Comment by dang | Hacker News Reader

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Comment by dang | Hacker News Reader

Ekirch's theory has had many threads on HN over the years - some of them:

Humans used to sleep in two shifts - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27334769 - May 2021 (60 comments)

The History of Sleep - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9501610 - May 2015 (11 comments)

We used to sleep twice each night - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5542453 - April 2013 (107 comments)

Rethinking Sleep - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4558569 - Sept 2012 (60 comments)

The myth of the eight-hour sleep - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620742 - Feb 2012 (161 comments)

Can anybody find others?

"Polyphasic sleep" was a popular topic here for a while.

https://hn.algolia.com/?q=polyphasic

Until it became a hot topic and then it ceased to be one.

Preach!

DaVinci was a famous polyphasic sleeper.

I remember it well, and also how curiously it died out. But I don't think it's really that related.

It's doubly curious that there hasn't been a recent resurgence. I'd expect that the WFH trend would be making it more practical and sustainable for many.

During polyphasic experiments in my youth, my biggest obstacle was always securing reliable conditions to allow the daytime naps.

I just submitted "The many myths of Paleo sleeping" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29902569 (0 comments), on its way to total obscurity.

It’s a good article, especially in the second half where the two theories are synthesized into a narrow, compatible summary, but the clickbait title isn’t compelling and I don’t think really describes the content.

This was the first article I ever heard about this theory. I think its original form was longer, and the link is sadly just an excerpt.

“When Bandogs Howle and Spirits Walk” in Smithsonian Magazine - from January 2001!

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-bandogs-h...

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