Can we survive without sleeping?

[TwilightSparkle42 37]

Everypony, and everyone (Yes, I am speaking to you humans, also), needs their sleep, and to quote an anonymous, evil ruler, "or else you will die."

[SilverStarApple 850]

TwilightSparkle42, I read your science joke about harmony, and it was so funny that I fell off my bed in mirth. Don't worry, it's only a tiny bed. Barely a few feet off the ground. Old and uncomfortable, with springs sticking out. I only lie on it when my 'parents' are watching, I normally sleep on the hard wooden floor, I hear its good for my back.

[TwilightSparkle42 37]

Oh, that science joke I have randomly stumbled upon while I was idly browsing the internet.  It's a very effective science joke if you tell it to the right ponies.

[SilverStarApple 850]

Well, I guess I'm one of the Wright ponies! (Heh heh, Wright brothers pun.)

 

So, uh... yeah.

 

By the way, don't worry, Sleep Deprivation will only set in after a few days of not sleeping. Trust me, I speak from experience there. I can only be my true self on the internet at night, once everyone else in the 'family' has gone to sleep, so I'd know a thing or two about resisting sleep correctly. I'll l often fall asleep in public toilets. and claim I had an upset stomach when I get out.

[Gone Airborne 22,008]

I love sleep! It is way for me to relax and escape the stresses of day to day life and such.  Being able to dream and have a different dream about anything is super cool. I think of sleeping just as relaxing and peaceful :3

 

And there is no way we could survive without sleep !

 

I'd like to sleep on a hammock about now.

 

[Doctor-Whooves 288]

Sleep is a wonderful thing. I need to sleep now, for instance. All animals need sleep. Sloths sleep most of their lives, because they need it, just like us. So, short answer, no. Long answer, nooooo.

[Regality 233]

I believe I read that if you somehow managed to avoid falling asleep for a long period of time, you would actually die from lack of the rejuvenation. But if everyone somehow managed to escape even that, than I suppose more may be accomplished, but people would still fill that time with leisurely activities or a form of idleness.

~~

[Broccoli 127]

Phones and other devices need to recharge after a day of being used. This is the same with us. After a whole day our energies are drained and we need to 'recharge' ourselves, and get ready for the next day.

 

Also on other note, I love sleeping. Everytime I sleep I have a hard time waking up, and it gives me more energy. However, IF we didn't need sleep, doesn't that mean we have more time to do other things, such as homework, etc? Or would we use that extra several hours to procrastinate? I think the latter would apply to lots of people. 

[SilverStarApple 850]

May I remind everyone that while sleep is required for humans and ponies alike, only the most important part, REM sleep, is actually needed. The rest is just a colossal waste of time. Use the article I mentioned, and learn the secret! I really want to know if it actually works. If it does, then I'll try it myself one day, when I move out.

[Strawberry Tart 161]

1. A couple years back some experiment was performed to see how long people could stay up without sleeping. They ended up collapsing after 6-7 days.

2. Sleep is fun! How can you hate it?!

3. If we didn't sleep, our bodies would not be able to rest, and therefore we would have weak immune systems. Have you ever heard that sleep is the best medicine? It is, you know~

 

1. A couple years back some experiment was performed to see how long people could stay up without sleeping. They ended up collapsing after 6-7 days.

2. Sleep is fun! How can you hate it?!

3. If we didn't sleep, our bodies would not be able to rest, and therefore we would have weak immune systems. Have you ever heard that sleep is the best medicine? It is, you know~

[Jessper 735]

Hey everypony and here is an interestin think that i have been thinking a while. Could we somehow survive without sleeping. Because scientists havent found a reason why we need sleep,other than our brain says that we need it. Not because your body needs rest or anything. Also i see sleeping as a huge waste of time.

Not really, unless we can alter our brains, both what chemicals get produced (and that might be possible) and how our memory system works (unlikely). Without the first, you'll die. Without the second you will get confused and psychotic, eventually going completely mad and dying.

 

But would it be great? Yes, imagine how much time gets wasted by sleeping.

[x3z8 56]

After a certain amount of time without sleep you start to hallucinate, lose weight and muscle mass, lose brain cells, and several other bad things I can't remember at the moment.

Sleep is important.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,837]

The short answer is no, you cannot survive without sleep.

 

The long answer is that sleep is a time when your body produces hormones for regeneration and growth as well as producing chemicals needed for your brain to function. To see the effects of this, stay up for about 48 hours, you will be under the same effects as someone who is drunk. Eventually lack of sleep leads to death.

 

Our brains function in a way so that you automatically need sleep for producing your day to day functions. There is no way to possibly alter this. Sleeping is also when you dream, and dreaming is how your brain prepares for emotions it would be previously unable to face combined with random thoughts to form a kind of narrative. Either way, sleep is necessary.

