Saturday, January 15, 2022

Shuteye Evolution

Most of us don’t think much about sleep, unless we aren’t getting enough or have to buy a mattress. In both instances, it costs, which seems the modern baseline for attention. Sometimes, however, subjects present themselves a little differently. 

In the past few days, sleep and history crossed my radar from uncommon directions. The takeaway is that present waking and sleeping patterns can be argued as relatively recent, products of the Industrial Revolution and modern conveniences such as electricity and the light bulb. 

Our window for sleep is compressed compared to our ancestors, some of whom slept in two phases during the night – what’s called “biphasic sleep” – with a two- or three-hour awake period in the middle, in which they tended to chores or business, prayed, socialized, had sex or simply relaxed. 

The notion first came to my attention while reading Colson Whitehead’s novel, “Harlem Shuffle.” In it, the main character, Ray Carney, recalls that one of his college business professors told students that, pre-Industrial Revolution, many people split their sleep segments during the night and got things done in-between. I thought it an interesting aside, but didn’t give it further thought. 

In subsequent days, though, I came across two other stories, one on CNN’s website and one on the BBC’s site, about historic sleeping habits and “two sleeps” and what they might mean for people and health today. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control, adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night, but a 2014 study found that 35.2 percent of adults were getting less than that. The CDC says that inadequate sleep is linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression, as well as diminished ability and chronic fatigue. 

A gent named A. Roger Ekirch, a history professor at Virginia Tech, was researching nocturnal life in pre-industrial Europe and America for a book. He scanned a 17th-century English court deposition in which a young girl described the evening when her mother left their home and was later found murdered. The girl said that her mother departed after “first sleep,” and made it sound as if it were routine. Ekirch had never seen the phrase. His curiosity piqued, he began to look for mentions of the practice elsewhere. He came across hundreds of references to “first sleep” and “second sleep” in letters, diaries, medical textbooks, newspapers, plays and songs. 

Biphasic sleep is included in his 2004 book, “At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past.” Since then, he has compiled more than 2,000 references to split-sleep schedules across many languages and cultures, going back to ancient Greece. In his research, Ekirch also came across a 1992 experiment conducted by Thomas Wehr, a psychiatrist and sleep researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health. Wehr tracked the sleep patterns of 15 men, all of whom had normal schedules – they turned in mid-to-late evening and slept straight through until morning. He reduced the number of “daylight” hours the men experienced from 16 to 10 each day, then put them in darkened environments for the remaining time. 

After 30 days, the men no longer slept in one long stretch, but gradually split their sleep periods into roughly equal halves, with a 1-to-3 hour awake period in the middle. In effect, Wehr recreated biphasic sleep. Reading about Wehr’s experiment “was, apart from my wedding and the birth of my children, probably the most exciting moment in my life,” Ekirch told the BBC, which conveys a little about how academics are wired. 

When he contacted Wehr and shared his own historical findings, “I think I can tell you he was as exhilarated as I was.” Researcher Benjamin Reiss, chairman of the English department at Emory University in Atlanta, is among those who think current sleep patterns have a capitalistic, mercenary component, a point he argues in his book, “Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World.” “The answer is really to follow the money,” Reiss told CNN. When it became more efficient and productive to have large numbers of people show up to work at factories, sleep schedules became squeezed and consolidated, Reiss says. Sleep also became associated with laziness, and productivity and working without sleep signs of strength. 

In Whitehead’s novel, a terrific read by the way, Carney toggles between respectable businessman and shady dealer. He adopts the practice of split sleep for a period. He uses the French word, “dorveille,” to describe it, but spells it phonetically – dorvay. “Dorveille” technically means the dreamlike, semi-conscious state between waking and sleeping, but Whitehead uses it as a literary device – he titles the middle segment of the novel “Dorvay” – and Carney uses it to mean the active, awake period between sleep periods. “Carney knew crime’s hours when he saw them – dorvay was crooked heaven, when the straight world slept and the bent got to work. An arena for thieving and scores, break-ins and hijacks, when the con man polishes the bait and the embezzler cooks the books. In-between things night and day, rest and duty, the no-good and the up-and-up. Pick up a crowbar, you know the in-between is where all the shit goes down.” 

