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I am usually sucker for these things, but man, oh man :), polyphasic really! I thought this was busted long time ago as a myth. Steve Pavlina was trying to do

I am usually sucker for these things, but man, oh man :), polyphasic really! I thought this was busted long time ago as a myth. Steve Pavlina was trying to do it and in the end had to admit it is just a way to be constantly sleepy. Mask looks really nice, I would prefer it was a brain entrainment device of sorts. However, to end on more positive note, Kickstarter is great because they have a chance to show us their idea and gauge how much we are interested or not in it. So yay for Kickstarter!

Anderkent 13y ago
Pavlina is not exactly a reputable source. His ex-wife and business partner is a telephone psychic, and he takes her 'job' seriously in many blog posts. They're either both cranks, or scammers. In either case you shouldn't take him seriously.
- gojomo 13y ago
  Your "cranks, or scammers" assessment raises an interesting question. Let's assume psychic powers don't exist. If someone who believes in them calls a for-pay psychic hotline, with which of the following 'telephone psychics' will their interests be best-protected? (a) a psychic true-believer, who also cares about the caller (b) a psychic true-believer, who simply wants to maximize their own income at the caller's expense (c) a non-believer willing to pretend they are psychic, but who also cares about the caller's welfare (d) a non-believer willing to pretend they are psychic, who simply wants to maximize their own income at the caller's expense The 'psychics' of (a) and (b) are irrational/superstitious (or maybe even outright insane): that is, 'cranks'. The 'psychics' of (b) and (d) are amoral criminals: 'scammers'. But (c) is kind of an interesting case. They're telling pleasing lies to someone, but that might be the best the caller can get. (Compare the 'white lies' often told to children, or people in psychological distress.) But the 'psychic' is still sane and empathetic. For example, they're not going to tell someone with a real health issue to skip professional treatment for just 'manifesting health'. They might give reasonable advice... under cover of 'psychic insight'. They won't view the solution to every issue as 'pay our hotline more money until you're broke'. I have no idea about the details of Mrs. Pavlina's practice. I just think that given the existence of devoutly-believing psychic-seekers, and the existence of magical-thinking (a)- and (b)-type 'psychics', and cynically exploitative (d)-type psychics, the most compassionate response by rational and ethical people might not be just debunking/avoiding the whole enterprise. It might involve some practicing (c)-type 'psychics'... a little like harm-reducing clean needles for drug addicts.
  - Apocryphon 13y ago
    That's a very fascinating breakdown, and it's sort of a sad testament to American society and attitudes towards mental healthcare that case (c) might actually be a legitimate way to provide counseling to people who otherwise would not have sought it out. And perhaps it's cheaper, too.
  - tynan 13y ago
    I went to Steve and Erin's house and talked with them for a few hours once. Erin is absolutely in category A.
- jere 13y ago
  I have to agree. I used to be a huge Pavlina fan for the personal development and productivity stuff, but over the years got really turned off by all the posts about law of attraction and solipsism (though he disputed that's what he was going on about).
xutopia 13y ago
Steve Pavlina stopped because he was bored and it was not giving him more time with the people he loved (which was the point of it in the first place). Source: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/ http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/
- WalterSear 13y ago
  Which makes no sense to anyone who has actually managed to switch to polyphasic sleep, even for just a week or two. Pavlina is so inconsistent in his description of his polyphasic sleep experiences that the consensus on the polyphasic mailing list I ran for a while was that he was a lying about doing it at all.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - desireco42 13y ago
    Do you know someone who actually managed to live like this for extended periods? I would be interested to hear.
    - epmatsw 13y ago
      My sophomore year roommates did Everyman for about 8 months. They got horrifying good at Call of Duty.
    - WalterSear 13y ago
      I don't know of any credible claims that managed it for more than a couple of months, and even that was on a semi-anonymous internet mailing list :) My personal record was 3 weeks, not including the adjustment time, but I would always get derailed by a cold. I'm really need my sleep though, I'm sure that someone with less need for sleep could do better. I found that by perfecting the napping-on-command first (for several months, too) rather than the going without sleep, I was able to make the transitions relatively painless, until I would get sick.
- 13y ago

Anderkent 13y ago

Pavlina is not exactly a reputable source. His ex-wife and business partner is a telephone psychic, and he takes her 'job' seriously in many blog posts. They're either both cranks, or scammers. In either case you shouldn't take him seriously.

gojomo 13y ago
Your "cranks, or scammers" assessment raises an interesting question. Let's assume psychic powers don't exist. If someone who believes in them calls a for-pay psychic hotline, with which of the following 'telephone psychics' will their interests be best-protected? (a) a psychic true-believer, who also cares about the caller (b) a psychic true-believer, who simply wants to maximize their own income at the caller's expense (c) a non-believer willing to pretend they are psychic, but who also cares about the caller's welfare (d) a non-believer willing to pretend they are psychic, who simply wants to maximize their own income at the caller's expense The 'psychics' of (a) and (b) are irrational/superstitious (or maybe even outright insane): that is, 'cranks'. The 'psychics' of (b) and (d) are amoral criminals: 'scammers'. But (c) is kind of an interesting case. They're telling pleasing lies to someone, but that might be the best the caller can get. (Compare the 'white lies' often told to children, or people in psychological distress.) But the 'psychic' is still sane and empathetic. For example, they're not going to tell someone with a real health issue to skip professional treatment for just 'manifesting health'. They might give reasonable advice... under cover of 'psychic insight'. They won't view the solution to every issue as 'pay our hotline more money until you're broke'. I have no idea about the details of Mrs. Pavlina's practice. I just think that given the existence of devoutly-believing psychic-seekers, and the existence of magical-thinking (a)- and (b)-type 'psychics', and cynically exploitative (d)-type psychics, the most compassionate response by rational and ethical people might not be just debunking/avoiding the whole enterprise. It might involve some practicing (c)-type 'psychics'... a little like harm-reducing clean needles for drug addicts.
- Apocryphon 13y ago
  That's a very fascinating breakdown, and it's sort of a sad testament to American society and attitudes towards mental healthcare that case (c) might actually be a legitimate way to provide counseling to people who otherwise would not have sought it out. And perhaps it's cheaper, too.
- tynan 13y ago
  I went to Steve and Erin's house and talked with them for a few hours once. Erin is absolutely in category A.
jere 13y ago
I have to agree. I used to be a huge Pavlina fan for the personal development and productivity stuff, but over the years got really turned off by all the posts about law of attraction and solipsism (though he disputed that's what he was going on about).

xutopia 13y ago

Steve Pavlina stopped because he was bored and it was not giving him more time with the people he loved (which was the point of it in the first place). Source: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/ http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/

WalterSear 13y ago
Which makes no sense to anyone who has actually managed to switch to polyphasic sleep, even for just a week or two. Pavlina is so inconsistent in his description of his polyphasic sleep experiences that the consensus on the polyphasic mailing list I ran for a while was that he was a lying about doing it at all.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- desireco42 13y ago
  Do you know someone who actually managed to live like this for extended periods? I would be interested to hear.
  - epmatsw 13y ago
    My sophomore year roommates did Everyman for about 8 months. They got horrifying good at Call of Duty.
  - WalterSear 13y ago
    I don't know of any credible claims that managed it for more than a couple of months, and even that was on a semi-anonymous internet mailing list :) My personal record was 3 weeks, not including the adjustment time, but I would always get derailed by a cold. I'm really need my sleep though, I'm sure that someone with less need for sleep could do better. I found that by perfecting the napping-on-command first (for several months, too) rather than the going without sleep, I was able to make the transitions relatively painless, until I would get sick.
13y ago