The sleep poll!

[Darth Launch]

Whoa! Was not actually expecting a response from my post at all... just expected it to be ignored really!

 

Look, I really don't want to potentially start an argument or anything, since, quite frankly I'm above that, but I have to say this:

 

First of all, its not me who would actually 'appear' to be mistaken, but in fact my strangely qualified biological psychology professor (God knows what he's doing lecturing at a university when he's clearly wrong)...

 

I've actually gone for long periods without sleep myself, however, never actually made a point of trying to stay up, so couldn't prove either way, although I do know that I actually only went to bed at the end of the hedonic student weekend because it was night and everyone had crashed too but not because I was actually tired. In fact, so long as the brain remains stimulated, prodominantly through visual means, then sleep is not always necessary.

 

This sleep cycle is actually far from concrete. Research done (by psychologists no less) has actually shown that if a participant is unaware as what time of day it is the sleep cycle will not only be disrupted but also greatly reduced to barely a few hours in the day, thus showing that sleep is not necessary but actually a socially accepted norm.

 

Also, research has shown that the cognitive abilities of those that are 'sleep deprived' and those that aren't are not significantly different, and that any difference between them is a result of individual differences.

 

Another point is that psychologists have shown that dreams are most definitely not equivalent to halluncinations that occur whilst awake. They are two completely different, unrelated things! Dreams are believed to be a result of activity in the pre-frontal cortex that symbolise the thought processes that occurred prior to falling asleep and in fact 'play out' those thoughts, whereas hallucinations are the result of severe abnormal psychological problems. Yes! Huge difference! And no, you don't develop abnormal psychological problems from depriving yourself of sleep, as most are in fact inherited through your genes.

 

Also, how do you account for the fact that there are actually people who can 'survive' on like two hours sleep a night and haven't had their brains explode?

 

Jeez... I can't believe I went on for so long... I'm impressed that I actually remembered something from all the revision I've been doing

 

Look, Mr. metadigital, sir, I'm not interested in putting you down in front of all these 16 year old fanboys (nothing personally Baley), but please get your facts right and don't think that just because you have a habit of writing long posts that everything you say is actually true. There are some people in this forum that are fairly intelligent and knowledgeable about such things, so don't put yourself in that position. Plus, don't ever patronise me again with "I am sorry but you are mistaken." as you don't know me and so have no idea how rude that comes across as.

 

Right, semi-rant, semi-get-your-facts-right point made...

 

DL

 

P.S. You're forgiven

[Kelverin]

4 - 5 hours a night. Sometimes a late nap for an hour or so.

[metadigital]

Look, I really don't want to potentially start an argument or anything, since, quite frankly I'm above that, but I have to say this:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No offence meant or taken ( ), this is a meritocracy of information. I still say your information is flawed. Here's why:

First of all, its not me who would actually 'appear' to be mistaken, but in fact my strangely qualified biological psychology professor (God knows what he's doing lecturing at a university when he's clearly wrong)...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Doesn't matter who is wrong, it is still wrong.

I've actually gone for long periods without sleep myself, however, never actually made a point of trying to stay up, so couldn't prove either way, although I do know that I actually only went to bed at the end of the hedonic student weekend because it was night and everyone had crashed too but not because I was actually tired. In fact, so long as the brain remains stimulated, prodominantly through visual means, then sleep is not always necessary.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have tried numerous sleep experiments. But don't take my word for it, go and try it yourself. (I warn you now, though, despite your assertions below, don't try to have a life whilst sleep deprived, it will severely impact on it.)

 

Perhaps your recollection is impaired by the lack of sleep you have taken -- there is a correlation between REM sleep and acuity of memory, too.

This sleep cycle is actually far from concrete. Research done (by psychologists no less) has actually shown that if a participant is unaware as what time of day it is the sleep cycle will not only be disrupted but also greatly reduced to barely a few hours in the day, thus showing that sleep is not necessary but actually a socially accepted norm.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dr Dement experimented on army personnel in bunkers below the Earth's surface to limit the external stimuli. This is how, for example, the circadien cycle was found to be slightly longer than the 24 hour sidereal period of the Earth.

Also, research has shown that the cognitive abilities of those that are 'sleep deprived' and those that aren't are not significantly different, and that any difference between them is a result of individual differences.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As I said earlier, there is precious little research. You may be right, but I haven't seen any evidence of it in my research. (Remember, my partner was suffering from a sleep disorder, so I have a motivation to research this.)

