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It's an evolutionary thing. Having children, adolescents, adults and the elderly on different sleep schedules affords a family unit with nearly round the clock
by nicktelford 8y ago
It's an evolutionary thing. Having children, adolescents, adults and the elderly on different sleep schedules affords a family unit with nearly round the clock protection (as there's nearly always someone awake).
- tome 8y agoThat's a very interesting hypothesis! I've never heard it before.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoIs it scientific? I can't see how it can be falsified, it seems more like an assertion than a hypothesis?
- tome 8y ago"A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis
- skj 8y agoIn context, it appears like you're stating that "yes of course it's a hypothesis, here is the definition". But the post you're replying to suggested it wasn't because he/she did not see any way to effectively test it (the falsifiable comment), which would exclude it from the definition.
- tome 8y agoI'm confused. According to Wikipedia "A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon." The same article also states that "In common usage in the 21st century, a hypothesis refers to a provisional idea whose merit requires evaluation". Thus what I called "hypothesis" is indeed one by Wikipedia's usage. I also quoted the sentence "For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it." (my emphasis) in order to point out that what pbhjpbhj called "hypothesis" seems to be normally called "scientific hypothesis".
- skj 8y agopbhjpbhj also led with "Is it scientific?" which should have cleared things up.
- repiret 8y agoI think its testable. There's several parts. 1. Its clearly testable whether or not the phase of the circadian rhythm of humans shifts with age. 2. Having a range of circadian rhythm phases in your pack is useful for a 24-hour watch by definition, but in order for it to have been an evolutionary factor, watches that take advantage of this would have to actually happen in the wild. Finding wild packs of humans is a tall order, but if #1 holds for other primates or even other pack mammals, you could measure to what extent packs operate their 24-hour watch with different age groups at different times of the day. 3. The final price needed is to show that having a more alert watch gives a better survival rate. That seems self-evident, but it could also be tested by monitoring wild packs of humans or other primates.
- dorchadas 8y agoIt is presented by Matthew Walker, a sleep researcher, in his Why We Sleep.
- ryanmercer 8y ago>It's an evolutionary thing. Having children, adolescents, adults and the elderly on different sleep schedules affords a family unit with nearly round the clock protection Erm. No. If you look at modern primitive groups of people, you don't sleep all night. You wake up several times throughout the night and are, generally, considerably lighter sleepers. Some people in 'civilized' societies still do this. I wake up a handful of times a night, the vast majority of the time, and always have. It's not a medical issue, I'm getting quality sleep and I'm back asleep in a couple of minutes tops. Same goes for a lot of career soldiers/warriors throughout history including modern times, they can be out cold in a couple of minutes any time of the day with minimal effort and can be fully functional within seconds of being woken up.