3 ms·
Do you ever fall asleep with a cup of ball bearings in your hand when you are stuck on a problem? I have always wanted to try that ...
by mdg 16y ago
Do you ever fall asleep with a cup of ball bearings in your hand when you are stuck on a problem? I have always wanted to try that ...
- jerf 16y agoI've never heard of that, what's the logic there? You drop the ball bearings as soon as you've fallen asleep, for some reason I don't get? Serious question.
- sgentle 16y agoA story, perhaps apocryphal, about Thomas Edison. He would hold ball bearings in his hand as he fell asleep, and the noise of them falling to the floor would wake him immediately as he went to sleep, thus generating the shortest possible power nap. There's a decent chance that story is actually lifted wholesale from a similar one told about Dali, except it was a spoon instead of ball bearings. I suppose it's the best you can do after melting your alarm clock.
- mdg 16y agoDuring his day, Edison would take time out by himself and relax in a chair or on a sofa. Invariably he would be working on a new invention and seeking creative solutions to the problem he was dealing with. He knew that if her could get into that "twilight state" between being awake and being asleep, he could access the pure creative genius of his subconscious mind. To prevent himself from crossing all the way over the "genius gap" into deep sleep, he would nap with his hand propped up on his elbow while he clutched a handful of ball-bearings. Then he would just drift off to sleep, knowing that his subconscious mind would take up the challenge of his problem and provide a solution. As soon as he went into too deep a sleep, his hand would drop and the ball-bearings would spill noisily on the floor, waking him up again. He'd then write down whatever was in his mind. Taken from: http://www.wilywalnut.com/Thomas-Edison-Power-Napping.html http://www.wilywalnut.com/Thomas-Edison-Power-Napping.html
- die_sekte 16y agoAristotle also apparently did this.
- cont4gious 16y agoi always heard it was a spoon. or was that someone else?
- nvoorhies 16y agoDali makes a big production out of the way he did it and describes it extensively in his book "50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship". It was a key rather than a spoon in that case, though no doubt the details changed in every telling.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]