Geek Chic

I read an article last week about sleep myths — mainly how our conceptions of our need for sleep are slightly off-base.

The most interesting part of the article (I found) talks about the myth that humans need eight continuous hours of sleep a night.  This is not necessarily the case.  In fact, the author notes that until the Industrial Revolution, Western Europeans actually divided the night into two periods of “First Sleep” and “Second Sleep.”  The article notes that:

They’d go to bed soon after dark, sleep for four hours then wake for an hour or two during which they’d write, pray, smoke, reflect on dreams they’d had, have sex or even visit neighbors. In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest that this sleep pattern may be the one most in tune with our inherent circadian rhythms.

Wild huh?

Read the full article on Newsweek