The Uberwomen Who Beat Sleep: Origin of the "Uberman" polyphasic sleep schedule

Re:The Uberwomen Who Beat Sleep: Origin of the "Uberman" pol... by outworlder on Monday January 25, 2016 @03:13PM (#10969617)

> During sleep deprivation, he says, “The brain, probably because it is so tired, starts to have difficulties gauging its own level of sleepiness.” Eventually, an exhausted brain gives up on sending you signals that it needs rest. You feel OK precisely because you’re not.

If true, I think that's the most important point of the article. If you can't trust your own brain, you can't any claims made by people trying that sort of schedule.

Also, the amount of effort you have to put up with in order to even start sleeping like that suggests me that's unnatural and unhealthy. We may even have some kind of adaptation for that in the short term. Think cavemen who just lost his shelter and needs to find another in dangerous territory. It's conceivable that one could spend a few weeks not sleeping much until conditions improve. Forget about longer term effects, since survival is at stake. So, the brain keeps getting pulled out of sleep due to perceived dangers (in modern times, that's the alarm clock). Then it switches off part of the sleep mechanism so that the subject will have a better chance of moving away from danger.

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Re:The Uberwomen Who Beat Sleep: Origin of the "Uberman" pol... by fweespeech on Monday January 25, 2016 @03:45PM (#10969813)

> If true, I think that's the most important point of the article. If you can't trust your own brain, you can't any claims made by people trying that sort of schedule.

It is true.

Exhaustion [past a certain point] is essentially equivalent to being drunk.

http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/sleep-deprivation-is-as-...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1739867/

> Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication

Much like with a drunk person, you can't trust what they are telling you.

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Re:The Uberwomen Who Beat Sleep: Origin of the "Uberman" pol... by bcassedy on Monday January 25, 2016 @09:12PM (#10971465)

As someone that has experimented with polyphasic sleep, I'd like to see some studies designed in such a way that they mirror what people actually do when they switch to one of these schedules. That is to say allow for an adjustment period.

I know for me, getting to the point where I could fall asleep for the naps was the hardest part. I ended up basically skipping a night of sleep and then entering into the nap protocol. That first couple of weeks was brutal but I stayed on a polyphasic sleep schedule for about 6 months.

I can't definitively say that my cognitive function wasn't reduced over that 6 month period, but it certainly wasn't like being drunk.

At the time I was a professional poker player and I was not measurably less profitable per 100 hands and played a much higher volume than normal during that stretch. Ultimately I stopped the cycle due to loneliness. I already had a very solitary job, but adding another 6 - 8 hours of alone time to each day weighs on you for sure. I think with a normal, albeit flexible, job this would have been more sustainable for me.

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Re:The Uberwomen Who Beat Sleep: Origin of the "Uberman" pol... by fweespeech on Monday January 25, 2016 @11:48PM (#10971865)

> As someone that has experimented with polyphasic sleep, I'd like to see some studies designed in such a way that they mirror what people actually do when they switch to one of these schedules. That is to say allow for an adjustment period.

Fwiw, I agree with you in so far as your logic goes.

However, as it can would be fatal based on the main stream understanding of how sleep deprivation works, I can't say I'd support such a study since it would likely kill at least one person and/or otherwise fuck up their health seriously.

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