 

No amount of intaking the chemicals directly can replace sleep either, because you can pretty much break your brain by doing this, you really need sleep so your mind can get a rest.

 

I hope this answered your question.

Edited December 27, 2012 by Harmonic Revelations

[TwilightSparkle42 37]

In a nutshell, sleep is important.  The long answer?  If you don't get enough sleep, your energies will be drained, making you feel lethargic and lazy.  Going too long without sleep has some serious, negative side effects, such as inability to regenerate, the "effects of being drunk," and even death from lack of stamina.

[SilverStarApple 850]

Why does it feel like everyone is ignoring the article I posted, "Top five ways to hack your brain into awesomeness" by cracked.com?

 

I'd really like somebody or somepony to try the hacking technique, so that I could see if it works. Think of it as a test. For science.

 

I totally just read that line in GlaDOS's voice. Portal for the win!

[Stalliongrad 982]

Oh i hope not. I LOVE SLEEP. At the moment its the only thing i do best. And i have trained myself to Lucid dream. I guess thats why i am not a morning person. I love sleep, it is so hard to wake myself up i have two alarm clocks. I was told that sleep is just one of those things you have no control over. You can stay awake for as long as you want but when your body needs to recharge you have no say over it. (other than adding things like caffeine in your system which only makes it worse) I do know that the more you get the more productive you are. I wish this was one of those countries that does that "30 minute nap at work" thing. I don't know if we have any truckers here but i'm sure they will tell you ya cant go without sleep when you are doing something that requires a large amount of concentration. I think its something like if you have been awake for 2-3 days you begin to drive like someone who's had a bottle of scotch or something.

[SilverStarApple 850]

So, is anypony going to try the not-much-sleep-needed brain-hacking technique? I really want to know if it works or not!

 

Come on, people! You'll eat and drink foods that are pretty much nothing more than (Im)pure chemicals, and give your internal organs to random strangers, and yet you won't test out something free that sounds fun, and could be really useful if it works?

[TwilightSparkle42 37]

Yuck!  The thought of somepony taking my internal organs, even when I'm dead, is just plain ga-ross!  And I thought that you humans in real life had it tough.

[MagicRythm 13]

well not sleeping can acually lead to some major weight gain which can be considered bad but you also need it cuse you start to lose striength in physicall and mentall aspects.

[SilverStarApple 850]

I guess it's not really so bad... I mean, they'll usually be given to other people, and used as replacements if their ones need replacing.

 

And now that I'm actually saying it out loud(Or typing it out loud, I guess), it sounds really, really creepy. I really wish we could do magic.

[TwilightSparkle42 37]

Yes, even I agree that we should just try to use magic to replace and/or heal missing/damaged body parts.  (Though I can't say the same thing for horns: if they're broken, they're done for.)  Seriously, and I can't stress this enough, but the fact that other ponies could receive your body parts after you die just sounds very creepy/ga-ross!

[Sks_Burns 730]

no, you wont survive without sleeping. you'll develop headaches due to overexposure to light for extended periods of time, your judgement and ability to function will get harder, your joints begin to ache as you force your body to stay awake, your energy will start to drop as you stay awake longer, etc

 

it wont end well.

[TwilightSparkle42 37]

I totally agree that if you stay awake too long, you will die for the reason mentioned to me earlier in the thread.  Seriously, you need sleep.  End of story.

[Jokuc 8,176]

@@GamerLuna7,

I don't sleep alot.

Infact, I sleep very little. I sleep about 2-3 hours and sometimes about 5-6 on the weekend.

Anyways, I do also see sleeping as a waste of time but well, we must sleep. I once tried to stay up for 100 hours which is a little bit more than 4 days if you didn't know. It didn't really work out very well. Even though I am very used to staying up very long my bodyparts started to fall asleep after around 85 hours and at 97 hours I couldn't feel or move my arms. I got scared shitless and had to go to bed. (Failed the 100 hour challange by 3 hours but whatever I was kinda stupid (sooo let's do it again sometime and hope that I don't die)).

 

What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter if you're awesome at staying awake, when being up too long your body will fall asleep leaving you unable to move, and if you stay up longer after that you can die.

 

Live --- Die

 

I think live sounds cooler, but that's just me though.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Jokuc

[BeatrixBow 119]

I, for one, LOVE sleep. It supposed to give you energy, but for me whether I sleep enough or not, I'm always tired. But that's just me. Sleep is like a break from life. Dreamland. A place where anything can happen. Where you can reflect on things and unlock secrets and hidden messages. Wow, I sound weird. Trust me, I don't usually sound like this.