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05-17-2007, 16:57

'Fatal Familial Insomnia', as referenced in the Peter Tripp link http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/...ftwork/96742/2 , doesn't suggest that not sleeping can be fatal. The FFI wiki, among other sources suggests that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Familial_Insomnia the insomnia is an effect of plaque buildup in the brains of people with the rare genetic disorder, which eventually kills. But the insomnia itself isn't the cause of death. This guy here apparently didn't sleep for 30 years: http://www.thanhniennews.com/feature...0&newsid=12673

As far as long periods without sleep go, the 'Rank 14' run in the online game 'World of Warcraft' required six weeks of sitting in front of a computer with ~4-6 hours of sleep per week (tuesday mornings). Most people managed to sneak in a few hours every now and then. I could write a good bit about the emotional effects on the people who completed it, and the distress of having done all that for 'pixels on a screen'. However, most of the negative effects seem to be more from 'what I was staying up that long to do' than 'I stayed up for that long'--with the exception of the immediate physical problems associated with not being able to leave the PC for more than 15-20 minutes at a stretch (diet/lack of exercise). My calorie intake was low, inconsistent, and not exactly 'health food', so I think I ended up losing ~7-10kg and a lot of muscle.

I heard about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep recently, but simply haven't had the time to test it. Everyone I know who has tried to do it has failed during the adjustment period, and the 'nap times' are apparently very rigid, so there aren't too many jobs out there which are conducive to that type of sleep schedule.

One summer in highschool, I had a 9-5 job with six hours of commuting, I ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep a night and two fifteen minute naps during the day--child labor laws in MD mandate 'breaks', and I had nothing else to do. This seemed to work perfectly for me--I woke up feeling better after those naps than I often do after 6-8 hours of sleep.

I have more trouble staying awake when there's nothing to do, and the suggestions in this thread will hopefully keep me from getting dropped from SFAS for falling asleep at an inappropriate time. I read in Mr. Couch's book about a few candidates who were booted for falling asleep at the end of nav exercises while waiting to be picked up. This might be a problem for me, as I tend to just fall asleep when I run out of stuff to do, so I'm listening intently!

Edit: Oops, sorry for necroposting

05-17-2007, 16:57	#94
Distorted Guest Posts: n/a	'Fatal Familial Insomnia', as referenced in the Peter Tripp link http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/...ftwork/96742/2 , doesn't suggest that not sleeping can be fatal. The FFI wiki, among other sources suggests that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Familial_Insomnia the insomnia is an effect of plaque buildup in the brains of people with the rare genetic disorder, which eventually kills. But the insomnia itself isn't the cause of death. This guy here apparently didn't sleep for 30 years: http://www.thanhniennews.com/feature...0&newsid=12673 As far as long periods without sleep go, the 'Rank 14' run in the online game 'World of Warcraft' required six weeks of sitting in front of a computer with ~4-6 hours of sleep per week (tuesday mornings). Most people managed to sneak in a few hours every now and then. I could write a good bit about the emotional effects on the people who completed it, and the distress of having done all that for 'pixels on a screen'. However, most of the negative effects seem to be more from 'what I was staying up that long to do' than 'I stayed up for that long'--with the exception of the immediate physical problems associated with not being able to leave the PC for more than 15-20 minutes at a stretch (diet/lack of exercise). My calorie intake was low, inconsistent, and not exactly 'health food', so I think I ended up losing ~7-10kg and a lot of muscle. I heard about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep recently, but simply haven't had the time to test it. Everyone I know who has tried to do it has failed during the adjustment period, and the 'nap times' are apparently very rigid, so there aren't too many jobs out there which are conducive to that type of sleep schedule. One summer in highschool, I had a 9-5 job with six hours of commuting, I ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep a night and two fifteen minute naps during the day--child labor laws in MD mandate 'breaks', and I had nothing else to do. This seemed to work perfectly for me--I woke up feeling better after those naps than I often do after 6-8 hours of sleep. I have more trouble staying awake when there's nothing to do, and the suggestions in this thread will hopefully keep me from getting dropped from SFAS for falling asleep at an inappropriate time. I read in Mr. Couch's book about a few candidates who were booted for falling asleep at the end of nav exercises while waiting to be picked up. This might be a problem for me, as I tend to just fall asleep when I run out of stuff to do, so I'm listening intently! Edit: Oops, sorry for necroposting Last edited by Distorted; 05-17-2007 at 22:11.