[extropy-chat] Sleeplessness

[Johnius]

Harvey wrote:
This drug eliminates the sleepiness and desire to sleep, 
but it does not eliminate the need for sleep
or the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

	Yes, it's just an initial step in that direction.
	I suppose when we eventually have cell-repairing 
	nanobots in our systems, we may find our need for
	sleep suddenly to be much less...?!

This would be great for
one of our conventions!  It may be reasonable to spend a three-day weekend
without sleep, gaining all the extra hours, and then catching up during the
following week by sleeping slightly longer at night.

	Sounds like an experiment is brewing... :-)


Michael:
Adrafinil, the cheaper cousin of Modafinil, costs around $1.00 a pill for a 
400 mg dose.

	Hmmm ... I suppose both of these are prescription drugs?
	So I'd have to convince my PCP to let me try 'em?


Paul:
I've also experienced a weird state where I've been mentally
processing stuff at night, and wake up instantly alert with
a bunch of new stuff already figured out.

	I've heard of this kind of processing before, and have
	experienced it myself to some degree.  Also, sometimes 
	I'll find that a topic of study or some task that gave
	me difficulty last night will become much easier if not
	trivial in the morning.

I was curious if anyone on the list has any of 
these occurrences/states/experiments etc?

	Hmmm, not so much with me.  I do have one sleep story to
	tell though.  I once went on a 23 hour day while my boss
	was on sabbatical.  Each day I'd wake up an hour earlier
	and proceed as usual, starting with waking around noon.
	It was a very trippy experience ... after a few days, I had
	the odd impression that I was travelling backwards in time!
	As I remembered what the world was like the previous days
	during my wakeup/commute routine, I was acutely aware of 
	phasing backwards ... the sun is high & it's warm & there
	is a steady pace of activity, now the sun is lower & it's
	colder & people are going through their morning routine,
	now the sun is on the horizon & it's very cold & the birds
	are just waking up, now it's dark with the sun just below
	the horizon & the stars are out & it's very quiet, etc.
	I did a similar experiment going on a 26 hour day, and
	it too felt strange and wonderful ... but the 23 hour day
	had a greater psychological impact on me (excitement, wonder,
	magic, trippiness, etc.).

	Best, Johnius