Plague of the Sleepless Society:
Thank You, Thomas Edison
The Plague of the Sleepless Society: Thank you, Thomas Edison
People certainly take for granted how important sleep actually is and the impact that losing just a few hours of sleep has on us. Every day we are finding out more information about sleep; though, we still only know little about sleep. Surprisingly, over a third of the people in America are sleep deprived, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Our minds are constantly on, even in states of unconsciousness; however, it needs some time to rest. Several technological revolutions: the First Industrial Revolution (FIR), the Second Industrial Revolution (SIR) and the Digital Revolution, are to blame for a generous portion of the sleep deprivation. Since these revolutions, though, there has been a dramatic and exponential growth in productivity; however, inventions that were products of such revolutions are sole contributors, to what is now considered, a “public health epidemic” of sleep deprivation. This ultimately negates the increase of productivity that it induced in many ways, all the while harming our society.
One piece of evidence: there is a collection of genes that shows to only be on while a person is sleeping. These genes are closely associated with restoration and metabolic processes. The second theory is the energy conservation theory. This theory essentially says you sleep to save calories. According to neuroscientist Russell Foster, “If you compare an individual who has slept at night, or stayed awake and hasn't moved very much, the energy saving of sleeping is about 110 calories a night.” That is the calorie equivalent of a hotdog bun. A hotdog bun is not much of a reward when it comes to the “complicated and demanding behavior” of sleep. The third theory is the brain processing and memory consolidation theory. This theory says that when we sleep we process our thoughts and our memories we saw throughout the day. Foster also says that when you try to teach an individual a task, then sleep-deprive the individual, you “smash” their ability to learn such task. Also, “our ability to come up with novel solutions to complex problems is hugely enhanced by a night of sleep” (Foster). Our neural and synaptic connections are also strengthened after we sleep. That’s the three central theories on why we sleep. Realistically we sleep because of a combination of all three theories. Seeing these theories, one might imagine the detrimental effects of not sleeping. That brings us to one of the most important inventions ever created – the lightbulb.
approximately 24 hours” (Wilbur 778). We have a biological time clock that depends on light-dark cycles. It tells us when we should be awake and when we should be asleep. We quite literally depend on when the sun rises and when it sets. The invention of the lightbulb disrupts our natural pattern. One of the things that trigger your body to go to sleep is the setting of the sun. But how could your body go to sleep when there’s always light around you? Even when the sun goes down it’s still virtually there with a deceiving similitude. Especially since incandescent lightbulbs’ light spectrum is nearly identically to the suns. We are constantly on! When do we sleep? Our body does not know. This is one of the big causes of sleep deprivation and this invention is The Industrial Revolution’s contribution to it. In fact, the lightbulb is also indirectly responsible for another huge cause of sleep deprivation.
Since the invention of the lightbulb there have been thousands upon thousands of inventions that use one revolutionary device that emulates a design that was first done by the
famous Thomas Edison on the lightbulb. This device is the transistor. For those who are not exactly tech-savvy and don’t know what a transistor is, David Haviland does a fine job explaining it in his article for the Nobel Prize:
We can turn them on and off very rapidly by switching every 0.000000001 seconds. Such logic chips are at the heart of your personal computer and many other gadgets you use today. (Haviland)
Haviland then continues with,
The transistor was not the first three terminal device. The vacuum tube triode preceded the transistor by nearly 50 years. Vacuum tubes played an important role in the emergence of home electronics and in the scientific discoveries and technical innovations which are the foundation for our modern electronic technology. Thomas Edison's lightbulb was one of the first uses of vacuum tubes for electrical applications. (Haviland)
in the regulation of biological rhythms and sleep” (Wilbur 993). This means that the light from these devices are responsible for a big part of melatonin suppression, which in turn contributes to why people aren’t sleeping. What Kresser discusses about melatonin suppression also ties into how lightbulbs are causing sleep deprivation. He states, “Along with blue light emitted from electronic devices, research has shown that being exposed to normal levels of room lighting can have similar negative effects on melatonin. One study showed that one hour of moderately bright light exposure (1000 lux) was sufficient to suppress nocturnal melatonin to daytime levels.” There is an enormous amount of evidence that concludes that LED light specifically is a big contributor to sleep
deprivation. Even a separate study done by the University of Haifia concludes that, “Exposure to the light of 'white' LED bulbs appears to suppress melatonin five times more than exposure to the light of high-pressure sodium bulbs that give off an orange-yellow light, according to new research” (Science Daily). All of this research concludes that all artificial light, but especially LED, has a massive contribution to why people are not sleeping.
