Would it be possible to...

[Spotty01]

... completely negate the human need for sleep?

I'm a night owl, as you can see by the fact that I'm posting at almost 3am (EST).

I often try to pull all-nighters, but even when I don't, my severe insomnia always keeps me from getting a good night's sleep; ambien makes me hallucinate and melatonin gives me vivid, sometimes frightening dreams,so I don't have much choice in the matter. Regardless, I prefer the night over the day, always have.

Not only is it cooler during the night (not so much in the dead of June though...) and I like the look of the city, all lit up, but I also feel like I have more freedom after everyone at home has gone to bed and I have the whole house to myself for a while. I can do pretty much anything I want. Even if it's just sitting at the computer doing what I usually do during the day, I can do it without the constant distraction and interruptions that come with everyone else's presence.

If only I lived close to a bigger city, one of those that "never sleeps". I got the first taste of that when we on vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and later to Atlanta, Georgia. Now, I constantly long to go back to the latter.

Anyways, back on topic. I am strictly a night owl, half by choice and half thanks to insomnia, but when I stay up all night, I'm never awake to do things with my family in the day. I know science has yet to crack this one, but would it ever be possible to invent something, like a daily/weekly treatment (e.g. hypnotic therapy) or some sort of medication that you could take, that would completely negate the need to sleep?

Think about it: being able to stay awake 24/7 without having to worry about exhaustion, fatigue-induced hallucinations, and eventual death. You could, quite literally, have all the time in the world to do anything and everything you want. Not to mention humankind would become vastly more productive.

Okay, I'm beginning to sound like a mad scientist. But, in all seriousness, would that be an actual possibility some day outside the realm of science fiction and creepypastas?

On a side note, how about negating hunger? Thirst? Let's take it up to eleven: what about biologically aging? ...Have I been reading/watching too much sci-fi lately? And, on a more serious note, are there any other night owls out there?

That is all.

 

[SusanLR]

You know I am, Spotty01.
It is now 3:45 am and here I am.
I don't know if the human body could be changed or not to need the sleep cycle (whatever time of day it comes). In it's current biological make up I don't think so. Same with the need for water and food.
The aging part I can see a possiblility on.
Why aging happens is quite well known to science and I think that could be altered possibly through our DNA and genetic makeups. The new part human, part robitics seems to hold good potential for this too. Understanding the jelly fish that can completely regenerate itself indefinitely and other animals that live long lifespans is a field of interest.
I read one article on the night owl vs early bird types and there are scientific reasons. One of the most interesting has to do with which way the Earth is facing...towards the sun or towards space. Night owls feel better when sheilded from the ions of the sun at night and early birds are rejuvenated by them. Night owls also have more rods in their eyes just like owls and nocturnal animals.

Of course there is the nice feeling of just me and my computer too, as you said, late at night in a quiet house. Only trouble is if you live with someone, they don't understand why you want to sleep when they are up and frisky. I really start getting awake and want to do things after about 4 pm.
I don't like feeling guilty though thinking about what others think about this. I shouldn't feel guilty, but, I do.
Oh, well, just don't make early morning appointments if possible. Hoo-Hoot!

 

[Datura]

I also have nocturnal proclivities. Ironic, perhaps, as I also rather enjoy being out in the sun and become rather laconic on cloudy days. Still, if left to my own devices I will stay up all night (sometimes hours past sunrise) and sleep until some undetermined point in the afternoon. I constantly struggle to keep diurnal hours as not doing so makes it difficult to be a part of society. In equal measure, not being part of society makes it rather easy to not wake during the day.

As for negating the need for sleep; sign me up! I enjoy sleep, to a degree, but getting to sleep is such a hassle, not to mention a waste of time. However, seeing how deeply ingrained sleep is in our biology I can't imagine this problem being easily solved. I mean, even bacteria are known to have circadian rhythms including periods of decreased activity.

