Does anyone else find the concept of sleep mental?

[vivi45]

Probably a very weird thought process but I’m just laying here, ready to go to sleep thinking how strange it is that we spend so much of our life unconscious. If I sleep from 11pm-7am which is normal for me, I will have slept the equivalent of my work day. All of the things I’ve done during the day, meals I’ve eaten, people I’ve spoken to, places I’ve been - and I’ll spend that same amount of time just laid in bed asleep. Also find it weird how the world just carries on while we are oblivious to it.

Sorry I know this is incredibly random 😂

Not quite everyone @socks1107 . Some of us have to work at night.
Sleeping, or trying to, during the day, is even weirder.

Some animals - particularly migratory birds and aquatic mammals - can do the ‘sleep with on eye open’ trick, during which that half of the brain is asleep and the opposite side is awake. (Apart from the weirdness of having half a brain asleep at a time, there’s that extra oddness of why the left half of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa.

Hello!
Sleep scientist here. It’s not a weird flaw, it’s required for your brain and body to replete all the things that got depleted during the day. You have to charge your phone, you have to sleep your brain.

I remember when Q was made human and had an existential dread at the prospect of loosing consciousness. The loss of ourselves for 8 hours everyday is a weird prospect. The vulnerability, the loss of control, the absence...

Good night everybody, sleep well!

I think this too. But I have very vivid dreams. Sleep is the best part of my life. Like staring in a Hollywood film I direct every night. I love sleep

I grew up in a block of flats.
I remember being unwell and awake at dawn. It was just getting light over the playground, the swings sitting still, realising they weren't 'put away' like other toys but NOBODY used them in the middle of the night!

Same here. I'm impressed by (and slightly jealous of) OP's 11 - 7 sleep.

The concept of money is also strange
we basically hand over a peice of paper that is actually totally worthless, and receive things in exchange for it
and we all have to believe in the concept of it for it to actually work
mind blowing!

Love this thread. I think about sleep a lot. I’ve always had very vivid dreams, often a curse, often fascinating. I remember the places I’ve been - totally made up, but how, what from?! - the things I’ve done. I go back to places year after year, I used to fly in my dreams but not for years and I find I miss it.

Such a good point that you have to pretend to sleep to get to sleep, I hadn’t thought about it before.

I read a very odd novel called House of sleep.

I’m a big fan of bartering which happens quite a lot where I live. It’s more real. I can’t see the bank agreeing to accept chutney towards the mortgage sadly but then banks are weird too if you think about it.

Yes this!

I have a chronic illness so I spend an awful lot of time asleep. It always seems such a waste of time.

I love being awake at 3 in the morning though and sitting on my balcony watching the foxes, badgers and bats.

God I love sleep. I love being able to direct your dreams in those when you know you’re dreaming and can rewind, edit and amend as you go.

I have two young children so being unconscious every night and getting some bloody peace is something I think about all day! 😂

Yes I think about this too, sleep is weird weird!

I don't understand when people say they love sleep though....maybe the lying down and relaxing bit but otherwise how can you love something you're not even conscious of??

Another thought just occurred to me, when I was in my 20s I went through a bout of terrible depression and I slept loads....I couldn't cope with life so I just slept for hours so i didnt have to deal with anything or feel depressed, it was like opting out.

Well you weren't getting much sleep were you 😉😂

Agreed, it's the strangest thing. You're so vulnerable while asleep, and no sense of time passing.

There's a book called Why we sleep, it's fascinating and I laid awake all night reading it, then felt terrible because it stresses how important sleep is for your health.

And that it is just a big wave of blocks of time zones of everybody (except those who actively opt out eg night workers) all asleep at the same time

As a lifelong insomniac I find it weird.

Also dancing. I find it such an odd concept - I do like to dance but I always feel weird about it if I overthink.

Finally I also think kissing was a weird human invention.

Oh yeah kissing is weird.

I mean romantic open-mouthed kissing. All that spit and hot breath and so forth. Totally strange. Yet i loved it when DH and I were courting. We are very romantic with each other after 21 years but it tends to be hand squeezes and knee rubs nowadays. Much more palatable.

Amphetamine can do that ..but wouldn't recommend it from my wide and varied experience of the above..

I always think it’s weird how we lay down and just wait for it happen then when it happens, we don’t know it’s happening. And get frustrated if it doesn’t happen.

This!! It's odd isn't it ? At least we r all not alone in (over)thinking this...

I wish I could sleep for 16 hours and be awake for 8!

Love this thread. I thought it was only me who thought about stuff like this!

I think it’s odd that teens need more sleep but older people need less. Makes no sense.

i wish we could pay for things with pretty pebbles or interesting twigs or perfect leaves.