Another point is that psychologists have shown that dreams are most definitely not equivalent to halluncinations that occur whilst awake. They are two completely different, unrelated things! Dreams are believed to be a result of activity in the pre-frontal cortex that symbolise the thought processes that occurred prior to falling asleep and in fact 'play out' those thoughts, whereas hallucinations are the result of severe abnormal psychological problems. Yes! Huge difference! And no, you don't develop abnormal psychological problems from depriving yourself of sleep, as most are in fact inherited through your genes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are different types of hallucinations. The hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation are dream-like mental episodes. I have no idea if they actually accomplish anything, if they are different from other types of hallucinations, per se. This is experimental data -- feel free to conduct your own independant tests to corroborate or disprove it.

Also, how do you account for the fact that there are actually people who can 'survive' on like two hours sleep a night and haven't had their brains explode?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are very, very few people who can survive on small amounts of sleep. Most, like Edison, for example, used to claim they only needed 4 hours sleep a night but made up for it in short "catnaps" throughout the day. The total was within normal deviation of the average (8.5 hours).

Jeez... I can't believe I went on for so long... I'm impressed that I actually remembered something from all the revision I've been doing 

 

Look, Mr. metadigital, sir, I'm not interested in putting you down in front of all these 16 year old fanboys (nothing personally Baley), but please get your facts right and don't think that just because you have a habit of writing long posts that everything you say is actually true. There are some people in this forum that are fairly intelligent and knowledgeable about such things, so don't put yourself in that position. Plus, don't ever patronise me again with "I am sorry but you are mistaken." as you don't know me and so have no idea how rude that comes across as.

 

Right, semi-rant, semi-get-your-facts-right point made...

P.S. You're forgiven 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No need to take a swipe at me. I wasn't patronisng you, I was trying to correct what I see as a potentially dangerous viewpoint. According to your logic there is no need to pull over when you are driving for hours / days, so long as there is enough traffic to provide sufficient visual stimilation! I am quite adult and capable of admiting when I am wrong. There is no shame in seeking the truth, and I have no fear of mistakes: they are merely stepping stones to higher understanding. I don't believe I am wrong, however.

 

I am not sure where you are quoting from, I would be interested to read your sources. I am interested in all knowledge. I have given you the best quoted source I have found, but -- to be sure -- there are lots more out there.

 

Information wants to be free.

[Kor Qel Droma]

My goal is to get a good 8 hours of sleep a night. The reality is if I'm lucky I pull six or seven with more often it being 5. Just a year or two ago I could sleep for a lot longer.

 

I've found working the night shift to be a real positive thing for sleeping longer. Unless its summer. In the winter I'm lucky to see the sun for more than an hour, and usually I sleep from about nine in the morning to six at night...

[metadigital]

My goal is to get a good 8 hours of sleep a night.  The reality is if I'm lucky I pull six or seven with more often it being 5.  Just a year or two ago I could sleep for a lot longer.

 

I've found working the night shift to be a real positive thing for sleeping longer.  Unless its summer.  In the winter I'm lucky to see the sun for more than an hour, and usually I sleep from about nine in the morning to six at night...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, I used to work swingshift at a casino as a croupier. A typical day went something like this:

Wake up about midday.

Go to the gym, do 2.5 hours weights.

Eat a BBQ chicken from the store across the road from the gym.

Go home, Shower, eat lunch.

kick around for a couple of hours (depending on whether I had a 7-10pm start), during which time I would eat dinner. (Fast metabolism: I would eat constantly. This helps stay awake, by the way.)

Finish anywhere from 2am-4am (unless it was peak season, then I worked about 100 hours each week).

Go out drinking.

Repeat.

 

I have found that my experience agrees with the accumulated sleep debt model propounded by Dr Dement; I can avoid making 8 hours sleep a night for, say the weekdays, but I have to catch up on the week-ends.

[213374U]

*snip*

I think you are right. I remember watching a documentary about it in which there were some experiments with people. I believe that at the end, that was like 11 days of sleep deprivation, the subjects were seriously affected. For instance, they made one of the subjects watch a movie, after which he was made some questions. The poor sod did not only not remember the movie, but he invented random stuff about it, and seemed pretty convinced.

Long-term memory and time notion problems seemed to appear too, to the extent of not being able to even remember the month, let alone the day.

Not to mention the decrease in hand-eye coordination and reflexes.

 

Pretty damn hilarious if you ask me.

[Laozi]

I get about 5 hrs. most nights. I have bouts with insomnia, they are mostly stress induced, but can last several weeks. Usually I just smoke tons of pot, I figure my short term memory is shot to hell anyway, so why not?

