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Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

atlasobscura.com

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Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#181

Post by strawcomb »

astura wrote: post #87
strawcomb wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a weighted blanket can trigger an uptick in the brain’s production of serotonin Surely that could be a result of conditioning.

Well anti-anxiety compression vests work for cats and dogs and there's some very preliminary evidence that deep pressure touch improves subjective relaxation https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3688151/ This is actually the first time I've ever heard of weighed blankets. As someone with severe anxiety that's helped with a hard squeeze, I'm very interested in getting one, I just wish I could try one first.

> work for cats and dogs That could still be conditioning.

> deep pressure touch improves subjective relaxation That could still be conditioning.

I'm not saying it definitely is conditioning, but I don't see enough evidence to rule it out.

For example, these animals could associate the pressure with the warmth and comfort of being the in the womb. So in a way they've been conditioned by being in the womb. Maybe animals grown in a 'test tube' wouldn't give the same results.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#182

Post by rootw0rm »

bmelton wrote: post #143
overcast wrote: post #96

It's a weight thing for me, and not a warmth thing. I crave the feeling of something on me when I'm sleeping. Probably a sense of security. I've been on the eternal hunt for something heavy weight, and low heat. Currently using 3 x varying weights of knit cotton blankets, and does the job.

Conversely, I prefer the lightest-weight covering possible, but I inexplicably still need something to cover me. In the summer time, I like a lightweight sheet, and will stick with that deep into the fall. Even if temperatures do drop overnight, I like that the sheet somewhat contains my own body heat and is relatively warm inside the sheet. Of course, in the winter time I'll upgrade to a blanket, but I try to stick…

Same here. I've lived places where it might still be 80F at midnight, but I still need a sheet.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#183

Post by nutherforgot »

Momquist wrote: post #174
nutherforgot wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I provide an explanation for why I'm not reading it, and you vote me down. Remarkable.

Since you are new to HN, you may not know this, but it is considered poor form to complain about being downvoted. And more often than not, it invites even more downvotes as a result. From the HN Guidelines (which I recommend reading): > Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If it bothers you this much, y…

I'm not new, I've had countless accounts over the years, about a decade longer than you, with complete disinterest in being gamified, a different account on each browser on each device. You get excited about karma if you like. The complaint wasn't about being downvoted, it was about the people who do it with a complete lack of rationality, or consistency if you look at the other comments. Some threads attract intelligent people, some threads... bless. I've always considered HN downvoting to be broken, and will complain about it as much as I like. Guidelines are for children and idiots; I've lived long enough to know how to behave without some valley kid's views. Delete it for what? Flag it if you want - I've seen far more stupid flags than that.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#184

Post by nutherforgot »

avip wrote: post #125
nutherforgot wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I provide an explanation for why I'm not reading it, and you vote me down. Remarkable.

It's very healthy to read things we don't relate to. This is sometimes referred to as "learning".

You're going to learn from something based on a false premise?

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#185

Post by nutherforgot »

avip wrote: post #125
nutherforgot wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I provide an explanation for why I'm not reading it, and you vote me down. Remarkable.

It's very healthy to read things we don't relate to. This is sometimes referred to as "learning".

"I read the article and thought it was generally vapid." -- somewhere above. Learning. Feels like I'm on Limitless.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#186

Post by Terr_ »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #81
sandworm101 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In all seriousness, they protect from anything hunting via heat. Snakes and a great many insects wont notice a warm body covering in an insulating blanket as they would bare flesh.

Is the temperature of the blanket or sheet, under which I'd be sweating profusely for 8 hours, meaningfully less than the temperature of my bare flesh without the covering? My metabolism is still producing the same amount of heat energy, and my radiant surface area doesn't increase much. If anything, the efficiency of convective and evaporative cooling drops significantly when I cover myself, so you'd think that the…

In terms of the "hunting snake theory", perhaps it's a radiation-vs-convection thing?

Supposing your body has the same amount of waste-heat per second and the whole system has reached a steady state, perhaps less of it would be leaving as infrared light (detectable by some snakes' "pit organ") and a greater proportion would be leaving via the upward rise of warmed air.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#187

Post by elliotec »

fapjacks wrote: post #163
elliotec wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to live in the Philippines with no AC and even then, except for the hottest nights, we slept with light sheets/blankets on. Sometimes with the fan blowing under the blanket on hot nights.

> except for the hottest nights

Fewer than once a month.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#188

Post by nubbins »

Some brilliant person once pointed out that apart from temperature a sheet is like white noise for your skin, which after all is a big sensory organ. Without a blanket all the tiny hairs on your skin pick up tiny air currents or whatever energy is going on in the room unless youre covered in clothes.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#189

Post by 5_minutes »

projektir wrote: post #38
5_minutes wrote: post #3

It’s an interesting question, and could have imagined people sharing their beds with pets, but with livestock? Is funny. I personally have sleeping problems in rooms that are too warm, and warm blankets don't help. It's not when going to bed but a few hours in - around REM time? I wake up panicking as if I'm suffocating. That's why I always sleep with the window open, also when it freezes on the winter. My SO is not…

Oh god, I'm not the only one who has this? I had trouble sleeping in a room my parents made for me and they wouldn't believe me when I said the room is too hot. If it's like 74F or above or so I can't sleep and I'll just continually wake up with that suffocating feeling. Is there a name for this? It doesn't seem normal and I'm dreading it come summer in a city with no AC...

This seems to nail it: http://highlysensitiveperson.net/episode2/

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#190

Post by 4ad »

nubbins wrote: post #188

Some brilliant person once pointed out that apart from temperature a sheet is like white noise for your skin, which after all is a big sensory organ. Without a blanket all the tiny hairs on your skin pick up tiny air currents or whatever energy is going on in the room unless youre covered in clothes.

I have to have a blanket, or at least long sleeves, otherwise I am greatly disturbed by my own breathing as it reflects from the wall back into me.

My partner think I'm nuts.

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