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Real Men Go to Sleep

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Re: Real Men Go to Sleep

#3

Post by x0054 »

While studying for the bar, I used to take 2 hour 'naps' in the middle of the day. My schedule was 4 hours on, some food and nap, 4 hours on. Probably most productive 3 months of my life. I got to say, those siesta embracing countries might be on to something.

Re: Real Men Go to Sleep

#4

Post by StandardFuture »

This article argues that the 'American idea' of regarding sleep as weak/unecessary stems from the early industrial days with men like Thomas Edison. Hmmm ... it seems that the American industrial age and beyond has had a lot more productivity than at any other time in history. And you know who else didn't consider sleep of very high importance? Isaac Newton.

Oh, but some guy writing a random article with nearly zero authority has accomplished SO MUCH MORE than any of those men right?

I understand the importance of sleep and its effects on mentality and productivity. But, I really don't think we are going to properly understand the implications behind sleeping schedules for individual (types) with some random internet articles that we keep linking to on HN.

EDIT: This may get downvoted, but since I assume HN is an intellectual discussion site, it would be appropriate to offer up your counter-arguments to my points rather than just give a "NAY!" gesture hiding anonymously under the guise of some sort of self-righteousness. Thanks.

Re: Real Men Go to Sleep

#5

Post by bilalq »

cdbattags wrote: post #2

ironic that this is upvoted while the US is asleep

Or rather, should be asleep.

Working odd hours late at night was a habit I developed while doing my undergrad. Unfortunately, I ended up carrying it over into my professional life as well, and I'm certainly not alone in that regard. It's almost 3am here, and I still find myself working.

Re: Real Men Go to Sleep

#6

Post by androidb »

Closed the page before reading the article for the fact that they popped up a modal advertisement window with a black background - ironic is that Adblock removed the ad content so it was a white box on a black background.

Re: Real Men Go to Sleep

#7

Post by atlantic »

StandardFuture wrote: post #4

This article argues that the 'American idea' of regarding sleep as weak/unecessary stems from the early industrial days with men like Thomas Edison. Hmmm ... it seems that the American industrial age and beyond has had a lot more productivity than at any other time in history. And you know who else didn't consider sleep of very high importance? Isaac Newton. Oh, but some guy writing a random article with nearly zero…

The OP cites scientifically-established correlations between low productivity and sleep deprivation. You, on the other hand, point to a couple of heavyweight counter-examples (Edison and Newton), plus one historical period (early industrial) and leave it at that. Macho attitudes like yours are the exact reason why common-sense attitudes to sleeping hours have not taken hold in companies. There doesn't seem to be much to argue with in your comment.

Re: Real Men Go to Sleep

#8

Post by tehwalrus »

StandardFuture wrote: post #4

This article argues that the 'American idea' of regarding sleep as weak/unecessary stems from the early industrial days with men like Thomas Edison. Hmmm ... it seems that the American industrial age and beyond has had a lot more productivity than at any other time in history. And you know who else didn't consider sleep of very high importance? Isaac Newton. Oh, but some guy writing a random article with nearly zero…

Anecdata. You forgot Margaret Thatcher (4 hour nights).

The article also pointed to a counterexample - Albert Einstein (10 hour nights).

Anecdotes are not sufficient to prove either point, you should look at the research on this. And research shows[1] that animals that are sleep deprived perform significantly worse in cognitive tasks.

Now, when humans start being "sleep deprived" will vary among individuals - but at least 6 hours is definitely required in most of us (of course, exceptions to every rule.)

[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2982737/

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