4 ms·

As evocative as this thought experiment is, and highlights the extreme difference between modern and preindustrial life, trying to appeal to the well-being of t

As evocative as this thought experiment is, and highlights the extreme difference between modern and preindustrial life, trying to appeal to the well-being of that medieval monarch seems like it's falling into the natural fallacy. The past is a completely foreign country. The ancient elites would have absolutely killed for the HVAC systems that were absent from their drafty castles. The most basic of foods we eat would have driven them mad, wars were fought over simple seasonings and spices. Not to mention the advances in medication and basic hygiene. That said, it would be interesting if it became a fad (among the classes of means, naturally) to try to revert to premodern sleeping habits. Paleo-sleep, perhaps. It could lead to the return of biphasic sleep. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29886907 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29886907 Or, perhaps, not: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-many-myths-of-paleo-sleeping/410707/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-many...

brimble 5y ago
This definitely wasn't intended as a "medieval kings had it great by modern standards" call to return to the past, but rather to emphasize just how much world-class, hyper-stimulative entertainment we have available, dirt-cheap and on tap, every hour of the day. Even TV stations used to shut down for the night. The shift started with electrification & recording technology, but entered a whole new phase only quite recently. When you put what we have in terms of what our everyday entertainment options would have looked like in a pre-industrial society, it emphasizes just how large a difference there is. If anything, this is closer to a "Gods of the Copybook Headings" argument. "Too much of a good thing..." may be cliché and something only old fogeys say... but what if we're the ones making an error, in rolling our eyes at them? What if, not even that long ago, that was a bit silly applied to this particular thing (entertainment and nighttime lighting, chiefly) but no longer is? I don't expect this problem to actually be fixed, but I do find all the casting about for "why do so many people have trouble sleeping, these days?" risible in light of what sure looks like the most obvious explanation, which never gets more than a personal-responsibility treatment ("put the phone in another room") which seems like a bad joke when you apply the medieval-king thought experiment. "Maybe the king should just not leave the bedroom, then?" LOL.

brimble 5y ago

This definitely wasn't intended as a "medieval kings had it great by modern standards" call to return to the past, but rather to emphasize just how much world-class, hyper-stimulative entertainment we have available, dirt-cheap and on tap, every hour of the day. Even TV stations used to shut down for the night. The shift started with electrification & recording technology, but entered a whole new phase only quite recently. When you put what we have in terms of what our everyday entertainment options would have looked like in a pre-industrial society, it emphasizes just how large a difference there is. If anything, this is closer to a "Gods of the Copybook Headings" argument. "Too much of a good thing..." may be cliché and something only old fogeys say... but what if we're the ones making an error, in rolling our eyes at them? What if, not even that long ago, that was a bit silly applied to this particular thing (entertainment and nighttime lighting, chiefly) but no longer is? I don't expect this problem to actually be fixed, but I do find all the casting about for "why do so many people have trouble sleeping, these days?" risible in light of what sure looks like the most obvious explanation, which never gets more than a personal-responsibility treatment ("put the phone in another room") which seems like a bad joke when you apply the medieval-king thought experiment. "Maybe the king should just not leave the bedroom, then?" LOL.