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It may not, if any such system is very energetically taxing, or would confer a host of other issues. Such a system would, downsides taken into account, have to
by gotocake 8y ago
It may not, if any such system is very energetically taxing, or would confer a host of other issues. Such a system would, downsides taken into account, have to confer a net advantage. It may be that sleep in some form is best system with the fewest downsides.
- thaumasiotes 8y agoThe downsides of sleep are more severe for aquatic air-breathers, and, as some other comments have already pointed out, it appears to have already been eliminated in that case.
- gotocake 8y agoIt’s not eliminated, it’s bicameral. Dolphins do sleep, they just do so one half of their brain at a time, which is... so cool.
- thaumasiotes 8y agoThis is only true if you redefine "sleep" in a certain technical way. This redefinition is supported by phenomena such as the dolphin closing one eye during that eye's half-sleep cycle, but it is not obviously appropriate in all contexts.