I find that the signaling aspect maybe accounts for 20-30% of the phenomenon.
I think that about 20-30% of the time (off the top of my head), my good conversations happen late at night because we stay up late because we’re in a good conversation. But more often, we stay up late because we just don’t want to go to sleep, and then it is like 3 in the morning, and something about it being 3 in the morning triggers good conversation.
It would be interesting to test what actually about “it being late” triggers the good conversation. For example, you could test to see if it is tiredness, or time of the day, or how many hours it’s been since you woke up.
I think it could be coupled to our circadian rhythm. Maybe there is something that makes deep thoughts enjoyable in the night. Usually we don’t get there with our unnatural unsegmented sleep, but when skipping the first segment maybe we accidentally get in the sweet spot.
I find that there is a self-signaling aspect to this: “if I’m staying up late to have this conversation, it must be interesting / important”.
I find that the signaling aspect maybe accounts for 20-30% of the phenomenon.
I think that about 20-30% of the time (off the top of my head), my good conversations happen late at night because we stay up late because we’re in a good conversation. But more often, we stay up late because we just don’t want to go to sleep, and then it is like 3 in the morning, and something about it being 3 in the morning triggers good conversation.
It would be interesting to test what actually about “it being late” triggers the good conversation. For example, you could test to see if it is tiredness, or time of the day, or how many hours it’s been since you woke up.
I think reduced inhibitions that come with tiredness might help here.
I suspect I’ve experienced a similar phenomenon on occasion. But to make sure, how would you define “good conversation” in this context?
Intellectual, deep, serious, personal, revealing, engaging. Something along those lines.
Same with me.
I think it could be coupled to our circadian rhythm. Maybe there is something that makes deep thoughts enjoyable in the night. Usually we don’t get there with our unnatural unsegmented sleep, but when skipping the first segment maybe we accidentally get in the sweet spot.