Scholars and researchers find Ekirch’s work interesting, but stop short of concluding that biphasic or multi-phase sleep patterns were the norm. Brigitte Steger, a senior lecturer in Japanese studies at the University of Cambridge in the UK, said that she’s found no evidence or mention of “first” or “second sleep” historically in Japan. She thinks that daily behaviors and sleep patterns are cultural. Insomnia is a prevalent sleep disorder, particularly in the middle of the night when people wake up and are unable to get back to sleep quickly. Ekirch wonders if it’s a disorder or a physiological throwback to our ancestors. 

Modern life and conveniences probably make biphasic sleep impractical for all but a few. It may be simply a previous behavioral pattern based on what was known and available, such as changing clothes rather than bathing, or eating only two meals a day. Pace of life all but guarantees that we will continue to wrestle with sleep going forward. I promise that I won’t take offense if any of you use this post as a sleep aid.

33 comments:

  1. i'm excited to read the whitehead book . . .

    i tend to sleep like this in the summer-- when i don't have a schedule. i often go to bed early, sleep for a while, read my kindle for a bit at around 1 AM and then fall back to sleep until 7 AM. but during the school year this gets all screwed up. i can't wait until i retire and can pursue biphasic sleep every night. from what i read, sleep seems to even trump exercise and diet as THE most important thing for health.

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  2. I want to make sure that folks don’t miss Z’s very well reasoned response to Dave’s question and my overly simplistic response.

    Admittedly, I tend to fall on the center right portion of the ledger. That said, I wholeheartedly support the work that OSHA does. Businesses when let to their own devices will do some really nasty Upton Sinclair/Triangle Shirtwaist shit. As Z points out, federal regulation of working conditions has saved countless lives.

    I do think that there is some nuisance here in that the businesses are not creating this workplace danger. They are not locking doors, blocking exits, or making you work in a building that they filled with asbestos. It is a global pandemic and this virus is all around us. There is not some magic line that because a business has over 100 employees that they are creating a dangerous working environment. Plus, any employee who wants to be protected can be double vaccinated and boosted, which has proven to be (as Z also points out) highly effective. The danger to non-immune compromised/ high risk individuals who have chosen (like me) to be vaccinated is very low. As for the high risk individuals, federal law should protect those folk by requiring that the business make reasonable accommodations.

    BTW, I also support the right of companies like Nike and Columbia Sportswear to terminate the employment of folks who are not vaccinated. Interestingly, the NLRB has made it clear that unionized companies unilaterally implementing a COVID vaccination requirement for union employees will be in violation of federal labor law. It feels like the government is speaking out of both sides of it’s mouth with regard to an overriding compelling interest requiring such a mandate.

    My real point on this is that I frankly don’t trust republicans anymore. I suspect that they will be back in power very shortly and think limiting their power is ok. As Zed notes BT is very different that AT. Republicans are no longer the anti-big government party. Trumpublicans want big intrusive government as long as it fits their goals. They want to build big walls. They want to mandate what you can and can’t do with your body especially your reproductive organs. I don’t want to give them the tools to do it.

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  3. today is a uniphasic day for me, in that i'm gonna sit on the couch in sweatpants and watch soccer all day. my wife is out of town and nobody can yell at me for doing so. willing to change plans if marls wants to get a beer and argue about osha. although i kinda agree with him on this one.

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  4. Biphasic Sleep is a good name for a band. I would be happy to get more sleep of any phase.

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  5. And don’t get me started on unions Marls. We likely have some significant overlap there. Sorry Dave.

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  6. So I went out to my favorite bar A.W. Shucks last night. Had fun, ate some seared tuna and oysters rock while sipping/slugging vodka drinks and a few shots. But here's what I missed!

    - Mark, if you buy an El Camino, I'm definitely coming down so we can ride around coastal FL in that sucker
    - Hasn't the G:TB team been clamoring for W&M to join the Patriot League for a while? Come on, Tribe, do it
    - Fantastic comments about the SCOTUS ruling. I have zero to offer other than what my gf says... "keep it up"
    - Best comment ever on Gheorghe: The Blog? Seriously, maybe it is? "I can tell you from experience that working with monkeys is really dicey"

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  7. Live rugby from Galway on CNBC right now.

