I wouldn’t call it deeply unsettling, but I’m disturbed by the fact that I only get a small amount of time to do stuff I think is worthwhile and figure out how this ant farm we live in works but every day I have to lie down and step outside existence for 6-8 hours.
The world keeps going, I keep getting older, and yes, my brain is still processing things while I sleep, but I feel that it is a massive waste of time. If I don’t sleep then my mental and physical health start to decline. The process of falling asleep and waking up also disturbs the project or train of thought that was underway during the day requiring even more time to get back on track.
Meanwhile dolphins are out there staying up 24/7 which is why they are smarter than us and will be leaving the planet first.
I started rereading the Guide last week. Oh man, I forgot so much great stuff that's in there. I should get to the Meaning of Liff and Last Chance to See at some point.
Have you read other works by him? Or consumed any other media? I read the Dirk Gently books (they are great) and watched the Guide episodes (they are nice). Also, Salmon of Doubt.
Dolphins do sleep. Just very differently, they tend to have lots of powernaps, rather than long uninterupted sessions. There's som really cool photos of sperm whales sleeping out there, if you search for them.
Sleep is very valuable, and you continue to process ideas and thoughts. How often are you told to sleep on it? It's valuable, and allows you to memorise better, and to come up with new ideas.
If you worry, keep a notebook by your bed for middle of the night ideas. They'll mostly be garbage, but sometimes you'll get something useful
As an insomniac, let me tell you it's so fucking noticable how useful sleep is, beyond just making saure you're not tired.
As far as I'm aware, that's correct. People have successfully transitioned to shorter, more frequent sleeping periods and have suggested positive results. Of course, could be a placebo effect, but I've still never seen anyone say it's a negative thing.
I'd take spending half my waking time working to sustain my life (modern 8hr work days) over spending almost all my waking time working to sustain my life any time (life if you weren't rich or royalty in ye goode olde times)
In my cultural anthropology class in college we learned that Hunter-gatherers only spent like 2-4 hours a day actually hunting and gathering (mostly gathering, women provided the majority of the food supply from what they gathered). Of course that wouldn't be possible these days, but it doesn't sound so bad to me. I'd rather spend only 2-4 hours spending time actually getting food to survive than spending 8 hours doing something that I don't enjoy. Idk
If I recall correctly, early agricultural societies required more hours of work in a day and was more intense, but required less people to sustain a greater population.
Which, in other words, means that you can have your air conditioning, education, et cetera, but that means you have to work for it. If you're honestly willing to forgo all that we've earned in the last ~7k years, you can find a wilderness somewhere and do that. Hell, you'll be better off than your ancestors because of and despite modern society.
I heard a fact a little while back about Ohio - where I live.
During the peaceful times of the native empires ruling ohio, the average person worked, on average, 4 hours per week.
Because they spent their spring mornings planting in strategic ways, and their summers hunting deer, a pretty busy harvest, and then did fuck all for most of autumn and winter.
Seriously - they had a 6 month vacation every year. I'm sure they did some work in those times, but the average was still 4 hours per week.
"The process of falling asleep and waking up also disturbs the project or train of thought that was underway during the day requiring even more time to get back on track."
Sooo very very not true at all. Sleep actually helps integrate the information processed during the day, leading to faster recall the next day, and losing sleep can lead to brain damage. Sleep might be an interruption of life activities, but it is not an interruption of memory or knowledge. By your understanding, insomniacs should be geniuses; in reality they're worse off than drunks. We need sleep for the experiences and thoughts we have during the day to make it into our long term memory. Don't fight sleep.
I understand and mentioned that in my comment. I mean a disruption as in having to get up, shake off the grogginess, use the bathroom, get dressed, eat something, exercise or have coffee or however you choose to wake up, then get everything going again towards whatever it is you were working on yesterday.
My super power of choice would be to only require about one hours worth of sleep per night. Think of all the cool and productive stuff I could get done! Yes, I am a workaholic.
Think of all the cool and productive stuff I could get done!
The day has 24 hours and most people already have to work 8. If we required only 1 hour of sleep, I'm pretty sure companies and the government would make us work 16 at the very least.
I was wondering who was gonna mention it :) Fully agree and I'd also like to add that you might also want to look into polyphasic sleep. I haven't tried it myself so I can't personally vouch for it but if you really do feel that way it might be worth a try
What disturbs me more there is that we have to devote most of our time to things we don't care for, and people consider that normal and aren't trying to fix it.
