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I'd think 6.5 hours is above or close to the average amount of sleep most people get.
by jb775 6y ago
I'd think 6.5 hours is above or close to the average amount of sleep most people get.
- methyl 6y agoBut not what most people should get.
- ithkuil 6y agoWould the extra time work even if want an afternoon nap but a longer night sleep?
- 01100011 6y agoLately I've noticed I do much better off 5.5-6.5 hours of sleep. I've been fighting brain fog and fatigue lately so occasionally I try to force myself to sleep more and it just makes my problems worse.
- pmiller2 6y agoI don't know about you, but I need, and typically get between 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Less than 7 and I feel sleep deprived. More than 9 and I don't feel sleep deprived per se, but I don't have much energy (physical or mental), either.
- jb775 6y agoI recently read "Why we sleep" by Matthew Walker (pretty good book overall). He provides evidence that states the ideal amount of daily sleep is between 7-8 hours. Any more or less is detrimental to overall health.
- random_thoughts 6y ago"Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" Is Riddled with Scientific and Factual Errors" https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/ https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/
- jb775 6y agoJust read this over, many major topics of the book aren't addressed here such as improved memory & brain function, improved reaction time, reduction of Alzheimer's(by sleep flushing the brain of certain toxins consistently linked to Alz), importance of sleep cycle timing(deep REM sleep vs lighter REM sleep, etc), and possible links to Autism. I also noticed a response to a question on memory from the article's author saying something like "well I didn't look into the impacts on memory so I can't comment on that". Also, this reads as a hit piece in general involving significantly less research and details involved, so I'd take it with a grain of salt.
- 55555 6y agoOn the other hand, it shouldn't be so easy to find evidence of the author taking creative liberty with data. If he is willing to change data in one place to fit his narrative, then you ought to take the whole book with a mountain of salt, unless you have the time to investigate every claim yourself.
- MattRix 6y agoOf course many topics of the book aren’t covered, this entire post is only about chapter one! If you actually read the post you will see it is pretty damning.
- melq 6y agoI would be more concerned with the major topics that _are_ addressed by a piece of criticism than the ones that aren't. If you want to discredit a piece of criticism, you should address the actual contentions.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- yiyus 6y agoCould you explain a bit what kind of evidence he shows? This contradicts what I've always listened, which is that the ideal amount of sleep varies between people.
- bassman9000 6y agoThere's a fair amount of people that sleep less than 7h. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html
- Berobero 6y ago- Average sleep varies fairly significantly internationally (https://www.economist.com/1843/2018/03/01/which-countries-get-the-most-sleep https://www.economist.com/1843/2018/03/01/which-countries-ge...), and regionally just in the US (https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html) - Average sleep is, obviously, not necessarily optimal; recommendations seem to tend towards 7+ hours on average (e.g. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html), and there's of course data to support that recommendation (again https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html)
- taxcoder 6y agoThe data is interesting, but I am always skeptical of self-reported sleep times. It seems there is a sense of pride some people take in sleeping less than others.
- jb775 6y agoWould be interesting to look at smart watch data to see actual averages. You can tell when a person is sleeping by watching their motion activity (obviously) in combination with a drop in heart rate.
- Berobero 6y agoThere's definitely reason to be suspect, although it looks like, on the average, it might be the reverse of what you seem to be expecting (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2785092/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2785092/): "Our model suggests that persons sleeping 5 and 7 hours over-reported, on average, by 1.3 and 0.3 hours respectively." For self-reporting sleep studies, perhaps people have it in their head that 8 hours is how much they're "supposed" to sleep and they over-report to better match that? Of note, however, while the CDC data I linked comes from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System which does appear to be merely a self-reporting survey question (https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/surveillance.html https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/surveillance.html), the data in the Economist article comes from an app (www.sleepcycle.com). Granted, I suspect the latter almost surely suffers from some kind of non-trivial selection bias.
- comeonseriously 6y agoSounds like most people are underslept.
- eigenspace 6y agoThen the average person is underslept.
- michaelcampbell 6y agoEven if it is (which I believe it is not; my memory thinks it's higher) that doesn't mean that they aren't underslept at that amount.