card.
- nostrademons 17y agoCan you not go out for walks at your corp desk job? Every one I've had didn't have a problem if you left the office for ~20 minutes mid-afternoon to get out and stretch. Some would even have self-organized games of soccer or volleyball to break up the monotony.
- mroman 17y agoI have Asperger's and DSPS, and have noticed that taking Piracetam helps me regulate my sleep cycle. On days when I take it, I begin to feel sleepy right around my 16th hour of being awake. I have also noticed that when I have not had decent sleep for a few days, taking Piracetam puts me to sleep within a couple of hours of taking it.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- jamii 17y agoI found exactly the same thing. I've had problems for years with roving sleep cycles to the point that it seriously interfered with my life. After I started taking piracetam it settled down within a week or two. I also wake up feeling completely refreshed and ready to go. I haven't seen this effect documented anywhere - it was completely unexpected.
- mroman 17y agoIt is good to know that you experienced this effect as well. I also have not seen it documented anywhere. The stuff is simply great. I am in a third world country (Colombia) and in a backwater town to boot, and Piracetam is both readily available and inexpensive. What's more, it's a local generic brand, and the quality is very decent.
- cool-RR 17y agoI hope someone will post a summary of this here.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- epochwolf 17y agoIt's hard to summarize. There is a lot of data and a lot of stuff to cover. I'll grab a couple of parts for you and I hope others can summarize others for you. :) Why we need sleep: Your brain needs sleep because your brain uses it to organized and optimized the experiences of the day. Without sleep your brain is unable to support new learning.
- olliesaunders 17y agoRead it, it's worth it. And if you don't think sleep is important enough to read this much about just start reading it and the author will convince you.
- lunchbox 17y agoSummary (from the bottom of the page): Sleep is important for learning! Sleep deprivation results in intellectual deprivation! Sleep as much as you feel you need Avoid alarm clocks Forget about trying to fall asleep at pre-planned time! Let your body decide! Forget about trying to fall asleep quickly! If your body decides it is the right time, it will come naturally! Do not try to make yourself sleepy! It is enough you stay awake and keep on working/learning long enough! It is much better to eliminate the source of stress rather than to try to forget stressful situations right before the bedtime! Learn the details of your sleep timing (how many hours you sleep, how many hours before you need to take a nap or go to sleep again, etc.). Use this knowledge to optimize your schedule. Adjust the timing of intellectual work to your circadian cycle (see Fig. 5) Stick with good people! The bad lot will often ruin your slumber Be careful with caffeine. Drink coffee only upon awakening (or after a nap if you take one) Do not go beyond a single drink of alcohol per day. Drink it at siesta time Quit smoking! Use siesta time for a nap if you find it helpful If you cannot fall asleep in 30 minutes, get up! You are not yet ready for sleep! If you experience racing thoughts at the time when your body calls for sleep, the best method is: get up and use ... SuperMemo for 30 minutes! Few other activities can be equally taxing to your tired brain (do not expect this to work before your circadian timing though) If you sleep it out and still not feel refreshed, be sure you do not sleep against your circadian rhythm. Try free running sleep. Remember that you may need 1-2 weeks to synchronize all bodily functions before this starts working! If you cannot get refreshing sleep even in free-running conditions after at least a month of trying, consult a sleep specialist (see: Sleep Disorders). Remember, however, that a bad night is a factor of life. Few can avoid it. Do not get alarmed even if it happens weekly I'd be interested if a qualified person could corroborate these recommendations.
- vijaydev 17y agoIs it not ironical if at 0130 hrs in the morning, i could not sleep and start browsing hn and i get to see an article that tells me to get a good sleep and life ?
- vijaydev 17y ago0130 hrs IST it is ..
- oldgregg 17y agoI've wasted way too much time due to sleep issues. My Miracle Mix: - Morning: 100m Provigil (ordered from an Indian pharmacy, naturally!) - Night: Melatonin I don't take provigil on the weekends and sometimes skip a weekday so I don't build up tolerance to it. Some people say it's like adderall without any nasty side effects. Just do it and thank me later.