# Would you give up sleep permanently if you could? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870 "2009-02-08T01:33:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/81 "2009-02-10T17:56:57Z")
I would like to make sleep optional. I’d be able to go for two weeks without it, or sleep for two weeks if I wanted to. But totally eliminate it. No way! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/82 "2009-02-10T18:07:00Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > I like sleeping too much, I don’t think I could give it up completely. I like being under the blaknets, the pillows on my head, and the smell of clean bedsheets. I like the whole thing too much to give it up. I picked this post because it’s illustrative of the “no” posts. You guys don’t actually like the sleeping. You like the relaxed feeling you get when you lay down to go to bed or the recharged feeling you get when you wake up, those things are happening when you are awake. And put me down in the “yes” column. I’ll have plenty of time to be not conscious to the world when I’m dead. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/83 "2009-02-10T18:13:19Z")
I’m an insomniac. If I could get rid of the need for sleep I would do it in a heartbeat. I also have grown to really like nights on my own. I watch movies I haven’t even thought about for years, play the xbox and generally enjoy my own company. I can do “on my own” very well. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/84 "2009-02-10T18:20:12Z")
I’m thinking about it again, and I’ve changed my mind. Put me down for yes. I’d probably sit in bed (or at the computer) for like four hours doing nothing at night, but that’s still less time wasted then 8 hours asleep. This, of course, assumes none of the icky effects from sleep deprivation are going to take place. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/85 "2009-02-11T00:31:11Z")
> [@MichaelQReilly](#): > > I picked this post because it’s illustrative of the “no” posts. You guys don’t actually like the sleeping. You like the relaxed feeling you get when you lay down to go to bed or the recharged feeling you get when you wake up, those things are happening when you are awake. > > . Don’t forget our fascinating dreams. And I would argue that yes we do like the sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![Qwakkeddup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Qwakkeddup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwakkeddup)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/86 "2009-02-11T02:28:42Z")
When I was still in school, I started forcing myself to stay up. Later and less sleep was the normal for me. It got to the point I was staying up for days at a time. Hallucinations, incomprehensible babbling, and a very hard crash. I did this without drugs or alcohol. I still have to force myself to go to bed, 20 years later. If I could eliminate the need for sleep, with no side effects from the drug, and no side effects from not sleeping, I would take two of them pills. Sleeping for me is being dead. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/87 "2009-02-11T05:41:23Z")
I’m kind of on the fence with this one. On one hand, I would love to spend more time being productive. No more hours being a slave to unconsciousness, forget about the need to recharge, I would have more time to pursue more hobbies, to include a chance to possibly get out more and maybe meet somebody, more time to pursue eclectic opportunities, etc… On the other hand, I LOVE SLEEP!!! I love getting snuggled in all the bankies, I love hating the sun coming in my window while sleeping and turning over. I love turning off the snooze bar instead of waiting for another 9 minutes. Oh, did I say: I LOVE SLEEP!!! I think I’m going to need another incentive. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/88 "2009-02-11T08:33:02Z")
No way. I love going to sleep. That’s where I’m a Viking! Joe ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/89 "2009-02-11T09:52:03Z")
I hate sleeping. I only do it because I have to, and I rarely sleep more than 4 hours at a time. So count me in on the pill! If I take this pill does that mean I can’t drink until I pass out anymore? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/90 "2009-02-11T16:21:52Z")
> [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](#): > > Don’t forget our fascinating dreams. And I would argue that yes we do like the sleeping. Right, I actually was going to say something like this in my post. Dreams are the ONLY one of those things that actually happens while you are asleep. Sleep is by definition a lack of consciousness, so you really can’t enjoy sleep because “you” aren’t around when you are sleeping to perceive anything (except for dreams). If you want to say you enjoy laying down when you are tired or the burst of energy you feel when you wake up in the morning, that’s fine, but that isn’t sleep. They something that happens when you are a wake that is a byproduct of your need for sleep or having slept. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/91 "2009-02-12T17:36:19Z")
> [@Karyn](#): > > It’s not so much the sleeping for me as the waking up. That moment when I realize that I’m awake but don’t have to get up and that I have another whole day in front of me to do whatever I want with is priceless. Many of us don’t have that luxury anymore, ever. ☹ (As a father of two-year-old twins, I would totally take that pill. I could use those extra few hours to actually get a little of my OWN life back.) ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/92 "2009-02-12T17:39:17Z")
Aw, buck up, **Pazu**. 18, 20 years tops, and you get that luxury back. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/93 "2009-02-12T17:50:58Z")
Sleeping is one of my hobbies so: Nevah! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870/94 "2009-02-12T19:25:37Z")
When I was in a relationship, probably so. I never felt like I had enough “me” time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-up-sleep-permanently-if-you-could/484870.md?page=4)