[Darth Incredulous]

My 'vote' is on 5-6 hours, as that has been the case lately. With that amount, I feel pretty much fine for the duration of the day. However, I average all of the alternatives listed from time to time (well, I probably have never averaged 10+ over a period of more than 3 days).

 

Sleeping too long, even to make up for lost sleep, is something I strive to avoid. 10 hours or more usually gives me a bad headache.

I think I slept for 20 hours or so once, though I probably woke up and turned over more than once during that time. Don't think I could possibly sleep longer than that, or even get close to that again.

 

Oh, and as a teenager, I slept substantially less. Then I would usually average less than 4 hours a day, and that average accounts for some extra hours during the weekend. Suffice it to say, mornings weren't my favourite part of the day. Had little trouble getting through the day though, so it more or less worked fine.

 

Of course, being somewhat nocturnal and a part-time insomniac may have something to do with all that.

 

By the way, my father averages 4 hours a day. Sometimes less. Never more. And he doesn't 'make up' for it on the weekends. Doesn't seem to do him any harm.

 

 

Off-topic, I have a surprisingly high number of lucid dreams. Spontaneous ones, that is. Haven't a clue why.

 

I don't know if someone called Dr. Dement is a source I want to trust blindly, or any research that old (a lot of 'research' from that period has later turned out to be ludicrously wrong - not that all modern research is well conducted), but I certainly believe we need sleep to function. I believe the number of hours needed is individual, and that it can vary more than the so-called experts I've seen in common media claim. I don't agree to the numbers metadigital lists as given by Dr. Dement and his research.

 

Visual or other stimulation can not, in my experince, replace sleep. I don't know what kind of stim-packs you are on, Launch... " Also, it seems some of the researchers Launch mentions may have fallen asleep while conducting their studies. This is merely a disagreement and not a personal attack (I wouldn't dare :ph34r: ). My opinion (and this opinion is based on some scientific mumbojumbo I've read during my life, and probably also some madeup mumbojumbo that happened to catch my fancy - it may thus be somewhat askew, and even, though this I doubt, completely wrong) is that sleep at the very least serves the purpose of 'defragmentating' the mind, filing the day's input in the appropriate drawers, and then giving it a fresh reboot.

 

And I have had dream-like 'hallucinations' when sleep-deprived. I don't know if I would call it hallucination; it was basically just like a dream, only I wasn't sleeping (well, that is possibly open to discussion as well - I was sitting upright with my eyes open and I snapped right out of it when after a few seconds I realized I was dreaming).

 

I've also been 'micro-sleeping' at the wheel, and once I was very fortunate it didn't have any impact. Since that experience, I always pull over to rest when I get very tired. Anyways, the time you need to react to a situation increases dramatically even if you're just a little tired, so driving in such conditions is really not a good idea.

 

$deity, now I've created a monster post as well! Damn you people with your interesting discussions!

 

Finally, I concur to Kaftan's bemoaning of the tyranny of the morning people. They'll all be first against the wall when the revolution comes!

[Padmi Skydrunkard]

Between 8 to 12 hrs.

Depends on a number of factors: What is on TV, whether or not I have an assignment due that I left to the last minute. That sort of thing.

[Kor Qel Droma]

I get about 5 hrs. most nights. I have bouts with insomnia,  they are mostly stress induced, but can last several weeks. Usually I just smoke tons of pot, I figure my short term memory is shot to hell anyway, so why not?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

That usually works like a charm for me too... Though sometimes my lack of sleep is caused from playing games till three in the morning.

[Nartwak]

I sleep for nine to fourteen hours every two days.

[jaguars4ever]

I sleep (for an unspecfied amount of time), every other day.

[Cloris]

Sleep deprivation, my old friend!

 

I answered hours or less, and that's usually my total per day. I've never been a good sleeper, and I had a sudden, severe illness this winter that's made me rather irrationally bothered by sleeping while everyone else is alseep.

 

The most time I have voluntarily spent awake is about 80 hours. During a period of insomina, stress, and other factors I stayed awake approximately five days.

 

So, this whole sleep thing you people do really interests me...

 

 

Several years ago when my daughter was an infant, she came down with pneumonia and had to be treated with medication every 4 hours. I was afraid to sleep for two reasons: I was afraid that she would stop breathing and as I was already sleep deprived, I feared that I wouldn't hear an clock alarm or cry. By the beginning of the fifth day I was pretty sure that I was certifiably insane (she was taken care of and that was all that mattered), but it was the Friday -- I had the husband take over and I sleep until Monday morning.

