"Harry?"
"Wake up, wake up!"
In the last century,
people slept an average of nine hours per night.
Today, more than half the world's population
gets by on less than
seven hours of sleep per night.
But in an age of non-stop stimuli,
what do you expect?
To sleep is to miss out on...
something...
So, why sleep at all?
What if we didn't need sleep?
Sleep is simply one of those things
you just can't live without.
At least, not yet...
Your heart, your lungs, your brain
and your metabolism
all need a good night's rest to work their best.
Without enough sleep,
you increase your risk of high blood pressure,
depression, diabetes, obesity
and cardiovascular disease,
not to mention any infections that might prey
on your weakened immune system.
"Put that coffee down!"
But then, in 1965,
a 16-year-old stayed awake
for 11 days straight
without sustaining any permanent side-effects.
And in 2007, researchers tested a new drug
on primates that reduced
the negative effects of sleep deprivation,
and boosted their cognitive performance.
So the big question is,
"I'm on no sleep. No sleep!"
The average person spends
about a third of their life asleep.
In a world where we'd no longer need sleep,
you'd have eight extra hours to play with!
Would you see more family and friends?
Would you learn a new skill,
pick up a new hobby,
or unleash your creative potential?
Of course, not everyone would
see this as "free" time.
The longer you're awake,
the more money you'll spend and,
the more money
you'd undoubtedly have to earn.
Your grocery bill, for instance,
could easily double.
If the average person eats
three meals within 12 hours,
you'd probably have to eat twice as much
to have enough energy
to last you for 24 hours!
Along with your food consumption,
your fuel consumption would also go up,
and with it, your environmental impact.
It wouldn't just be from people
driving more often,
but also from people having
their lights on more often,
because everyone would be awake all the time.
The workaholics among us would
surely increase their time at the office
– along with anyone else
looking to make an extra buck!
Of course, with more people working overtime,
stress levels would increase, and,
not sleeping would certainly
make the problem worse.
So 24-hour therapists
would be in high demand,
along with 24-hour restaurants and
24-hour farmers.
Yeah, we would need so much more food.
And not just because everyone's eating more,
but because those of us who
aren't working longer hours
might still feel inclined to be more...
productive.
So population would increase,
and there would be more people to look after.
We'd need to train armies of first responders
in order to serve, protect, and save
a growing, restless public.
With more hours in the day,
we might be able to speed up our progress
and find cures to some of the world's
most challenging illnesses.
The curious minds of the world
would have more time to
innovate and explore,
delivering new technologies, and,
making fresh discoveries
ahead of their time!
Who knows?
We might even make it to Mars
sooner than expected!
... Or would we just end up wasting more time?
There are plenty of
smart ways to be productive, but,
cutting back on sleep
is definitely not one of them!
Studies show that humans
are intellectually productive
for roughly six hours a day,
and that's provided we allow ourselves
some downtime to recharge.
So it's not guaranteed that a sleepless society
would get more done.
We might simply be faced with the problem
of having too much time on our hands!
And if you don't think that's possible,
just remember the last time
you had to kill a few hours of time.
Let's just say that
movies, TV, and video games
would become a lot more popular
...along with bars and –
definitely – coffee shops!
So whether you get your full 7 hours,
or just 40 winks,
your body needs to take breaks.
You can handle a late night once in a while, but,
if you go too long without adequate sleep,
you'll eventually break down.
So pick your poison:
coffee, Red Bull, or a new pill on the market,
you still can't replace sleep.
And why would you anyway?
Productivity is great, excitement is great, but
...isn't relaxing on a bed pretty great too?
Get a full night's sleep tonight,
and see how refreshed you feel tomorrow!
Do you think you'd sleep more
if you could control your own dreams?
Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF!