I have a hard time getting on the "sleep is a weakness" bandwagon. I adore sleep, a love dreaming and have done some of my best "real" understanding while in dream-states. If anything, I wish I could sleep more.

It's not that I don't like sleep, I just wish it was a leisure activity, not a necessity.

I have struggled for sleep since at least 10+ years. For me, personally, sleeping is one of the activities that I enjoy the most on a given day. I would never give up on that whole experience (dreaming, resting, etc...) for nothing. If I could sleep more, I would definitely do it.

I can't comprehend why would people want to avoid sleeping. I can't think of one legitimate reason to think of sleeping as a "waste of time". If trends like this (or the one about slurping a glass of disgusting slime instead of eating an actual meal) become mainstream, life will definitely suck even more.

What you actually enjoy are the aftereffects of sleeping. By definition, nobody enjoys being unconscioue. Otherwise you'd really be looking forward to death. Imagine the peace!

What I find most baffling about this article is the lack of acknowledgement that scientists don't yet have a full picture of why we sleep, nor is there an understanding of the function of each sleep stage.

To claim we can somehow find a way to do without sleep, or to somehow optimize it by focusing sleep on certain stages, when we don't even know why it's required in the first place, seems like putting the cart way way past the horse...

If I could have a (semi-realistic) super power, it'd be never having to sleep. Sleep is very important to me, I sleep for 7-9 hours every night, with almost no exceptions. But if I could get those same health benefits, and no downsides, with a 15-minute power nap, I'd take that pill every day. I'd love to have an extra eight hours per day to learn, work, and play.

Perhaps that'd be possible mentally, but physically, your body needs time to recover and repair all sorts of tissue damage. I don't know how you could take a pill to speed that up. Rest is important.

The even more interesting part of this are the other noted effects of tDCS and other similar treatments - such as positive effects on memory and learning.

Not only could you possibly gain 50% of your life back, but your ability to absorb and remember knowledge could increase as well.

Have we learned nothing from the X-Files?