 

From personal experience, I can say that a sleep deprivation experience depends extensively on why you aren't sleeping! Worry and insomnia make for a miserable time, as you'd expect. However, staying up for three days in order to enjoy, say, hedonistic fun and games -- obviously that's much more fun. Just don't drive or plan on doing anything that next day. Some things were the same: hand trembling, lack of concentrated focus, bouts of irrationability (this is where the hedonism helps) et al.

 

Some say that it can be paralleled to hallucinogenics, but who believes what "they" say, anyway?

 

Cloris

...whose spelling and grammer deteriorates the longer she's awake during any one stretch...

[LadyCrimson]

7-8 hours a day, average. It varies quite wildly from day to day, tho, because I have no set sleeping/waking/working schedule that I have to follow.

 

Breeds bad habits, it does.

 

Never been a 'regular pattern sleeper' tho, ever.

[Noceur]

Since christmas I've had a 0/24h sleeping schedual. That is, awake 48 hours, sleep 24.

 

But now I seem to have managed to go back to a normal 8 hours sleep pattern!

[metadigital]

... Oh, and as a teenager, I slept substantially less. Then I would usually average less than 4 hours a day, and that average accounts for some extra hours during the weekend. Suffice it to say, mornings weren't my favourite part of the day. Had little trouble getting through the day though, so it more or less worked fine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Funny, I know a lot of people that had chronic insomnia in their late teens.

 

Dr Dement's research (and it is ongoing) indicates that duing the teenager years we need to get up later in the morning ... some schools in Britain have implemented a later beginning for secondary schools with a large effect on the pupils alertness (and consequential memory retention) during the day. Certainly this agrees with my experience.

By the way, my father averages 4 hours a day. Sometimes less. Never more. And he doesn't 'make up' for it on the weekends. Doesn't seem to do him any harm.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good for him. Apparently Margaret Thatcher (ex-Prime Minister of UK) used to survive on about four hours a night, too.

I hate and love sleeping. I hate that it takes up so much of my time and I love doing it.

Does your father take naps during the day? (This is how sleep patterns change as we age, btw -- Dr Dement, again). My father used to sleep in his recliner most of the day whilst watching every news programme all day.

Off-topic, I have a surprisingly high number of lucid dreams. Spontaneous ones, that is. Haven't a clue why.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All indications are this is good. Do you go flying? (I bet you do -- that's what everyone does!) It took me an inordinate amount of time to teach myself to "throw myself at the floor and miss", but now I have a ball whenever I lucid dream!

I don't know if someone called Dr. Dement is a source I want to trust blindly, or any research that old (a lot of 'research' from that period has later turned out to be ludicrously wrong - not that all modern research is well conducted), but I certainly believe we need sleep to function. I believe the number of hours needed is individual, and that it can vary more than the so-called experts I've seen in common media claim. I don't agree to the numbers metadigital lists as given by Dr. Dement and his research.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Feel free to read his book -- as I said, it's cheap -- he doesn't say you can live on fresh air or eat only green things on Tuesday, or anything remotely silly. It is (nearly) all just common sense ... I bet you'll be going "Oh -- so that's why!" all through the book.

 

It is scientific research, not holy scripture: you are quite free to disprove it. As I said, his findings seem to explain sleep in my life quite adequately.

And I have had dream-like 'hallucinations' when sleep-deprived. I don't know if I would call it hallucination; it was basically just like a dream, only I wasn't sleeping (well, that is possibly open to discussion as well - I was sitting upright with my eyes open and I snapped right out of it when after a few seconds I realized I was dreaming).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't remember where I read this (might have been his book) but there was a 'Round-the-World yatchman who started in New Zealand and his autopilot broke the first night. He decided to carry on. (I think it takes about a week to sail across the Tasman Sea.) By the last day he was hallucinating badly; he knew he was in trouble when he saw the crew come running up out of the cabin and throw the lifeboat overboard and jump in -- he was on a solo mission!

I've also been 'micro-sleeping' at the wheel, and once I was very fortunate it didn't have any impact. Since that experience, I always pull over to rest when I get very tired. Anyways, the time you need to react to a situation increases dramatically even if you're just a little tired, so driving in such conditions is really not a good idea.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, I had a similar experience when I was early twenties: I offered to drive a friend home, which was about 100km. The drive up was unremarkable, and I felt so normal when I got their I declined he offer for a beverage stimulant. On the trip back I started nodding off -- at one point I "saw" a toddler hit the front of my car and explode! Did that wake me up? You bet. The subconscious succeeded in raising my heart-rate and jump starting my attention. (I have no idea why I became so tired so quickly.)

