What Is Sleep For?

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Admiral Valdemar
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What Is Sleep For?

Post by Admiral Valdemar »

Been bugging me to post such a question lately, but what, in your mind, is sleep for do you think?

I shall check back later and post some of the main theories used today.
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Post by thecreech »

It's like a screen saver for your daily life.
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Post by Alyrium Denryle »

A way for ones body to rest, slow down its metabolic processes and repair itself...as well as break down proteins
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Post by Traceroute »

It allows quicker repair, but most importantly it allows you to dream. Otherwise, you'd be hallucinating all over the place ;)

Dreaming allows the mind to sort through all the crap of the day and file it away, and is very, very necessary.
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Re: What Is Sleep For?

Post by Sea Skimmer »

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Been bugging me to post such a question lately, but what, in your mind, is sleep for do you think?
Providing an opportunity for my enemies to attack. That’s why I abandon the concept
*Jittery hands open another bottom of amphetamines*

That and allowing the body a break from work to allow it to fix problems that could not be repaired while your moving around.
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Post by Drooling Iguana »

It's when your brain gets defragged. I'm trying to reformat my brain to ext3 so that it won't need to do that so often, but so far I've had limited success.
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Post by Shinova »

Having no sleep is bad. Can send your


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Post by Montcalm »

Drooling Iguana wrote:It's when your brain gets defragged. I'm trying to reformat my brain to ext3 so that it won't need to do that so often, but so far I've had limited success.
Its fun to see someone use computer term when talking about his brain,do you reboot it with windows or linux. :D
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Post by Xenophobe3691 »

Montcalm wrote:
Drooling Iguana wrote:It's when your brain gets defragged. I'm trying to reformat my brain to ext3 so that it won't need to do that so often, but so far I've had limited success.
Its fun to see someone use computer term when talking about his brain,do you reboot it with windows or linux. :D
I use Gorman v 3.0, it's pretty good for what it does. Anyways, it's true, your brain defrags during this period, they show that if you don't get enough dreams, you start daydreaming to compensate...
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Post by neoolong »

Montcalm wrote:
Drooling Iguana wrote:It's when your brain gets defragged. I'm trying to reformat my brain to ext3 so that it won't need to do that so often, but so far I've had limited success.
Its fun to see someone use computer term when talking about his brain,do you reboot it with windows or linux. :D
Considering how screwed up my brain is, windows. :D
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Post by Trytostaydead »

Sleep like people have said is a time for your normal active physiological processes to slow down for a bit and recuperate (though your brain does not.. you get more brain rest from watching TV than sleeping).

Also, there are certain biochemical processes that happen only when you're sleeping most notably the production of melatonin. Melatonin as of yet has only been confirmed/proven to be one of the most effective free-radical scavangers in your body and is important in your circadian rhytym (I just butchered that word).

Melatonin is also suspected to be very photo-phobic and will only be produced in darkness with estimates going all the way down to a small flame from a candle being able to screw up melatonin production. Also, melatonin has been strongly suspected to be part of the SEROTONIN pathway. It has also been suggested that missing one nights sleep takes almost a week or more to recover from.

So sleep is extraordinarily important. Probably why there's a lot of deranged people out there and one of the first symptoms of depression is fragmented or lack of sleep.
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Post by Montcalm »

Trytostaydead wrote:Sleep like people have said is a time for your normal active physiological processes to slow down for a bit and recuperate (though your brain does not.. you get more brain rest from watching TV than sleeping).
And your brain shut down completly when you watch reality shows.
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Post by weemadando »

To put it in terms that a board full of us computer geeks will understand...

Sleep is your brain's defrag program.
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Post by TrailerParkJawa »

I wonder why dreaming comes about. I can understand sleeping to repair the body, but dont most animals dream? Is dreaming a side effect of the minds repair process?

PS. I like the defrag analogy. I hate it when some process like needtopee.exe interupts my diskeeper job. :-)
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Post by neoolong »

Well if dreams are nature's way for people to deal with what they encounter in waking life, then sufficiently advanced animals may also have the need.
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Post by Traceroute »

TrailerParkJawa wrote:I wonder why dreaming comes about. I can understand sleeping to repair the body, but dont most animals dream? Is dreaming a side effect of the minds repair process
Dreaming is like watching the little rectangles of defrag :)

It's considered to be a side effect of the mind's recuperative process during sleep, if I'm not mistaken. It's like a manager catching the highlights of a secretary filing a mountain of paperwork.
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Post by Andrew J. »

I was going to say, "Sleep is a preview of sweet, sweet death," but I figured you guys have enough real mental problems to worry about without an insensitive, dumbassed joker like me trying to be morbidly humorous and failing.
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Post by Traceroute »

Andrew J. wrote:I was going to say, "Sleep is a preview of sweet, sweet death," but I figured you guys have enough real mental problems to worry about without an insensitive, dumbassed joker like me trying to be morbidly humorous and failing.
As stated in Alien: Resurrection - You can sleep when you're dead. ;)
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Post by Dillon »

It's use is so that I can enter a fantasy land every night, where I'm sexually active, and how. :D
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Post by Montcalm »

Last post for today i`ll shut down my computer then i`ll go to sleep,and i will tell you tomorrow if i had weird dreams. :)
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Post by TrailerParkJawa »

neoolong wrote:Well if dreams are nature's way for people to deal with what they encounter in waking life, then sufficiently advanced animals may also have the need.
I wonder how "low" on the tree of life we can go and find animals that dream. Im pretty sure cats dream. They are fairly advanced, but what about birds and such?
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Post by Baron Mordo »

Sure animals can dream. My dog and my cat twitch and make noises sometimes when they're sleeping. People do the same.
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Post by Xenophobe3691 »

Traceroute wrote: Dreaming is like watching the little rectangles of defrag :)

It's considered to be a side effect of the mind's recuperative process during sleep, if I'm not mistaken. It's like a manager catching the highlights of a secretary filing a mountain of paperwork.
The weird thing about it is when I get dreams of going to alternate dimensions. Where the fuck do I experience shit like that?!?
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Post by Traceroute »

<freud>It's because you want to have sex with your mother of course.</freud>

Seriously though, there's no hard connection between everyday events and dreams. Dreams are usually thought of as metaphors for aspects of your daily life, as interpreted by your subconscious.
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Post by HemlockGrey »

Sle-eep?
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