

Myths About Sleep - ssn
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/7-myths-about-sleep

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theblackbox
Why does this community have a minor obsession with sleep? I'm asking out of
genuine curiosity.

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nazgulnarsil
because a lot of programmers are the type who reject their natural sleep
rhythm any time it becomes an inconvenience to getting work done. since this
is fairly often (lots of articles have been written on why people doing
creative work stay up late, won't rehash here) they wind up with chronic sleep
problems when others demand that they conform to a schedule (read: the rest of
the world).

my take: One of my MAIN goals for making a lot of money is to get to the point
where I can just sleep whenever I feel like sleeping.

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theblackbox
okay so to take this further, what motivations are there for breaking the
"natural sleep rhythm" that are prevalent in the world of creative
entrepreneurs (hackers) but not so in the "rest of the world"

You gave the exact answer I was expecting, but I'm not convinced this
suffices. It /IS/ an obsession... my late night coffee binges are the stuff of
legend (mostly because I rely entirely on natural stimulants when my other
friends take more unorthodox steps to maintain.... "consciousness")... but WHY
is this so? My stimulated friends are there for the simple pleasure of being
wrecked on particular drugs, does the brain of a hacker/creative entrepreneur
expect a similar payout? you mentioned being motivated by money... so by
breaking (or taming?) the natural rhythms of sleep, does one invest some
abstract personal commodity in the hope of future security? What could
motivate this?

[ASIDE: notice that I'm trying to _START A DISCUSSION_.... voters/recent
posters would do well to take that into consideration as for some reason it
has been overlooked of late]

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nazgulnarsil
I think money is a background concern, with the foreground being puzzle
solving. the fact that you are ultimately being paid for said puzzle solving
just adds to your rationalization for staying up. once you get in "the zone"
you don't want to leave it, since you know that you are 10 times more
productive while in it.

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theblackbox
So it's just a quirk of a hacker's mind that puzzle solving (and possibly peer
admiration) is addictive? My reasoning being that we all KNOW that it is not
good for ones health, but those that can access flow/"the zone" do so to burn
bright and die young? I'm also thinking of performers there...

sorry if I'm rambling, but I find this a very interesting topic... not just
because I indulge in this, but because it's becoming more and more common and
I can only see it as self destructive. What good is a creative outlet that
forces you into burnout? Why does the hacker mindset look for ways to cheat
around the obviously unsustainable lifestyle? Is it pride? being a
perfectionist? simple delusion that the system is geared to reward those that
over-invest their energy?

I can see myself falling off a damn rocky road any day now, and it's got me
thinking: why was it that I couldn't get to the same place using an easier
route? Money? is that it, does it all boil down to simple investment? most
hackers aren't backed by anything more than their determination and a vision
that simply _must be realised_ .... but that's Obsession!?

/me stops having a mini-breakdown

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tocomment
I think this one is no longer a myth:

3\. Some people function perfectly on four hours of sleep.

I read about a gene that some people have that lets them do this:
<http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/813/2>

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berntb
Thanks for the tip but we'll have to wait a decade, at least, for therapeutic
gene therapy.

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bkj123
nice read

