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This is by far the most important thing for HN to learn about this. The default level of self deception on this front is enormous.
by hawkice 6y ago
This is by far the most important thing for HN to learn about this. The default level of self deception on this front is enormous.
- conistonwater 6y agoI don't think it's quite the same as self-deception. The way I understood it is that it's more like alcohol: the first thing to go is your ability to judge for yourself whether your judgment is impaired.
- kweinber 6y agoIt is fair to say that using your cognition to measure your own cognitive decline is unreliable ;-)
- wayoutthere 6y agoI think the other part to remember is that the author of the article is 22. I didn't need sleep either when I was his age. I don't mean he's naive, just that a 22-year-old can abuse their body without too many negative consequences. As someone in my late 30s, I definitely feel it when I only get 4 hours of sleep.
- kelnos 6y agoThat was my first thought as well (I"m in my late 30s too). When I was in college I could pull several all-nighters in a row without feeling too bad, or get 5-6 hours a sleep a night nearly indefinitely without too much trouble. Nowadays... not so much.
- PakG1 6y agoYup. Also in late 30s, and damn. I used to pull off all-nighters no problem in my 20s. Last night, I needed to do some work that didn't get done before, and by 2am, I was falling asleep in front of my keyboard. Ah, naivete of the young. :)
- fisherjeff 6y agoYES. Becoming a parent in my mid-30s taught me many things, including just how much more energy I had in my 20s
- noisy_boy 6y agoMaybe there is some wisdom in getting married/having kids at an younger age. I know, it is way more complicated than that..
- toxik 6y agoI don't know what type of drugs you guys were eating in your 20's but if I pulled an all-nighter, I was absolutely ruined the next day and a bit the day after that. Even in my teens.
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y agoTo be honest in my early 20s, I'd do no sleep the entire finals week just cramming for shit... then take a three day nap.
- mcculley 6y agoWhile consuming no drugs other than caffeine, I was regularly able to work for up to three days without sleep in my early twenties. At 48, I’m much more affected by my sleep schedule. Young people are simply more resilient, some more than others.
- Piskvorrr 6y agoTo pile on the anecdata: an all-nighter in my 20s was something feasible, even going through the next day (as in, day+night+day feeling fully awake, then resume usual behavior with normal night's sleep, and no further effects); at 25, this became harder, with a crash in the afternoon, at 30, an all-nighter meant sleeping through the next day, and currently just not getting at least 6 hrs of sleep will crash me the next afternoon. sigh
- Steve44 6y agoAnother anecdote. When I was 19 I did a quick conversion job for a company. I'd take an early train down on a Monday morning, worked about 20 hours a day with just a quick nap each night on the reception sofa, and then a train home of Friday. I did that for two weeks, I was shattered but got through it OK.
- milesvp 6y agoSeriously. The experiments with oxygen deprivation are very telling on this front. There's literally a button to press before you black out to give you oxygen, and people don't press it. Simple tasks, like identifying playing cards, people fail at, yet are convinced they've correctly identified the card. Our brains are amazing at lying to us.