And it’s impossible to sleep too much more than normal; the better rested we are, the harder it is to fall asleep.
This isn’t true, as far as I can see. I know several people who have fallen into the habit of sleeping much more than is normal for months or years, with no apparent physiological reason. Also, I notice that when I sleep in, I typically get up because I don’t want to waste more of the day, and never seem to have trouble going back to sleep if I choose to do that. For someone sufficiently unmotivated to do anything, I think sleeping for most of each 24 hours would be possible.
I think that has less to do with willpower and more to do with the way that most of the developed world has been crazy on sleep-dep since the invention of the electric light.
Hm. One point in favor of that possibility is that both of the people I know closely who’ve done this spent virtually all of their waking hours when it was dark out, during these periods.
And the alarm clock. I’d like to go back in time and kill the evil genius that invented the alarm clock. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE them!
(And no doubt the evil genius’s evil twin contributed the snooze button.)
For someone sufficiently unmotivated to do anything, I think sleeping for most of each 24 hours would be possible.
I’ve actually tried that, and it doesn’t really work. First of all, sooner or later, I need to go to the bathroom, eat, and all those other things. Second, I generally just end up lying in bed, mostly awake, letting my mind wander freely thinking about nothing in particular instead of actually sleeping.
In The Discovery of France, I read of one region of France where all the peasants during winter simply holed up in their houses, bundled up together, eating very little, and just sleeping or dozing the days away. Outsiders were struck how very like hibernating bears they were.
This isn’t true, as far as I can see. I know several people who have fallen into the habit of sleeping much more than is normal for months or years, with no apparent physiological reason. Also, I notice that when I sleep in, I typically get up because I don’t want to waste more of the day, and never seem to have trouble going back to sleep if I choose to do that. For someone sufficiently unmotivated to do anything, I think sleeping for most of each 24 hours would be possible.
I think that has less to do with willpower and more to do with the way that most of the developed world has been crazy on sleep-dep since the invention of the electric light.
Hm. One point in favor of that possibility is that both of the people I know closely who’ve done this spent virtually all of their waking hours when it was dark out, during these periods.
And the alarm clock. I’d like to go back in time and kill the evil genius that invented the alarm clock. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE them!
(And no doubt the evil genius’s evil twin contributed the snooze button.)
I’ve actually tried that, and it doesn’t really work. First of all, sooner or later, I need to go to the bathroom, eat, and all those other things. Second, I generally just end up lying in bed, mostly awake, letting my mind wander freely thinking about nothing in particular instead of actually sleeping.
In The Discovery of France, I read of one region of France where all the peasants during winter simply holed up in their houses, bundled up together, eating very little, and just sleeping or dozing the days away. Outsiders were struck how very like hibernating bears they were.