[ExI] why sleep?

[spike at rainier66.com]

This research group claims to be closing in on figuring out what actually
slays the insomniac:

 

https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-sleep-deprivation-kills-20200604/

 

If we can prove this study correct and figure out an alternative means of
accomplishing the same thing without sleeping, oh that would be cool: you
get the functional equivalent of a third more time to do fun stuff.

 

As cool as this is, I must admit skepticism.  Any organism which never
sleeps would have such a big advantage over sleepers in the survival
department, one would think evolution would have stumbled upon whatever we
can do in the lab at some point.  The insomniac beast could hunt night and
day, find sleeping beasts to attack and devour, get a huge advantage.

 

On the other hand, we can do some pretty cool stuff in the lab.  So. let us
hope it is true.

 

Aside: we have long theorized that sleeping gives our muscles time to repair
and regenerate tissue etc, but in our modern world, muscles are seldom taxed
(other than voluntarily.)  We sit in front of a computer a lot of the time.
So we could perhaps find a way to deal with the phenom described in the
article.  Then if that is the only lethal mechanism in severe insomnia
(which I doubt (but certainly hope is true)) and we figure out a way around
that, then we get most of our time to do fun stuff.  Cool!

 

spike

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