A few years ago I decided that not getting sleep was not good. I yap about napping a lot but it is one of the few things I make a point of doing. And I am not talking about dealing with a cold. But I seem to have put my head down last night at 4:30 pm and pretty much snoozed until 7:15 am. I remember one 9 pm to 2 pm snooze years ago when I visited a pal's place, a huge old manse, and they just let me go to see how long I would sleep. One other time, not long after having kids, I was at a business retreat and no one noticed that I slipped stay at 8 pm, barely getting up to find the last scraps of lunch. I think I tried to convince people that I had been in the "other" presentation but it turned out there was only one.
I read about second sleeps a few years ago, that there is some evidence for sleeping patters in the pre-inductrial past being different, more 7 pm to 1 am and 3 pm to 6 pm. There's a wikiality post on it called "segmented sleep". There seems to have been an article on the topic in an eggheady periodical as noted by this website as well as at the end of this article. Interesting to note that it is electric lighting that is blamed for the change and how dreams would have been more a topic of discussion. If dreams were as surreal then as today, they would have been more noteworthy in a pre-mass-entertainment and even pre-surrealism world as well.
Comments
Rhea - November 26, 2006 10:39 AM
I have a feeling that all kinds of different sleep patterns would emerge if our society weren't tied to shift work and 9 to 5 work. I would love to experience that. Imagine sleeping when you're tired instead of having to sleep because you have to be at work, etc!
gr - November 26, 2006 10:46 AM
I had surreal dreams about YOU last night, Alan.
cm - November 26, 2006 12:14 PM
I was curious to see what my sleep patterns would be like when I wasn't working: Would I nap every afternoon? Would I sleep in late every morning? In the end, it was simply to bed an hour later than usual and up an hour later. Perhaps three months wasn't long enough for a change to occur.
Matt Fletcher - November 26, 2006 12:34 PM
During five and a half years as an undergraduate and graduate student, the only thing I was required to be awake for was 8-15 hours of classes a week. As such, during these years I pretty much slept whenever I wanted. I went through cycles of sleeping from 04:00-12:30 as well as as from 22:00-05:30 or more commonly from 05:00-07:30 when papers were due. Now that I'm living with a partner and in the transition to a more work-oriented life I'm sleeping much more when everyone else sleeps. Generally 00:00-07:30.
gorthos - November 26, 2006 2:21 PM
I am still living the fantasy that I do not need sleep and most often hit the pillow at 11:00 - 11:30 and up at 5:30 for the commute. I did however go unconscious today when waking my wife from 8:30 - 10:00 and boy did I feel great when I awoke. Not grumpy or anarchistic at all ha ha! Maybe Anarchists just need more sleep or s3x. Maybe thats the secret to all world problems.
Gordo - November 26, 2006 10:23 PM
I remember hearing about a study of the coronary health of Greek men 7 to 8 years ago. Half the sample still took the traditional daily siesta, half did not. The men who did not nap had a much higher incidence of heart disease. I can't find the study online for the numbers, though.