5 ms·

Sleep is less surprising for me to see people defend than death, to the extent that I'm not sure if I myself have or not done so. I mean, I can directly feel t

by ben_w 3mo ago

Sleep is less surprising for me to see people defend than death, to the extent that I'm not sure if I myself have or not done so. I mean, I can directly feel the benefit of a good sleep that refreshes me in the morning, whereas there's those who have passed on whom I miss. If I didn't need sleep, really didn't, I wouldn't seek to re-invent it; but of the two it is old age that I'd actively pay money to hold back, if treatments for both existed at the same cost per extra hour of consciousness in my lifetime.

glerk 3mo ago
Obviously, every single one of us needs sleep to survive. But it's a biological chore, not some sacred ritual to be celebrated. Reducing the amount of sleep that we need is worth researching. What is surprising to me is the knee-jerk reaction I see whenever the idea of looking into this is brought up.
- Qem 3mo ago
  > What is surprising to me is the knee-jerk reaction I see whenever the idea of looking into this is brought up. It's because if it were achieved, likely result would be employers forcing people to take the drug and increasing daily work hours back to 16+.
  - glerk 3mo ago
    > likely result would be employers forcing people to take the drug How so? You can just... refuse? And do you prefer sleeping to working? Doing a job that you hate for 8h and sleeping for 8h is much worse than doing a job that you love for 16h. Something to think about.
    - Qem 3mo ago
      > How so? You can just... refuse? It would be like doping in some elite sports, say road race cycling in Lance Armstrong era. Nobody would be coerced by force, but some people would start taking it, making less sleep time the new normal. With time business would adjust to expect and require it, and other people would be forced to take the drug just to not become unemployable in a market with a upshifted baseline. I think this is already happening in education, with ADHD medications. Children are likely being overdiagnosed, because in a environment with many medicated children, just displaying normal child behaviour starts looking odd, pathology-like. > Doing a job that you hate for 8h and sleeping for 8h is much worse than doing a job that you love for 16h. Some jobs just suck but somebody still has to do them.
    - ben_w 3mo ago
      In addition to what Qem said, some people don't have much control over their job opportunities, take whatever they can get, and in those roles do whatever they're ordered to do. Amazon piss bottles come to mind. Even without malice or orders, sometimes every actor in the economy can be locally motivated in a way that ends up the same. Boss gives you 40 hours, but rent is too high for a 40-hour week? Guess you're taking two jobs now.
FeteCommuniste 3mo ago
Even if I never needed to sleep again I would kind of miss dreaming. Maybe we could take another drug to make us dream.

by ben_w 3mo ago

glerk 3mo ago

Obviously, every single one of us needs sleep to survive. But it's a biological chore, not some sacred ritual to be celebrated. Reducing the amount of sleep that we need is worth researching. What is surprising to me is the knee-jerk reaction I see whenever the idea of looking into this is brought up.

Qem 3mo ago
> What is surprising to me is the knee-jerk reaction I see whenever the idea of looking into this is brought up. It's because if it were achieved, likely result would be employers forcing people to take the drug and increasing daily work hours back to 16+.
- glerk 3mo ago
  > likely result would be employers forcing people to take the drug How so? You can just... refuse? And do you prefer sleeping to working? Doing a job that you hate for 8h and sleeping for 8h is much worse than doing a job that you love for 16h. Something to think about.
  - Qem 3mo ago
    > How so? You can just... refuse? It would be like doping in some elite sports, say road race cycling in Lance Armstrong era. Nobody would be coerced by force, but some people would start taking it, making less sleep time the new normal. With time business would adjust to expect and require it, and other people would be forced to take the drug just to not become unemployable in a market with a upshifted baseline. I think this is already happening in education, with ADHD medications. Children are likely being overdiagnosed, because in a environment with many medicated children, just displaying normal child behaviour starts looking odd, pathology-like. > Doing a job that you hate for 8h and sleeping for 8h is much worse than doing a job that you love for 16h. Some jobs just suck but somebody still has to do them.
  - ben_w 3mo ago
    In addition to what Qem said, some people don't have much control over their job opportunities, take whatever they can get, and in those roles do whatever they're ordered to do. Amazon piss bottles come to mind. Even without malice or orders, sometimes every actor in the economy can be locally motivated in a way that ends up the same. Boss gives you 40 hours, but rent is too high for a 40-hour week? Guess you're taking two jobs now.

FeteCommuniste 3mo ago

Even if I never needed to sleep again I would kind of miss dreaming. Maybe we could take another drug to make us dream.