# What is the beef some people have with sleep? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2005, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376 "2005-11-10T10:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/21 "2005-11-10T14:49:43Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > from this thread: > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6780875#post6780875](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6780875#post6780875) > Will we ever find a ‘solution’ to sleep? > > And others over the years, and talking to others I see that some of you don’t like sleep. I want to know why, are you all type A workaholics? > > Some people find sleep ‘not pleasent’ - What is unplesent about it? > > Some have citted increased productivity, but if you have those extra hours you will find something to fill it and still not have enough time (IMHO) and w/ o sleep you have absolutly no buffer time. > > So sleep dislikers, tell me why. Big waste of time. A nice 30-minute nap would do it as far as I’m concerned, but no, I have to spend eight friggin’ hours dead to the world. Stupid as hell. I LIKE the sensation of going to sleep, and I like waking up feeling well-rested, but I dont’ know why I have to spend eight friggin hours to get those mild pleasures. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/22 "2005-11-10T15:35:00Z")
And I just can’t understand “enjoying” sleep. If you’re asleep how do you know you’re enjoying it? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/23 "2005-11-10T15:50:38Z")
-Going to bed is the end of the day. Nothing more can be achieved. Game over. I don’t like this feeling - I love the night. We generally have to sleep at night. So, sleeping prevents me from enjoying it as I would want to. Then I wake up, it’s the morning, and I dislike the morning. -I mostly have only unpleasant dreams. So, whether or not I remember them, I know I’m going to have a bad time while sleeping. -I rarely feel a strong need to sleep. I’m just tired and know I need some sleep. If people feel every evening this strong urge to lay down and sleep that I only very occassionnally feel, I can understand why they like sleeping. -It’s a waste of time. A huge one. -I don’t find particularily appealing the concept of laying uncouscious for hours in a row. -Though I’m not sure of it, I suspect I associate sleep and death. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/24 "2005-11-10T15:55:04Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > - I love the night. We generally have to sleep at night. So, sleeping prevents me from enjoying it as I would want to. Then I wake up, it’s the morning, and I dislike the morning. YES - for us night people, the whole world works against us. I want to stay up late, and I have to get up early. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/25 "2005-11-11T02:27:36Z")
Thanks you have helped me understand this a bit better, and I do agree with some of it. Like the enjoyment some of you get while falling asleep, then waking, so much so that one night I tryed to set an alarm for every 20 minutes (it didn’t work out so well). That alone doesn’t require 7-9 hrs. > [@](#): > > And I just can’t understand “enjoying” sleep. > If you’re asleep how do you know you’re enjoying it? Did you ever watch a TV program, then a commercial comes on and though you have enjoyed it, you have no flipin’ idea what you were watching? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/26 "2005-11-11T03:06:17Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Some people find sleep ‘not pleasent’ - What is unplesent about it? My mum has terrible nightmares most nights. So bad that she often wakes up too scared to move. This makes sleeping unpleasant for her. She has seen many different doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists about this over the decades, but the problem remains. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/27 "2005-11-11T03:11:23Z")
The constant “BAA BAA BAAAAAA”, the high cost of hay (they turn piles of cash into piles of shit), the chewing of the cud, the running around the yard with lambs hanging out thier vag, the constant dropping of marbles-- I could go on all day! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/28 "2005-11-11T03:59:03Z")
No, no, no. The real question is, What is the beef some sleepy people have with Sleepy LaBeef? ---
**Author:** ![Habanero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d9b06d/32.png) [@Habanero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habanero)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/29 "2005-11-11T04:11:41Z")
Not me. I can sleep all damned day if someone lets me. There’s nothing more glorious than stretching under your warm covers, wishing you could purr like a cat, and snoozing off into la-la land. I welcome sleep with opened paws. ---
**Author:** ![bzwilak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@bzwilak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bzwilak)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/30 "2005-11-11T04:13:32Z")
I love to sleep! Why? I am one of the few who is able to be _aware_ that I am sleeping and be aware that I am _dreaming_. Sometimes, I can even control the dreams. [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050805.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050805.html) My dreams are always very vivid and I have a very high percentage of recall of what I dreamed, after waking up. There have been single dreams that I have remembered for weeks, months, and years. Sometimes, I scold myself for not taking the time to journal them. If there’s any life necessity I would like to be permanently rid of, with no negative consequences, it would be all forms of elimination! Going to the bathroom is a total waste of time! (pun intended) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/31 "2005-11-11T04:19:54Z")