$deity, now I've created a monster post as well! Damn you people with your interesting discussions!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're a programmer, aren't you?

Finally, I concur to Kaftan's bemoaning of the tyranny of the morning people. They'll all be first against the wall when the revolution comes!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's the circadien cycle; you will end up sleeping later and later without consciously getting up and reseting the 25hr timer by exposing your eyes to bright multi-spectrum light (e.g. sunlight).

[metadigital]

I sleep for nine to fourteen hours every two days.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I tried this with disasterous consequences back when I was working as a croupier. (I guess the disasterous consequences may have been affected by the extraordinary amount of drinking I was doing with all my spare time that I used to spend sleeping. )

 

Certainly I have gone several days at a time with no sleep whilst partying.

7-8 hours a day, average. It varies quite wildly from day to day, tho, because I have no set sleeping/waking/working schedule that I have to follow.

 

Breeds bad habits, it does.

 

Never been a 'regular pattern sleeper' tho, ever.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

True: this is similar to me at the moment; I am also sleeping roughly 5-6 hours early morning and then an additional 1-3 late-afternoon early evening.

[Darth Incredulous]

7-8 hours a day, average. It varies quite wildly from day to day, tho, because I have no set sleeping/waking/working schedule that I have to follow.

 

Breeds bad habits, it does.

 

Never been a 'regular pattern sleeper' tho, ever.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Much of that sounds eerily familiar.

 

 

Funny, I know a lot of people that had chronic insomnia in their late teens.

 

Dr Dement's research (and it is ongoing) indicates that duing the teenager years we need to get up later in the morning ... some schools in Britain have implemented a later beginning for secondary schools with a large effect on the pupils alertness (and consequential memory retention) during the day. Certainly this agrees with my experience.

This I can agree with. But needing more sleep, nope, didn't notice that at all. It may of course be true for some, but not for most - at least not in my experience.

 

I hate and love sleeping. I hate that it takes up so much of my time and I love doing it.

You and me both.

 

Does your father take naps during the day? (This is how sleep patterns change as we age, btw -- Dr Dement, again). My father used to sleep in his recliner most of the day whilst watching every news programme all day.

He usually sleeps slightly less than one hour (from the four total) right after dinner. This hasn't changed in my lifetime though. (My father's in his mid-fifties.)

 

All indications are this is good. Do you go flying? (I bet you do -- that's what everyone does!) It took me an inordinate amount of time to teach myself to "throw myself at the floor and miss", but now I have a ball whenever I lucid dream!

Not that often. I may try to increase my flight hours in the future.

 

Feel free to read his book -- as I said, it's cheap -- he doesn't say you can live on fresh air or eat only green things on Tuesday, or anything remotely silly. It is (nearly) all just common sense ... I bet you'll be going "Oh -- so that's why!" all through the book.

I may try that. Trouble is, if I have something to read, that usually eats out of the time I otherwise would spend asleep.

 

You're a programmer, aren't you?

Not as such. While I have taken a few classes, I've actually done far less programming since than I did prior to said classes. Some things just stick, like the obscure humour.

 

That's the circadien cycle; you will end up sleeping later and later without consciously getting up and reseting the 25hr timer by exposing your eyes to bright multi-spectrum light (e.g. sunlight).

In my case, I think it works the other way round, I seem to stay up one hour later. And nothing I've come across appears to reset that, including AAAAAAAAaa!! Bright light!!! Bright light!!! My mind needs to learn the basics of cycling, I guess.

 

 

Not totally unrelated to the topic at hand, I was somewhat addicted to coffee a while ago. When I could no longer stay alert for very long without several hits of caffeine during the day I decided to make a change. It was quite tough for a few weeks, but now I feel more alert all through the day than I ever did while drinking all that coffee. This could also be due to taking a more healthy approach to life in general. I still drink tea, and after overcoming the addiction, it's no problem to have a cup of coffee every once in a while either.

[metadigital]

Teenagers don't need more sleep, they need to sleep later in the morning. As for your particular sleep patterns, hey, whatever gets you through the day.

 

My father was late seventies when he died six years ago, so your father has a few years to catch him up.

 

Drugs have aprofound effect on the sleep cycle. Alcohol basically puts the brain in a coma-type state, so very little sleep stages 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 and REM take place -- you will wake up more tired than when you passed out the night before after a big night on the tiles.

