Continuous sleep is a modern habit, not an evolutionary constant, which helps explain why many of us still wake at 3 am and wonder if something's wrong.
This is peak archaeology/anthropology. Things that really fundamentally overturn assumptions so widespread that we don’t even realize we’re making them. Makes me wanna try sleeping like this for awhile - in conjunction with not using any lights past sunset of course. I wonder if it would be nicer? Or maybe the fact that we have the artificial lights that alter our circadian rhythm actually make it totally fine to have one continuous sleep instead?
I don’t think it makes much difference. I have not had to sleep on a schedule for a long time. I’m only 41 and have physical disability issues that impact sleep, but falling asleep due to exhaustion, waking up for an hour around 3am and sleeping naturally after does not make a profound difference. The biggest difference for me is a quiet environment in the last 2 hours of sleep.
Thanks for sharing your experience! That makes a lot of sense and it’s pretty relieving to hear it honestly. I’m not always about buying into the whole “natural=good” line of reasoning, but biology is nuanced, and sometimes natural really is good. But I’m glad that our bodies are legitimately adaptable when it comes to sleep. I suppose that makes a lot of sense, since daylight hours vary a lot by place and time of year anyways.
This is peak archaeology/anthropology. Things that really fundamentally overturn assumptions so widespread that we don’t even realize we’re making them. Makes me wanna try sleeping like this for awhile - in conjunction with not using any lights past sunset of course. I wonder if it would be nicer? Or maybe the fact that we have the artificial lights that alter our circadian rhythm actually make it totally fine to have one continuous sleep instead?
I don’t think it makes much difference. I have not had to sleep on a schedule for a long time. I’m only 41 and have physical disability issues that impact sleep, but falling asleep due to exhaustion, waking up for an hour around 3am and sleeping naturally after does not make a profound difference. The biggest difference for me is a quiet environment in the last 2 hours of sleep.
Thanks for sharing your experience! That makes a lot of sense and it’s pretty relieving to hear it honestly. I’m not always about buying into the whole “natural=good” line of reasoning, but biology is nuanced, and sometimes natural really is good. But I’m glad that our bodies are legitimately adaptable when it comes to sleep. I suppose that makes a lot of sense, since daylight hours vary a lot by place and time of year anyways.