8 years ago
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http://www.bbc.com
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"Beggars in Spain" by Nancy Kress
The idea of "altered" people who don't require sleep like the rest of us has already been explored in SF, notably by award-winning author Nancy Kress in "Beggars in Spain."
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There's a great plot hidden in this. Imagine some gene splicing in the future, where the rich of the rich have become mutants that don't need any sleep at all.
You just described the premise of "Beggars in Spain" by Nancy Kress. Highly recommended, by the way! It's a fantastic novel, and it takes the concept of sleepless adults to some thought-provoking places.
I guess it was a good idea for a plot then ^^
There's also a great short story titled "Sleep" by Haruki Murakami that describes a woman's journey through 17 days without sleep. I wouldn't say that story is entirely thought-provoking in introducing new concepts, but as always with Murakami upon finishing the story you will realize how much it felt like a lucid dream.
That's such an awesomely accurate way to describe Murakami. Haven't read "Sleep," but now I want to!
Wow, it's... $3.03 on Kindle. I might have to check this out!
Thanks for sharing, I'm going to read that novel. Sounds interesting.
It's at the very least a feasible sci-fi novel if not actually feasible yet given recent successes at using CRISPR. There's a great Radiolab about this from a couple of weeks ago; when they get to the ethical implications they kind of just throw up their hands because of how overwhelming it is.
Is it too late to get that gene therapy?
I'd pay a premium for it... I'd even take a "loan" and work ten years of that "extra time" just so I can reap the benefits ten years down the line. And that's coming from someone who loves to sleep!
If I could get this and the one that would perma-fix my hayfever I'd be happy!
TIL I am not blessed with the mutant gene.
Makes me want to try out another sleep cycle app. to determine when I should be waking up, and not just forcing myself to sleep a predetermined amount of time, possibly waking during an inopportune period in my sleep cycle.
I'm very jealous! Would love the extra time in the day to do more and be more alive!
My body likes 10 hours a night and I'm in my late twenties. I always assumed I would grow out of it but now I feel like I just have shitty genes. I would absolutely love to feel rested after six hours a night.
I am quite sure that I have the opposite - a gene that let's me sleep more. Once I fall asleep, I can do 12 - 16 hours easily. So I can sleep like a teenager ever though way past that age. This might come in handy when I'm older though.. There's usually a certain age when people start complaining that they "can't sleep".
Yup a friend has this all of us are jealous he can sleep so little each day without feeling tired its almost like a cheat
I've had some of my greatest life experiences whilst asleep, I wouldn't change it for the world!
I certainly don't have this. All I ever do is sleep. Up to 12 hours sometimes. I have heard that as you get older you require less sleep though. I believe my mother get's about 5 a night and it never seems to affect her.
I wish I had this gene. I sleep a normal amount, but I'd ideally only like to sleep only a couple hours and be able to do other things with my time.
Bummer that I don't have it, but hasn't there been a link discovered between sleep deprivation and mental instability? How are these people affected by it?
It seems as though that instead of being sleep deprived, they are just sleeping more efficiently, and thus not affected negatively.
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Very interesting! I'd like to see a bigger study that compares health, especially in older people with this mutation. If they are as healthy or even healthier than normal people they truly have won the lottery...
Hmmm... It sounds nice to be able to sleep less and still be well-rested. I just wonder what some of the side effects of having this gene are.
So jealous. I have to consume massive amounts of caffeine just to function these days even with a normal amount of sleep... would be so nice not to have to have a cup of coffee in my hand at all times.
I've seen a lot of success in supplanting heavy caffeine intake with heavy water intake, and less caffeine. Down to one energy drink, per day, on average. At one point, I needed one in the morning, and one for lunch. I found, though, that this was more of a habit than a need - and now don't crash between 3 and 5 pm anymore. I guess the type of work you do, and the amount of sleep you get would have an effect.
Luckily for me my work is a little slower right now, but I definitely went through an insane caffeine phase (5 black 20oz cups a day) when I was working crazier hours (averaged 8-7:30 every day, sometimes as bad as 7-10:30 pm). I'm down to one or two cups now, but I still get crashes from time to time.
Water intake definitely helps me though, and it is just so damn healthy anyways. I drink so much water most people look at me like I'm crazy. Haven't associated it with caffeine cutbacks but it very well could be helping as well. I kick the habit every once and a while, I just need to be better at keeping it under control during stressful, high intensity times. Luckily I feel I'm not the only one with this problem however.
One of the things that convinced me, that I read a few months ago, mentioned that drinking a bunch of water when you wake up will help hydrate you after essentially X hours of depriving your body of water. I used an app, Water Yourself, for a few days to build a habit of drinking more water. Realized really quickly that I would get by on 16 oz. a day, and that I was most likely dehydrated to an extent every day. Now, I drink more and honestly feel better.
Is that an Android app? I searched for it but only came up with one called Water Your Body. Sounds like something I could really use and I want to make sure it's the recommended one.
So this is how it feels to be on the losing side of genetic history... I think I'll go to sleep now.
This is in sharp contrast to someone like me who has insomnia. Sleeps less, but hates life.
Life would feel a fuckton longer if you didn't have to sleep, and didn't get tired.
If we can ever add new genes to ourselves, this will be the one I get!
I'd like to get tested to see if I have this. I sleep 5 or 6 hours a night, which people already think is weird (I call it "being a parent", but to each his own) but it would be interesting to know if that's really "ok" or if I'm running up a sleep debt that will bite me in the ass later. I never really feel tired, but then again I consume a lot of caffeine.