    Shock the monkey

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  8. Rugby on CNBC?? Makes me almost wish I didn't ditch cable.

    Did you know?? "Shock the Monkey" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. "Shockingly," he didn't win. It went to Cougar for "Hurts So Good." And Toto IV took Album of the Year. Go Toto!

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  9. You may get all the rugby 🏉 if you stream the Peacock app?

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  10. the bon iver and everclear entries made me laugh audibly

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  11. Yo, thanks to Z and Tim for clarification and context on SCOTUS rulings and govt. regulation in general. Wise stuff.

    I have no idea what the Goldilocks level of regulation and oversight is -- obviously, varies by business and field. But I've become convinced that the more money involved, the less likely that those in charge want any oversight or give two figs about how it affects all of us beanbags.

    And to Whit's point: Z's "working with monkeys" aside almost certainly merits a separate post.

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  12. alert! the soccer gods have reached down and touched me with the knowledge of the premier league team shlara should support. stay tuned.

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  13. I can write a monkey post but it will be a bunch of non sequiturs with no coherent message. I guess that means it will be like any of my other posts.

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  14. The Pixies reference in Whitney's link hit closer to home than I'd like it to. I saw The National about 20 years ago in Brooklyn. My friend brought me. I couldn't understand why people were so excited.

    Covid lockdowns have improved my sleep tremendously. I started with taking regular naps. Now I go to bed around 10:00 or earlier. According to a book I'm reading called Exorcised, studies of the last few remaining primitive tribes show that they don't get more sleep than modern societies do. I guess we can feel less guilty about watching tv late at night.

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  15. i love the national. but i'm better at soccer now than i was then.

    your tribe return to action after a several-week covid-related (mostly on the part of their scheduled opponents) hiatus. hosting jmu at 4:00. dukes favored by 11.5, but given the tribe's long layoff and early form in league play, i've no idea what to make of the game. other than a pterodactyl.

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  16. Juan, you and I saw The National with Squeaky and JP about 9 years ago at the Beacon. I like The War on Drugs but apparently I need to dig deeper into their catalog. I like long naps and small hardware stores staffed with old men.

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  17. I like piña coladas and gettin' caught in the rain

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  18. I like sleep and seldom get less than 8 hours any more, and have no shame about turning in for a 10 hour stint.

    My wife was just taking a rare for her nap, and our neighbor ruined it with the sound of the snowblower he's been trying unsuccessfully to get started all day. I don't think he's trying anything other than just winding on the key and hoping for a better result. If he gets that fucker started I hope he does the whole block. Of course it is the same guy who trimmed his hedges with electric trimmers when he was one of two houses on the block with power for a few days after the 2012 derecho.

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  19. Zman, I thought I saw them with a high school friend who really liked them. Maybe I saw them twice. My memory is bad and undoubtedly I was smashed at the time so I should probably trust your memory more.

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  20. I thoroughly enjoy “Shock the Monkey”.

    Whitney- it’s a date.

    Whenever I start to think I’m smart, somebody around here jolts me back to reality. In this case, it was Marls and Zman.

    I coached an all girls basketball team in the local rec league today. I told my Dad that what we lacked in skill (we do), we’d make up for in physicality (we did). We lost badly but those boys will be sore as shit tomorrow. I’m Pat Riley recreating the 90s Knicks with a bunch of beachside living white girls.

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  21. tribe led by as many as 23 points in the first half. entered the break up 10. still that margin at the u16.

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  22. blew a 16-point second half lead and missed a pair of freebies up 2 with 8 seconds left. going to overtime. which will not end well for the tribe.

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  23. Maxx Crosby is a monster. Second best athlete ever out of Eastern Michigan. Because nobody will ever be better than Earl Boykins.

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  24. it did not end well for the tribe. blah.

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  25. I like the 2 sleeps concept. But I think I would have to start the first sleep at like 8pm, and that's not realistic. Also, I think I'm addicted to Wordle. Glad its only once a day

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  26. Zman, this has to be gratifying

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  27. Zman and I texted quite a bit about various topics prior to this game. It’s been very quiet for most of the game. He’s not taking any chances.

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  28. I can safely say this is satisfying.

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