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I tried to hack my insomnia

technologyreview.com

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Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#11

Post by taneq »

mapcars wrote: post #10
taneq wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have all sorts of hacks. You just need to be careful and may get unintended side effects. (Steroid creams to fix skin conditions, caffeine for energy, alcohol for relaxation and fun, anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, the list goes on.)

>may get unintended side effects. Oh, if one sees the enormity of complexity body & mind has - one can be sure he can not foresee all side effects. I like that you gave examples like caffeine which messes up your nervous system or alcohol which destroys your conscious attention and lever, among other things :)

They do work, though!

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#12

Post by monsieurbanana »

mapcars wrote: post #10
taneq wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have all sorts of hacks. You just need to be careful and may get unintended side effects. (Steroid creams to fix skin conditions, caffeine for energy, alcohol for relaxation and fun, anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, the list goes on.)

>may get unintended side effects. Oh, if one sees the enormity of complexity body & mind has - one can be sure he can not foresee all side effects. I like that you gave examples like caffeine which messes up your nervous system or alcohol which destroys your conscious attention and lever, among other things :)

And I like how you passed up the other examples. Are you also advocating against medical drugs or vaccines? They fit the "hack your body" description to a tee.

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#13

Post by taneq »

monsieurbanana wrote: post #12
mapcars wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>may get unintended side effects. Oh, if one sees the enormity of complexity body & mind has - one can be sure he can not foresee all side effects. I like that you gave examples like caffeine which messes up your nervous system or alcohol which destroys your conscious attention and lever, among other things :)

And I like how you passed up the other examples. Are you also advocating against medical drugs or vaccines? They fit the "hack your body" description to a tee.

Vaccines are another great example, thanks!

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#14

Post by henryaj »

renaudg wrote: post #4

I've been using the Dreem headband for a year and a half and there are enough factual errors about it in this piece to make me distrust the rest of it. Firstly, it doesn't require leaving your smartphone on all night as she writes. Once started, it's autonomous (it even reportedly shuts down its onboard WiFi/BT, probably for power saving reasons but also to alleviate any fears about having an RF emitter so close to y…

Can you write a bit more about your experience using it? Has it helped you sleep better, and would you say it's worth the investment?

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#15

Post by henryaj »

mapcars wrote: post #10
taneq wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have all sorts of hacks. You just need to be careful and may get unintended side effects. (Steroid creams to fix skin conditions, caffeine for energy, alcohol for relaxation and fun, anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, the list goes on.)

>may get unintended side effects. Oh, if one sees the enormity of complexity body & mind has - one can be sure he can not foresee all side effects. I like that you gave examples like caffeine which messes up your nervous system or alcohol which destroys your conscious attention and lever, among other things :)

Caffeine does not "mess up your nervous system"...

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#16

Post by ollysb »

koheripbal wrote: post #6

During a stressful part of my life recently I struggled with getting to sleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about shit that was going on. until one night I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV, and it occurred to me that I could just modify this behaviour to bed. So I put a handful of old Star Trek episodes on my phone. Each night I put me earphones on (so as not to disturb my wife), turn on an episode of Sta…

lol, I'm using Star Trek Enterprise for exactly the same thing at the moment. According to my Oura ring my sleep latency (as they call it - time to fall asleep) is about 5-10mins. I just put an earbud in one ear and sleep on the other side.

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#17

Post by amelius »

Not really on topic, but I'm trying to find some way to get EMG (muscle) readings preferably without using glue (which I suspect can become messy) or disposable electrodes (which can become costly). What is the best way to do this?

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#18

Post by vinceguidry »

mapcars wrote: post #5

Life is not a computer you can hack. I bet we barely understand 1% of how our system works and trying to hack it means one is not even aware of their ignorance.

You're using the word "hack" to refer to what most of us would call "engineering." Life absolutely can be hacked. It just can't be engineered.

Re: I tried to hack my insomnia

#20

Post by [deleted] »

koheripbal wrote: post #6

During a stressful part of my life recently I struggled with getting to sleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about shit that was going on. until one night I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV, and it occurred to me that I could just modify this behaviour to bed. So I put a handful of old Star Trek episodes on my phone. Each night I put me earphones on (so as not to disturb my wife), turn on an episode of Sta…

[deleted]
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