work. Further along in Biddle and Hamermesh’s article there is a graph that shows that the fewer people sleep, the fewer hours they work, which is interesting. What is even more interesting is that their research also concludes that the more people sleep, the lower income they have. This is shown on a table that they include on page 938 of their article. However, they do admit that “while our results do suggest the existence of this most basic of economic effects on the demand of sleep, they are not overwhelming (Biddle & Hamermesh 938). They do however believe that “…they are strong enough, though…” (938). Out of all of their extensive research we can conclude that “The demand for sleep is a function of the individual’s wage rate…” (936) and that “sleep affects productivity, as evidence from other fields strongly suggests…” (941). Biddle and Hamermesh’s research shows how “as much as 1 hour”, as they would say, can affect productivity and it also gives you an idea of how this could possibly effect the economy.
unproductiveness. However, there is more to discuss. Quinn adds, “Levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) were also higher during sleep deprivation periods, which has been linked to memory impairment, age-related insulin resistance, and impaired recovery in athletes.” Keep in mind these things for the later point of medical issues. To get back to the point, Quinn ingeniously points out that, “This study [Dr. Cauter’s] is interesting because it shows that sleep deprivation can negatively impact physiology that is critical for athletic performance (Quinn). The reason physiology is emphasized is because the most we know about sleep deprivation involves brain and immune function. Physiological change is rather a new and a seldom discussed topic when talking about consequences of sleep-deprivation. Quinn also reports, “…after only one week of sleep restriction, young, healthy males had glucose levels that were no longer normal and showed a rapid
deterioration of the body's functions. This reduced [the] ability of the body to manage glucose…” In addition, Quinn states, “Those who are sleep deprived may experience slower storage of
glycogen, which prevents storage of the fuel an athlete needs for endurance events beyond 90 minutes” eventually leading to a change in metabolic function (Quinn). These findings go even further to show how unproductive losing sleep can be and it introduces a new concept of
productivity – biological productivity. Elizabeth Quinn’s article conjointly with Dr. Cauter’s research perfectly elucidates exactly how impactful sleep deprivation can be, not only to a person’s health but as well as the productiveness in something that could be a person’s hobby, lifestyle and even career.
Sleep deprivation causes a lot more damage than most believe it does. Not so surprisingly, it is true that sleep deprivation can cause, and is a huge risk factor for, many medical issues and ailments. Michael J. Breus Ph.D. opens up with a strong and similar assertion that fits perfectly with the theme of this. Dr. Breus asserts, “Not sleeping enough and not sleeping well is not OK. As a matter of fact, there is quite a price to pay. It may surprise you to learn that chronic sleep
pocketbook” (Breus). It is becoming to seem unanimous upon experts, from all different fields, that it is vital that we do not lose any sleep. At the end of Dr. Breus’ very laconic article, he has a list of medical conditions that can be induced because of sleep deprivation. Among these are obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, depression, and injury from an accident just to name a few. Now, how do these things affect productivity one might ask? To answer, consider these hypothetical situations: Is it more likely for an obese man to do better at his job if here were not obese? Would a person who suffers from osteoporosis not be able to do more at work? How more efficient might a person be at doing their job if they did not have to deal with depression? The point is that these things are somewhat preventable and by simply sleeping an extra hour or two can decrease risk factors significantly. Interestingly, Dr. Breus included “injury from an accident.” In the book Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem, in Chapter 4 there is a section titled “Work Related Injuries.” In this section, it discusses a series of studies that were conducted that all came to the same conclusion. They concluded that, “…highly fatigued workers were 70 percent more likely to be involved in accidents than were workers reporting low fatigue levels, after adjustment for other risk factors” and “Workers with chronic insomnia were also far more likely than those who were good sleepers to report industrial accidents or injuries” (149). Proving this thesis even further, you can infer that since these workers were injured because they were deprived of sleep, and it is ok to make the assumption that they were also not as productive as well. These thorough examples clarify just how much a, misconceived as harmless, all-nighter can depreciate productivity.
