Friday Five: Sleep

[cjsmith]

[Nicked from serenejournal. This set intrigues me enough I'll do it.]

1. How many hours do you normally sleep at night?
Usually, just about exactly eight. Sometimes pain shrinks that number a bit.

I can do with less, and for short periods of time I can do with much less, but too much of that and I'll come down with something. That's exactly what happened with this cold. I'd been averaging maybe six for maybe a month. Oops.

2. Do you wish you had more time to sleep? Or do you wish that you slept less?
I wish I needed less sleep, but getting less when I need more is not a winning combo.

I also wish drivers with whom I shared the road got more sleep. Sleep dep can be worse than driving drunk, but no one seems to feel guilty about it -- instead they're obscurely proud. Look around you on the road some time and identify the zombies. They really stand out once you start to look!

3. Do you like sleeping?
Not really. I like having slept.

4. What is the longest continuous period that you have spent awake? Why did you do it?
Just about three days. I've done that twice. The second time, I knew when I was hallucinating; the first time I wasn't sure. Both times were during Army training exercises. I'm one of those people who's rather good at staying awake when told to, which is why I wound up going that long without sleep. Most of the other people in my unit quite simply couldn't do it, so didn't get to experience that level of detrimental effect. :-)

5. If you were offered the chance to eliminate sleep from your life, with absolutely no negative physical or psychological side effects, would you take it? Why or why not? What if this chance was only possible for you, and not for any of your friends or family, or society at large?
I would definitely take it. I like a lot of relaxation time -- reading books, meditating, LJ, goofing off -- and I'd use my newfound eight hours for that, freeing up some daylight hours for hanging with friends or getting stuff done.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm with you on #5, definitely!! :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

There aren't enough hours in the day to relax. :-/ Now that I'm on the mend, I have to face going back to my regular life, and I don't like my regular life. Commitments I've made keep me to it, though. Better luck next incarnation.

[platypus]

If sleep were eliminated for society at large, we'd probably be expected to work 12-hour days, and the neighbors would be noisy ALL THE DAMN TIME. Just for me? Sure!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it wouldn't be a boon if it were eliminated for society at large. Within one generation humanity would completely forget how to relax.

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

Instead of doing the meme, I just second your opinion. Only that my standard is down to 4-5h currently, with 6-8h on weekends or alt least saturdays.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You really need only that much sleep?

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

My body seems to have second thoughts on that topic when I'm low on tea ;-)

But usually I drink black tea all day and reduce the sleep accordingly, yes. This way, sleeping long once a week is ok for me.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Glad it works out! I have a chronic pain condition that flares up if I have caffeine, so I can't take that trade like you do. :-)

#2 -- driving sleep deprived

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am REALLY WITH YOU on this one. Both that I try to arrange my life so as to avoid driving tired myself AND that I think sleep deprivation is a cultural norm and way dangerous on the road.

I was just pointificating on this yesterday. How dangerous it is. How culturally supported it is.

Siesta is much more fun IMO.

Re: #2 -- driving sleep deprived

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

How dangerous it is. How culturally supported it is.

Some days I'm *positive* I'm an alien from another planet. Things like this just reinforce that feeling!

Re: #2 -- driving sleep deprived

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

humm. Do you know which planet you are from? Is there a secret handshake or something to try to detect if you might be from the same planet as me?

Just wondering.

Re: #2 -- driving sleep deprived

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Having been orphaned from my home planet, I never learned the secret handshake. But every so often I meet someone who just miiiiight be from my home. I'm never sure, but it's nice to see the possibility. We'll keep an eye out for more of 'em.