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What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

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Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#281

Post by stallmanite »

dagaci wrote: post #224

There is a period during sleep where the body engages in rapidly flushing the brain of cerebrospinal fluids. This action is intensely physical and disturbing, however with the exception of the most serene true-insomniacs only a tiny fraction of people will directly experience it. They say this prevents the build up of harmful toxins in the brain, and that the failure to do this over time can be a contributor to the o…

Would love further reading about the brain flushing being physically felt if you were awake.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#282

Post by mywacaday »

motivic wrote: post #9

In case you feel sleep is a waste of time, it could actually be surprisingly productive to sleep. Once thing I noticed in grad school is that your sub-conscious is passively working on the problems you encountered even if you are not actively thinking about them. And often I would "dream" up a clever solution to a homework problem during my sleep. J.P. Serre, one of the most brilliant mathematician still living today…

I refer to it as my hamster, it sits in the background spinning the wheel of whatever problem I'm stuck on. I find it works best if I actively think about the problem before sleep and then consciously put it out of my mind by doing something else. It might take a few days but there is usually an A-Ha! moment out of nowhere.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#283

Post by blunte »

Filligree wrote: post #254
leadingthenet wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but is it a better alternative than hunting/farming in groups? I'm not convinced.

Farming is not a good life. Hunter/gatherers famously had it much better. Doesn't matter. The sustainable population of farmers is orders is magnitudes higher, to the point that they can push out any hunter-gatherers almost without noticing. I hope that modern life is at least closing on that quality of life, but I don't think it is yet, for most people.

What most people know as farming is not the only nor most effective way to grow food in trade of time and resources.

Permaculture practices, "food forests", etc. are a better alternative and take most of their effort in the several year setup process. Once in balance, they are generally self sufficient and can produce significant amounts of edible food.

That's not to say everyone should become a "farmer", but for people in the HN community, it should warrant some study (it's all about systems design and design patterns).

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#284

Post by blunte »

Kiro wrote: post #197
koonsolo wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a valid point. But on the other hand, this is ycombinator news, and so entrepreneurs trying to get that last bit of productivity by doing an all nighter might think more long-term about this.

Hacker News is the complete opposite nowadays. People who tries to maximize productivity are frowned upon. The norm is to put your family, friends, travelling and stuff like that before anything else.

There's a visible shift in HN, but I certainly don't see HN so extreme on the end that you are stating as absolute.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#285

Post by jakebellacera »

koonsolo wrote: post #170
surfsvammel wrote: post #138

If sleep is so important. Why didn’t we evolve to have our newborns and toddlers not destroy our sleep? Are parents sacrificed for the well being of the kiddos? sleep deprived and frustrated father

Hey I feel you. A lot of people might not like my answer, but here it goes. I have a 2,5 month old daughter, and my wife breastfeeds her. During the night, I don't wake up because she immediately gives her milk when she wakes up. There are a few things evolution gave us for support (correct me if these 'facts' are wrong): - When women breastfeed, they get some hormone that can put them into REM sleep way faster. - Me…

I'm in a very similar situation right now: my daughter is 2.5 months old and my wife breastfeeds. And while the first month was rough for both of us; ironically, I feel like I've been sleeping better than I have in years during the last month. Probably because I know that I need to sleep to perform my best when I work so I can provide for my family.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#286

Post by e40 »

dagaci wrote: post #224

There is a period during sleep where the body engages in rapidly flushing the brain of cerebrospinal fluids. This action is intensely physical and disturbing, however with the exception of the most serene true-insomniacs only a tiny fraction of people will directly experience it. They say this prevents the build up of harmful toxins in the brain, and that the failure to do this over time can be a contributor to the o…

This action is intensely physical and disturbing

Can you expand on that?

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#287

Post by Cshelton »

meshenna wrote: post #268
mantap wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have many epiphanies on the toilet. I'm not sure if it's extra blood flowing to the brain or what but the throne seems to add extra IQ.

Likely it's simply because that's one of the few occasions in modern life when we're not being bombarded with external stimuli. A few minutes of silence and your brain goes: "Right, now's a good time to present this thing I've been working on." Same thing with showers.

it also has "occupying" part of your brain with something simple it is used to so it allows you to think of things that would be hard otherwise.

If you simply sat in a chair and starred at a wall, you don't have the same effect as being in the shower, toilet, car, on a walk, etc.

Also for many, simply sitting in a room listening to music can do this as well. It's like your brain needs to distract itself from... itself.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#288

Post by OJFord »

rwmj wrote: post #261
OJFord wrote: post #249

> Your reaction time will begin lagging around hour 18; after a full night without sleep, it will nearly triple—which, for context, is about the same as being legally drunk. Wouldn't a reaction test be much better than breathalysing? 1. it would catch reasons (such as this) for being unfit to drive besides drunkenness 2. it would work whatever your weight / propensity for absorbing alcohol 3. it tests the actual thin…

Is "legally drunk" (also used in the article) some American term? What does it mean and how is it different from "illegally drunk"?

I also thought that was odd, it appears in my comment due to quoting the article, not me using it.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#289

Post by opportune »

numlock86 wrote: post #118
motivic wrote: post #9

In case you feel sleep is a waste of time, it could actually be surprisingly productive to sleep. Once thing I noticed in grad school is that your sub-conscious is passively working on the problems you encountered even if you are not actively thinking about them. And often I would "dream" up a clever solution to a homework problem during my sleep. J.P. Serre, one of the most brilliant mathematician still living today…

> I noticed in grad school that your sub-conscious is passively working on the problems you encountered even if you are not actively thinking about them As other comments already mentioned, this works amazing for problem solving related jobs as well. As an engineer I use this actively on almost a weekly basis. To make this work you just gotta really think about that problem and understand the actual parameters very w…

I completely agree. I fully discounted the value of sleep when I was in school but now professionally I use it in a very similar way.

When I need to learn how to use a new tool, I’ll read through the docs, some tutorial examples and try to find an actual complicated example (which is usually what I actually need to work with) of how it’s used. The first day, I kind of get it in theory but struggle to connect how the tool interacts with everything else. If I get a good night’s sleep I’m usually ready to get my hands dirty the next day with the complicated stuff because my understanding greatly increased overnight

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#290

Post by hanley »

brador wrote: post #211
LeonB wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have just such a 2 page bullet point list here: https://til.secretgeek.net/sleep/Getting_to_sleep_and_stayin... Also recommend Meditation, PMR (progressive muscle relaxation) and listening to binaural beats (via Spotify). And wish you well :)

5 and 6 clash. 10 is wrong. Binaurals foster dependency, do not use. Add focused breathing.

> Add focused breathing.

5 minutes of box breathing (4 seconds inhale, 4 hold, 4 exhale, 4 hold) has been very helpful at calming my mind and feeling more ready to fall asleep.

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