I agree with your analysis above -- a lot of the causal claims trying to connect <8hrs sleep to bad health outcomes are pretty dubious. People shouldn't worry a

I agree with your analysis above -- a lot of the causal claims trying to connect <8hrs sleep to bad health outcomes are pretty dubious. People shouldn't worry about their lifespan or dementia or whatever. "Why We Sleep" unfortunately seems to have serious flaws. However I really do maintain that the anti-sleep attitude is much more common. There is always huge pressure in schools, the workplace, social life to cut into sleep. I think the reason "Why We Sleep" became so popular without facing much scrutiny is because many people were facing these pressures and desperate for some countervailing authority to point to.