by markrages on 5/30/21, 6:12 PM
by Okkef on 5/30/21, 6:07 PM
There is rather scant evidence of two-shift sleep presented here; a single quote from some unknown writer and a single experiment with broadly interpreted results.
I'm not convinced.
by Marazan on 5/30/21, 7:45 PM
To say I am sceptical of the idea that we used to regularly wake up in the pitch black of night and do stuff is an under statement.
by cperciva on 5/30/21, 6:52 PM
As the parent of a 2 month old: I wish my sleep were a mere two shifts!
by karmakaze on 5/30/21, 8:28 PM
> In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted a laboratory experiment in which he exposed a group of people to a short photoperiod – that is, they were left in darkness for 14 hours every day instead of the typical 8 hours – for a month.
> It took some time for their sleep to regulate, but by the fourth week, a distinct two-phase sleep pattern emerged. They slept first for 4 hours, then woke for 1 to 3 hours before falling into a second 4-hour sleep. This finding suggests bi-phasic sleep is a natural process with a biological basis.
Yes, a natural process for being in darkness 14 hours a day. I personally prefer to use electric light and be out of the dark ages.
by randcraw on 5/30/21, 7:58 PM
I can see an extended two stage sleep rhythm making more sense at times of year when daylight is short (9 hours of daylight at my latitude) than when it's long (15 hours). It's much harder to extend your night downtime to last 10-11 hours when it overlaps at one/both ends with sunshine.
With the increase in physical activity during Summer, two stage sleep seems more biologically useful in Winter anyway. In days of yore, what else was there to do during all that dark?
by Mountain_Skies on 5/30/21, 6:34 PM
I've tried something similar but find it much more difficult to keep those sleep periods constant than I do with just one sleep period.
by StanislavPetrov on 5/30/21, 7:51 PM
I personally maintained a two-shift sleep schedule for about a year, with a 2-3 hour gap between shifts. It did work surprisingly well for me, leaving me feeling both physically and mentally refreshed and rested. Societal obligations forced me to move back to a traditional sleep schedule, but I could definitely see going back to that if conditions allowed it.
by jangid on 5/31/21, 4:00 AM
I still do it. And I feel much better if I take a 1.5 to 2 hour sleep after lunch. Of course, I don't go immediately after lunch. But I sit in /Vajraasana/ for 15 mins and 15 min quick reading; and then sleep.
by fighterpilot on 5/30/21, 8:06 PM
Are there any anthropological studies of modern day hunter gatherers that find this? If not, that's a reason to be sceptical.
by NelsonMinar on 5/30/21, 7:46 PM
This article is from 2018 and was a crank take at the time, doubly so now.
by lefty2 on 5/30/21, 10:06 PM
Humans still sleep in two shifts. It's called the siesta
by TaupeRanger on 5/30/21, 7:52 PM
Not well supported and probably just flat out false.
by otabdeveloper4 on 5/30/21, 8:37 PM
> Humans used to sleep in two shifts
Yes, when they were toddlers.
(Is this news?)
by WarOnPrivacy on 5/30/21, 5:49 PM
I think about historical, 2-phase sleep a lot.
One reason it will be difficult to restore natural sleep cycles is that life has become increasingly complex; we have exponentially more responsibilities than our ancestors had.
In short, we are unlikely have a couple more hours to add to our sleep periods.