We all sleep about 7 hours a night on average.
Without getting proper sleep, people are often very cranky and tired.
Furthermore, an average person spends about ⅓ of their life sleeping.
That means missing out on literally ⅓ of our lives while sleeping.
So why do we need to sleep at all?
Today, we are looking at what would happen if we didn’t need any sleep!
But before we begin, be sure to hit the subscribe button if you are new here for more content!
Sleep is an important part of our lives which we just cannot live without.
Our bodies require sleep to recharge and freshen up for the next day.
Without enough sleep, we would put ourselves at risk of many diseases
like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.
But what if there were a cure for sleep?
A pill you could take so you never felt tired?
Researchers in a 2007 study found that a nasal spray containing the hormone
orexin-A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys boosting their cognitive performance.
Moreover, in 1963, a 17-year-old American,
Randy Gardner set a world record for the longest amount of time a human has gone without sleep.
He managed to stay awake for 11 days and 25 minutes straight.
Now that is pretty impressive, but what if we could just stay awake
all the time without any negative side effects of no sleep?
Well, the first thing we would all experience is a lot of free time on our hands,
about 7 to 8 hours of free time depending on our previous sleeping habits.
So it may be the case that productivity for all of us in the world would increase.
Some may use this extra time to pick up new hobbies
or build stronger social bonds and connections.
Perhaps even learn new skills for self-improvement or to help out in the community.
But experts believe otherwise.
They believe that most people would not make the best use of this extra time.
According to experts, our brain requires a certain amount of downtime to function at its best.
So too much work or stress can impair our thinking.
When people have too much extra time, they tend to just relax
or pass the time away in things that do not require too much thinking.
This is also the reason why we often have the best ideas in the shower or while relaxing.
So while people might be busier due to not needing any sleep,
they will most likely not be any more productive than they are now.
Another consequence of our no sleep lifestyle would be our
increased consumption of food and other goods and services.
Not sleeping at all would mean people would most likely end up spending a lot more money
which would require them to work a lot more hours.
This could result in the exploitation of employees by their employers.
The employees may need to work more shifts and longer hours,
all in the name of economic productivity.
Also, the food consumption for everyone around the world would also double
considering having a full 24 hour day on hour hand instead of the usual 12 hours per day.
This would mean having around 5 to 6 big meals in a day rather than the 3
meals per day that most people are used to today.
Not only will the food consumption increase, but also our fuel consumption would likely go up.
We would be traveling and working around
the clock having a considerable environmental impact on the world.
Apart from releasing more toxic gases into our atmosphere,
we would also be consuming a lot more electricity since no one would ever need sleep.
Now, people who are workaholics would initially be very productive, but over time, they too will
build up severe stress and would need to see doctors and therapists to function properly.
All goods and services around the world would also need to be 24 hours
in order to accommodate the never sleeping population.
So we would need double the resources we do today to sustain the entire population.
Speaking of population, our population size may also increase due to no sleep since
people would have a lot more time on their hands to reproduce and pass on their genes.
But experts also suggest that although people like to spend time with loved ones,
too much time with their kids or significant other could have a downside.
So if people don’t have time away from their loved ones,
they can get a little worn out.
So perhaps the population increase may not be as severe as we think.
But other customs in many families that are built around sleep,
like reading bedtime stories to children,
would completely disappear further adding to the impact of sleepless lives.
But not all would be bad.
We may be able to advance science at a quicker
pace than today leading to many new discoveries and innovations.
We may see advances in the medical industries leading to breakthroughs in medicines.
Or we might successfully develop safe space travel
and be able to colonize nearby planets in our solar system.
But again, there is a chance that we may all just be lazy and waste
all the extra time in useless counter-productive activities.
But that would be a choice we would all have to make for ourselves.
And that brings us to the end of this video!
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Also, comment down below on what you think would happen if we didn't need any sleep!
Until then, we’ll see you in the next one!