Today's NYTimes's Science section has a special feature on sleep, with quite a few articles covering lots of different things. This article by Jane Brody, for example, is on the effects of too little sleep on academics (and other things too); its emphasis is similar to that in Po Bronson's article we linked to a few days ago.
Another article examines the West's taboo proscription against kids co-sleeping with their parents. ["Ask parents if they sleep with their kids, and most will say no. But there is evidence that the prevalence of bed sharing is far greater than reported."]
And finally, this page has some nice quotes from scientists, philosophers, poets and other celebrities. Here's one from Leon Lederman, a physics Nobel winner:
My experience was that one can survive on two to three hours of sleep per night — with occasional naps — for two or three weeks. After that, all pretenses of rationality were blown. I’ve since asked sleep scientists what happens to your brain in a three-minute nap that restores your ability to drive, teach, think and yell at grad students. They’ve never answered.
2 Comments:
Do you know more about the taboo of kids sleeping with their parents? When I was a kid my only options were sleep in bed with parents and siblings or sleep on the floor :)
Biswajit
When left to its own devices my body will sleep for nine hours straight. Usually nine hours exactly. Strange.
I've always thought it was a bit unfair, too. Why couldn't I be like the NYT person whose body only sleeps for seven?
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