falls it strikes the second, and now we have our first long-lasting incandescent lightbulb. We now have all sun, all the time. This struck the beginning of The Plague of the Sleepless Society. We are now in the late SIR also known as the Technological Revolution. Times are changing. We are beginning to adapt to life with the second sun, as it is in our nature to adapt. Then, ever so rapidly, we are in the times of the digital revolution. One of the biggest triumphs in modern day physics happens; the transistor is born. With technology this advanced, but yet so simple, it created an entirely new realm of possibilities. People like John Bardeen and Walter Brattain had a eureka moment of their own when they “realized the power of this new technology” (Haviland). We are still early in the digital revolution, though. Our first computers came before the transistor nonetheless; however, they still used outmoded technology such as unnecessarily gargantuan vacuum tubes. As time progressed the dominoes are still falling one by one; speeding up each time as if it is a cascade of some sort. It’s important to understand that the plague is not the plague yet. It’s more of an outbreak at this point; almost every home has lightbulbs at this point. But time is still progressing. There is this sort of silent behind the scenes technological race going on. As new technologies begin to come about, such as the integrated circuit, which was preceded by the transistor, we begin to merge into and get closer to present day, or what is known as the Information Age. Don’t even think that the domino’s stopped dropping for a second; the dominoes haven’t begun to stop accelerating. One invention leads to the next, and the next, and the next. Computers, early cell phones, and the internet were the main driving forces of this new age. Now the dominoes’ rate of acceleration is no longer logistic; it is now completely exponential. One of the first culprit’s in this new age was the personal computer. This began the infectious trend of digital communication. Cell phones were around for quite some time now; they just lie dormant while they wait until it’s time for their contribution. As time
beginning to steal seconds away from people’s sleep. It’ll soon be minutes, then hours. Personal computers are beginning to appear in every home. All while this is taking place, there is absolutely no doubt that productivity is skyrocketing. Things are becoming more automatic and more computerized day-by-day. Computer chips are starting to get smaller and smaller. Cell phones are now getting more advanced and steadily more popular. During this time LED technology has been around for quite some time now. But now technology allows for it to be implicated in televisions, computers and cell phones. More and more we are being exposed to devices emitting artificial light that not only throws off our natural body clock, but now a vital hormone that puts us to sleep, is being suppressed as well. Technology is advancing faster than our bodies and minds can adjust to them. This is causing us to lose sleep. In turn, the loss of sleep ultimately is causing a decrease in productivity. This has been proven with extensive economical, biological and medical research.
Works Cited
Breus, Michael J., PhD. "Chronic Sleep Deprivation and Health Effects." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. <http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/important-sleep-habits>.
Colten, Harvey R., and Bruce M. Altevogt. "Chapter 4." Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, 2006. N. pag. Print. Foster, Russel. "Why Do We Sleep?" June 2013. TED Talk. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster_why_do_we_sleep>.
Haviland, David B. " ." The Transistor. Nobelprize.org, 19 Dec. 2002. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/transistor/history/>.
Kresser, Chris. "How Artificial Light Is Wrecking Your Sleep, and What to Do about It." Chris Kresser. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. <http://chriskresser.com/how-artificial-light-is-wrecking-your-sleep-and-what-to-do-about-it>.
Quinn, Elizabeth. "Sleep Deprivation and Athletes." About.com Sports Medicine. N.p., 04 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 May 2014.
<http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/conditioning/a/aa062800a.htm>.
Reece, Jane B., Lisa A. Urry, Michael L. Cain, Steven A. Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, and Robert B. Jackson. AP Edition Campbell Biology. Ed. Beth Wilbur. 9th ed. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 2011. Print.
University of Haifa. "Exposure to 'white' light LEDs appears to suppress body's production of melatonin more than certain other lights, research suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 September 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110912092554.htm>.
Biddle, Jeff E., and Daniel S. Hamermesh. "Sleep and the Allocation of Time."Journal of Political Economy 98.5, Part 1 (1990): 922-43. JSTOR. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