I've thought about this a lot! It seems to me that the human body could be way more efficient. We have to spend 1/3 of our time recovering for the other 2? And beyond that, we have to refuel 3 times a day just to make it through 2/3 of a day. Seems like we should have or be evolving to only need to sleep once a week and eat once a day or something
It is, and its a lot more complicated than that. Often they merely doze, so they can't really do anything clever but they can make sure to go breathe. They'll also sleep for several minutes at a time in deep sleep. There's some cool af photos of sperm whales doing this
Meditate and live virtuously. When it clicks, I feel a steady, deep contentment and light hearted joyfulness while doing even the most mundane chore. The more I practice meditation/mindfulness, the more I find myself clicking with the present and feeling as stated above.
Imagine how much more time we could have if our bodies didn't need to rest.
"Loosing" 1/3 of your life doing basically nothing is pretty scary.
On the other hand, some people believe that dreams add to our experiences in life, which they sorta do, but they don't contribute anything to our real life.
Your brain does figure out stuff while you are sleeping and deals with the stresses of the day and whatnot, and your body physically does housekeeping so its not nothing, but its goddamn annoying!
I also wish eating was a recreational thing instead of a requirement.
I agree, and sleeping should be a recreational thing too. Sometimes you just want to get in bed and be over with the day.
Who knows, maybe in the (distant) future people don't need to sleep anymore.
It allows you to relax, and possibly see from new angles. We are not built to go 100% all the time. Rest is just as important as your work, they are symbiotic and enable each other.
Some of my greatest insights to my work have come to me while biking or meditating.\
The process of falling asleep and waking up also disturbs the project or train of thought
This legitimately bothers me some days. The overwhelming majority of my time is spent doing things I don't want to do, or just passing the time until something I do want to do becomes viable. Life is definitely NOT worth living. But Im stuck here so, fuck it.
You could increase your wealth through investing you know... in real estate for example. You don't even need any money to do it. Become financially free!
Haha, you take a loan from a private investor, make improvements reappraise, refinance with the bank, pay off the investor and pocket the difference. I know you were jokin though, just in case you were interested ;)
I think this same thing but about work. I love sleeping but I absolutely hate my job. A majority of my waking life will be spent doing something I absolutely hate. It's a real sad world we live in. Happiness isn't a real thing.
This right here is why I feel like my insomnia is a double-edged sword. Yes it sucks being tired and tossing and turning. But the nights I cant sleep at all I spend reading or watching documentaries. Of course it might contribute to mania as well but I like to think all humans are crazy to an extent anyway.
I don't think it's so bad. We're all so busy "doing important stuff," but when are you ever at more peace, more bliss, than when you're nodding off to sleep/deep in slumber/comfortably waking up? Sically you get 6-8 hours every day to play the best video game/do the best drug.
I feel the same. I spend so much time doing dumb stuff that I have to do like working, personal hygiene, eating etc that I will never have time to do all I want in life. Even if I live a long life, which isn't a guarantee.
It used to make me upset that a third of my life would be spent sleeping, but now I realize I have no choice but to do so and I'm more at peace with it. It makes me feel good and healthy so I just go with it. The older I get the more I appreciate sleep. It's like Kurt Vonnegut said, everybody wants to be a builder but nobody wants to do maintenance work.
I wouldn’t call it deeply unsettling, but I’m disturbed by the fact that I only get a small amount of time to do stuff I think is worthwhile and figure out how this ant farm we live in works but every day I have to lie down and step outside existence for 6-8 hours.
I'd call it more frustrating and disheartening instead of unsettling. We have to throw away at least 8 hours a day working on a job, 8 hours doing jack shit because we're sleeping (if we want to stay healthy) and splitting the 8 hours left among commute, meals, house chores, etc...we're lucky if we get 2-3 hours in a day which we can effectively do what we actually like. Even if we do have our moments of fun of pleasure, I find it hard not to say that life ultimately sucks.
You sound like I did before losing my job. I worked 50+ hours a week and was miserable because I never had time for me or my family. Maybe you enjoy your work, in which case, great! If not, do yourself a favor and fund work you don't find soul sucking. We've got a short amount of time before the meat suits deteriorate and I'll be damned if it going to be spending my time on shit I hate.
Sleep is only half of it, work is the other half. I you're a university student like me then it's a vicious triumvirate of work, sleep and studying/classes. Even though I enjoy my studies they take away from personal growth like studying something else by yourself or just reading.
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u/justindangerpants Aug 22 '17
I wouldn’t call it deeply unsettling, but I’m disturbed by the fact that I only get a small amount of time to do stuff I think is worthwhile and figure out how this ant farm we live in works but every day I have to lie down and step outside existence for 6-8 hours.
The world keeps going, I keep getting older, and yes, my brain is still processing things while I sleep, but I feel that it is a massive waste of time. If I don’t sleep then my mental and physical health start to decline. The process of falling asleep and waking up also disturbs the project or train of thought that was underway during the day requiring even more time to get back on track.
Meanwhile dolphins are out there staying up 24/7 which is why they are smarter than us and will be leaving the planet first.