 

I try to break my caffeine intake regularly -- less than 2 cups of instant / tea a day is not an addiction, but anything over that is. Dang headaches are worse than a lot of other illnesses, I find. nothing beats regular exercise to regulate sleep and all physical systems; there is a definite somatopsychic effect of good health helping better thinking as well, I've found.

 

Nicotine is a very powerful drug too. Wonder drug, almost. Especially good for concentration and memory and even raises aptitude a little. All temporary, all subject to the same diminishing returns and caveats of all drugs (e.g. caffeine). Obviously smoking it causes smoke damage to the lungs. (Lungs are the fastest way to absorb a drug after mainlining it due to the large surface area -- straight into the bloodstream.) I expect it will turn up in other forms (like the gum) for use on its own, soon.

 

Robert Downey Jr interviewed last week (clean) said he got to the stage where he would have a triple espresso to go to bed. (I have got to the stage where I fell asleep after a cup of tea at night.)

[Rosbjerg]

That's the circadien cycle; you will end up sleeping later and later without consciously getting up and reseting the 25hr timer by exposing your eyes to bright multi-spectrum light (e.g. sunlight).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

so in theory it's possible to sleep for about 4 hours and then expose yourself to a multi-spectrum light to avoid sleeping alot during a certain period?

[Kaftan Barlast]

Finally, I concur to Kaftan's bemoaning of the tyranny of the morning people. They'll all be first against the wall when the revolution comes!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's the circadien cycle; you will end up sleeping later and later without consciously getting up and reseting the 25hr timer by exposing your eyes to bright multi-spectrum light (e.g. sunlight).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

But it is a fact that there are morning people and evening people. The supposed theory is that this is a genetic thing, because humans are pack animals and as such it was important to have some individuals working at different "time scheduals". Partially to keep vigil against night-active predators but also to maintain constant hunting/gathering activity.

 

 

This time of year will bring insomnia to some people around here for I live close to the arctic circle and although we dont have actual midnight sun, it goes down and then right back up again without really achieving proper night. So its daylight 20 hours a day with dusk from 23 to 03.

[metadigital]

I get about 5 hrs. most nights. I have bouts with insomnia,  they are mostly stress induced, but can last several weeks. Usually I just smoke tons of pot, I figure my short term memory is shot to hell anyway, so why not?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Those hallucinations you are seeing and voices you are hearing are the onset of schizophrenia... :ph34r:

But it is a fact that there are morning people and evening people. The supposed theory is that this is a genetic thing, because humans are pack animals and as such it was important to have some individuals working at different "time scheduals". Partially to keep vigil against night-active predators but also to maintain constant hunting/gathering activity.

 

 

This time of year will bring insomnia to some people around here for I live close to the arctic circle and although we dont have actual midnight sun, it goes down and then right back up again without really achieving proper night. So its daylight 20 hours a day with dusk from 23 to 03.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not sure it is a fact beyond dispute. I certainly have always favoured night time over early morning (hence my swingshift work), but as to whether that is nature or nurture is very difficult to determine. (There simply hasn't been any research AFAIK.) Not much gathering going on at night. And I also have had periods where I have been an early riser over an extended time, getting up before 6am. The secret is going to bed in time to get a decent nights sleep: for a six am rally I used to be asleep for ten pm.

 

The midnight sun sure would mess with things, also because snow has a refractive index of something extraordinary like 98%, meaning all the sunlight is reflected into your eyes ... must do some mad things to people. Television and drugs (alcohol) mess things up, too. Good experiments!

 

There are two "awake peaks" -- late morning and late evening -- on the cycle, as well as the nadir in the early "afternoon". These are all relative to the body's "start", so when you go to the other side of the world, for example, you will take time to adjust to the local zone. (If you are so tired that you sleep through the late morning you will not wake up until the evening apogee, which is the stronger of the two anyway.)

 

One thing is for sure, there is a lack of understanding and a lot of misinformation about sleep. "

[Child of Flame]

I can sleep when I'm dead!

 

(Damn insomnia. )

[metadigital]

What's the weirdest sleep you've had?

 

I have fallen asleep sitting up and even standing, once. At the wheel of a car (many years ago -- would never get to that stage again -- saw the car in front drive off the road in front of me a couple of months ago).

 

I read about a guy in Manhattan falling asleep as he was walking to work, as in mid-stride. Hard to believe, but I could just about believe it with the NY attitude to sleep and career progression.

[Darth Flatus]

was he narcoleptic?