> [@bzwilak](#): > > If there’s any life necessity I would like to be permanently rid of, with no negative consequences, it would be all forms of elimination! Going to the bathroom is a total waste of time! (pun intended) 😉 Ooh, good call! Mostly. Although it does give one an excuse to go sit and read for a few minutes every day. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/32 "2005-11-11T04:19:59Z")
I hate sleeping, so much so that I stay awake until I’m literally about to collapse before I usually go to bed. I resent the fact that I can only control my body to a point, until exhaustion really sets in. IMO it’s much easier to ignore hunger and go without food until it’s convenient. or I _want_ to eat. Speaking of, I dislike eating too, to the extent that I _have_ to do it, but at least you can do other things at the same time so it doesn’t feel wasted. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/33 "2005-11-11T04:20:41Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Well, that’s part of it (for me, at least) but not _all_ of it. I like the feeling of that point where you’re just drifting down into sleep. I like the feeling of waking up at 3AM to go to the bathroom and crawling back into the warm, cozy bed to get that drifting down feeling _again_, and knowing that I still have three hours to sleep. Now, perhaps I only have these pleasant associations because I _do_ feel so good after a full night’s sleep, but maybe they’re just pleasant in their own right. Oh yes! Just that nice, snuggly feeling of being wrapped in soft, warm quilts and sinking into your mattress, aaaah…it’s like being in a warm, snuggly little coccoon. Now, I would be open to the option of being able to turn OFF sleep every once in a while if one needed to. But no way would I give it up entirely. It’s just so nice and soothing to be in that half-way state between sleep and waking. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/34 "2005-11-11T04:40:44Z")
I hate sleep because : It eats up so much time. I prefer night to day; instead, I’m unconscious. I almost never remember dreams; most of them are nightmares. Waking up feels like climbing out of a vat of glue. I’m not really alert for at least an hour afterwards. > [@Mangetout](#): > > Oddly, I disagree with this; it’s all part of the experience of being human, otherwise we might argue for stripping away everything that makes us what we are. What’s so great about being human ? > [@Mangetout](#): > > The physical sensations of exhaustion or hunger can be enjoyable in their own right, and they’re things I’d not want to put away forever. I’d just like to be able to exert occasional control of whether and when I experience them. For you; I’ve never found them better than annoying. I don’t like the need to sleep, eat, eliminate or rest; if I could, I’d stick my mind in an android and donate my meat body to science or organ transplants. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/35 "2005-11-11T04:54:27Z")
I’m like you, **bzwilak** - I have an incredibly fulfilling, active dream life, and I love sleeping. I have been so many things, done so many things, had so many experiences in my dreams, it’s just fantastic. I was killed by being run through by a sword once, once I was the Queen of the Underworld, many times I’ve been on other planets and in space, I’ve painted beautiful pictures, I’ve been madly in love, I’ve learned to breathe water, I’ve created episodes of my favourite shows and experienced them as a cast member - I wouldn’t give that up for anything. I didn’t realize there were so many people who aren’t living such a rich unconscious life. p.s. - In the interest of fighting ignorance, I’ve hit the ground in the falling dream many times now. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/36 "2005-11-11T06:46:23Z")
For me, I’d be happy if the only sleep I HAD to have was that half-hour between **supervenusfreak** getting up to go to work and MY alarm going off. It’s the only part of my sleep that I can actually enjoy, because it’s more like a 3/4 sleep. I’m partly conscious, but only barely, such that time is completely distorted and 1/2 hour feels like 3 or 4 hours, and I’m slightly aware of just how langorous my arms and legs feel, and just how warm it is under the covers compared to the cool fall air coming in the window. When I lived alone, before I met Dwight, I used to use a double alarm clock and set the first one for 1/2 hour before I had to actually get up. I love that 1/2 hour so much… ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376/37 "2005-11-11T07:22:05Z")
1. Because being in class 22 hours a week, doing about 30 hours of homework a week, and working 10 hours a week doesn’t leave a whole lot of time. If I didn’t waste as much time sleeping, I could do better in my classes, learn more, hang out with friends more, work more and therefore earn more money…instead, I accomplish nothing for 5-6 hours every night. 2. I’ve never slept well. It takes me an average of an hour to fall asleep most nights, I sleep fitfully, and despise the groggy feeling in the morning when the alarm goes off. 3. Dreams are, with very few exceptions, extraordinarily unpleasant for me. 4. Ever had a panic attack because crap, it’s 2 AM and I’m _still_ nowhere close to being asleep and I have class at 9 and then work until 5 and what is wrong with me that I can’t even _sleep_ like a normal person?! It happens to me enough to make me dread trying to sleep. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-beef-some-people-have-with-sleep/330376.md?page=1)