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> Put it this way: If you rely on an alarm clock to wake up, you’re out of sync with your own biology. You're out of sync if you're not feeling the air around

> Put it this way: If you rely on an alarm clock to wake up, you’re out of sync with your own biology. You're out of sync if you're not feeling the air around you warm up with the sun, or watching the sky above you change from black to the glimmer of dawn, or hearing the birds start to chirp with the sunrise. I've experienced all of these with hundreds of nights backpacking in the wilderness, and indeed it has been the best sleep of my life. If you've any semblance of a modern, industrial lifestyle though then you're so screwed up by the rest of your life that an alarm clock is the least of your artifical interruptions.

ekianjo 8y ago
> industrial lifestyle though then you're so screwed up by the rest of your life that an alarm clock is the least of your artifical interruptions. Indeed. Just the use of artificial light is enough to mess up with your biorhythm. It would be fair to say that "humans have been out of sync with their own biology" for several decades if not a century. And it's only getting more so.
GoToRO 8y ago
I agree with what you said, except with "the least". I quit setting an alarm and it already made a big difference. Maybe because I already see the Sun when I wake up and kind of hear the birds. Anyway, there is and AND between all those conditions, more than an OR.
black-tea 8y ago
Unfortunately, where I live that means I would get 16 hours of sleep in the winter and 6 hours in the summer.
nottorp 8y ago
Are you sure that the physical effort and the cleaner wilderness air weren't the actual factors that made you sleep better than in the city?
rmah 8y ago
I wholeheartedly agree. When we go camping, one of my rules is no clocks. I find that, within a few days, we wake up just before dawn without consciously doing anything. It seems natural, everyone just falls into it. And for me at least, the sleeps while camping are some of the best I've ever experienced.
whttheuuu 8y ago
lol someone should tell this guy about nocturnal animals.

ekianjo 8y ago

> industrial lifestyle though then you're so screwed up by the rest of your life that an alarm clock is the least of your artifical interruptions. Indeed. Just the use of artificial light is enough to mess up with your biorhythm. It would be fair to say that "humans have been out of sync with their own biology" for several decades if not a century. And it's only getting more so.

GoToRO 8y ago

I agree with what you said, except with "the least". I quit setting an alarm and it already made a big difference. Maybe because I already see the Sun when I wake up and kind of hear the birds. Anyway, there is and AND between all those conditions, more than an OR.

black-tea 8y ago

Unfortunately, where I live that means I would get 16 hours of sleep in the winter and 6 hours in the summer.

nottorp 8y ago

Are you sure that the physical effort and the cleaner wilderness air weren't the actual factors that made you sleep better than in the city?

rmah 8y ago

I wholeheartedly agree. When we go camping, one of my rules is no clocks. I find that, within a few days, we wake up just before dawn without consciously doing anything. It seems natural, everyone just falls into it. And for me at least, the sleeps while camping are some of the best I've ever experienced.

whttheuuu 8y ago

lol someone should tell this guy about nocturnal animals.