Eliminating the need for food, water, oxygen and the like could also be rather liberating, but impossible (as opposed to monumentally difficult, a la eliminating sleep). But I think this raises a philosophical quandary - what is the purpose of an existence without need? As humans it is my belief that we adapted to confronting problems. Problems make us miserable, and thus we constantly endeavor to solve them. Without problems, however, we become bored. We no longer know the satisfaction of satisfying our cravings. While extreme deprivation is undesirable a little bit of it actually makes life more rewarding. I suppose in lieu of these base desires we could dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of knowledge, art, and invention, but would we do so without those more base motivators to begin with?

 

[xudo]

To answer the main question, no. Various studies have been carried out over the years into what effects sleep deprivation have. Some of them have been...questionable by modern standards (see Jouvet (1967)....if you don't want to search for it, it involved a domesticated cat who was deprived of REM through the use of a small island in a bath of water. It died.)

People may be able to cope with sleep deprivation to varying degrees even over long periods of time, but ultimately we need to sleep and we need to have at least some amount of each of the stages of sleep.

 

[Adder1234]

I don't see how, since certain activities such as growing, a lot of healing of cells and digestion either happen much slower or don't happen at all unless you're awake. If you stay awake for too long then you're entire body will literally fall apart.

 

[Datura]

Though I don't know the specifics I still think that it would be possible, via drastic and highly advanced interventions, to replace the restorative functions of sleep.

 

[Kelly Campbell]

Nice thread following it!!

 

[rainfall]

In response to the question about night owls, yes! lol I'm a bit of a conundrum on this like most things but I have almost always loved staying up late and start getting a lot more energy in the afternoon as opposed to first thing in the morning.

However, I wake up pretty quickly when I do wake up no matter how deep the sleep and I love mornings. About 5a.m. when not too many people have woken outside and it's beautiful and sometimes the birds are singing in a new day. I have a son, so losing sleep doesn't always help me. It's hard to balance.

Before my son I used to work nights and loved it. I could easily flip my schedule to sleep a bit at night and then go right back to my work all night schedule. I thought everyone was this way until I found out different. lol

I think the longest I stayed up without sleep was an entire week, seven days when I was about 15-16. I didn't drink energy drinks or coffee or any uppers, I never have. Couldn't do it now and by the end I would pass out randomly for a few minutes at a time. lol

Also, downers like nyquil have the opposite effect on me. I've always had trouble sleeping and staying asleep. When I was probably 13 my dad gave me nyquil the first and last time and I ended up awake for two days. He kept apologizing. lol I think it's interesting how different everyone is. Nice thread.

 

[Acorn_Elf]

I rarely sleep. I'm surprised I'm not dead. I've tried ambien but it's makes me act weird. I'm in a constant state of dreamy sleepiness but can't sleep. It's especially hard to sleep at night!

 

[SusanLR]

Another note on the need for the sleep cycle and it's different levels through which the brain waves go into then ultimately REM phase:
I had a doctor think it terrible that I don't go to sleep until the early morning hours. I explained I get my sleep cycle, just at a different time of the day as opposed to night.
She insisted that didn't count. Only sleep at night would let the body go through the needed phases and release of restorative chemicals. I did research on this and found this is not true. It doesn't matter what time of the 24 hour day you get sleep as long as it is around the same part of the day each day and long enough to go through the sleep cycle at least once. 3-4 hrs. Twice is preferred. Thus the belief 7-8 is the perfect number. The circadian cycle is the most important.

 

[Soona45]

Me too! I'm a night owl. When I was working I much preferred night shifts. I love how it's dark,cool and quiet with no distractions, no random visits from family,no phone ringing.
I have a baby at the minute so I have to sleep when she sleeps.
It's like that American dad episode where they do invent some pills to negate the need to sleep. They do day stuff/work and play video games and train to be a marine biologist at night. I would love that!
Imagine if the cinema was 24hrs that would be cool.
Unfortunately if it did happen either loads of people would be up through night, so it would be busy again. Also I think governments would just force people to work more. Even with automation taking over I feel they would invent new jobs for us, kinda keep the lowers classes busy and tired so there easier to control type of thing.