Philosophy Discussion Forums

We sleep maybe six to eight hours a night, more for some people. That barely compromises half of our 24 hour day. But, that little period of rest has saved the world. Think about this, back into Ancient history, of we didn't get at least that little percentage of sleep, the Egyptians would of had time to conquer the world, pillaging would be no stop, and wars would probably have even more devastating effects if we weren't sleeping creatures. But the fact that, at one time, we put our weapons down at night and become people instead of enemies has saved the world from total annihilation.At night we become a community and we are together, it's probably one of the few things that everyone on this planet does as one (discounting the time zones). Also, what if our minor amount of sleep has led to our societal monolith. Think about this: cats sleep 16 hours a day. They only get 8 hours to run around and do active things. That's hardly enough time to build an empire. However, humans get just the opposite. 16 hours of play and 8 hours of rest. Sixteen hours gave us the time necessary to ponder the world's mysteries, to build galleons, and to travel across continents. Some animals sleep almost 20 hours a day ( I think they are fish ). Some animals are constantly "asleep". Clams just sit back relax and let the food flow in. But what if it were the other way around. Maybe clams would be polluting the planet and sending ships to Mars and man would be the bottom feeders. Just an observation to think about.