I am person who needs seven/eight hours of sleep; I have been vindicated by neuroscience, psychology and the whole nine yards. But following lines from Hitchen's last book Mortality has been bothering me for a while now...
"This must be some impressive toxin I’m taking. And a mercy for sleep purposes… but all the sleep-aids and blissful dozes seem somehow a waste of life— there’s plenty of future time in which to be unconscious."
I am not arguing sleep is not important but I think we should sleep only if our body wants to sleep. We shouldn't go all pharmacological if we couldn't sleep and instead just do something productive and/or fun. But on the other hand if we are feeling drowsy then we should make it a habit to simply go to bed (of-course excluding the very obvious times). Bottom line, I think we should stop forcing sleeping habits based on social preachings and start listening to the circadian rhythm. And for others who sleep more than 8 hours a day, should take Hitch's words quite literally.
"This must be some impressive toxin I’m taking. And a mercy for sleep purposes… but all the sleep-aids and blissful dozes seem somehow a waste of life— there’s plenty of future time in which to be unconscious."
I am not arguing sleep is not important but I think we should sleep only if our body wants to sleep. We shouldn't go all pharmacological if we couldn't sleep and instead just do something productive and/or fun. But on the other hand if we are feeling drowsy then we should make it a habit to simply go to bed (of-course excluding the very obvious times). Bottom line, I think we should stop forcing sleeping habits based on social preachings and start listening to the circadian rhythm. And for others who sleep more than 8 hours a day, should take Hitch's words quite literally.
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