# How many blinks to simulate sleep **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132 "2015-09-21T17:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryanmiaku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Ryanmiaku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryanmiaku)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/1 "2015-09-21T17:46:13Z")
So hypothetically let’s say you try to not sleep but compensate by blinking more. How many times and for how long will you have to blink to achieve 8 hours of sleep. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/2 "2015-09-21T17:47:59Z")
Infinite. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/3 "2015-09-21T17:48:20Z")
I don’t see that blinking is related to sleep in any way. Sleep is defined by brain activity, not whether the eyes are open or not. For example, sleep walkers are still asleep, but their eyes are often open. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/4 "2015-09-21T17:50:06Z")
Even REM sleep, when you dream, isn’t blinking. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/5 "2015-09-21T18:41:18Z")
72000 blinks if 1 blink is 400 milliseconds. But blinks don’t equal sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/6 "2015-09-21T18:51:52Z")
What an odd idea. Where did you get the notion that blinking was like a little bit of sleep? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/7 "2015-09-21T19:58:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What an odd idea. Where did you get the notion that blinking was like a little bit of sleep? The phenomenon of [microsleep](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsleep), perhaps. Superficially it could resemble blinking but is distinct from it in several ways, the person may not have any idea it’s happening for example. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/8 "2015-09-21T22:06:30Z")
I don’t know about blinks but you want 40 winks. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/9 "2015-09-21T22:23:06Z")
I wonder how many times you’d have to flare your nostrils per minute to make up for not breathing. [sub]I don’t really wonder about that[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/10 "2015-09-22T00:05:21Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I wonder how many times you’d have to flare your nostrils per minute to make up for not breathing. Now you’ve got me thinking about flaring my nose! [shakes fist] ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/11 "2015-09-22T01:29:11Z")
Just one eight-hour-long blink. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/12 "2015-09-22T01:35:35Z")
Blinking for sleep only works if you’re dreaming about blinking for sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/13 "2015-09-22T07:03:40Z")
The muscular effort of blinking many many times in rapid succession, as OP seems to envision, would cause more fatigue that you would recover from even if the brief eyes-closed times were actual sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/14 "2015-09-22T14:20:50Z")
A solitary delightful enrichment for “blink” from Finnegan’s Wake, with both meanings spelled out in one: An eyegoneblack. (German: _augenblick_: “moment,” ie, as short as a blink") ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-blinks-to-simulate-sleep/732132/15 "2015-09-22T14:25:50Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I wonder how many times you’d have to flare your nostrils per minute to make up for not breathing. > > [sub]I don’t really wonder about that[/sub] This is a very funny post.