A nonfiction book by Matthew Walker that attempts to bring together the nascent scientific literature on sleep to a broader audience. Argues that sleepās function, though opaque, is still an essential component of not just biological or human life but points towards its implications for the (emotional) structure of civilization.
Analysis: Compelling research, good section at the end that details actionable policy changes from multiple stakeholder perspectives. Lots of analogies that I love (āBecome too relaxed in your sleep depth when slouched on a branch or in a best, and a dangling limb may be all the invitation gravity needs to bring you hurtling down to Earth in a life-ending fall, removing you from the gene pool. This is especially true for the stage of REM sleep, in which the brain completely paralyzes all voluntary muscles of the body, leaving you utterly limpāa literal bag of bones with no tension in your musclesā p. 73) and that I sometimes hate ()
Recommendation: Star rating: Favorite quotations:
From these clues, I offer a theorem: the tree-to-ground reengineering of sleep was a key trigger that rocketed Homo sapiens to the top of evolutionās lofty pyramid. At least two features define human beings relative to other primates. I posit that both have been beneficially and causally shaped by the hand of sleep, and specifically our intense degree of REM sleep relative to all other mammals: (1) our degree of sociocultural complexity, and (2) our cognitive intelligence. REM sleep, and the act of dreaming itself, lubricates both of these human traits. p. 74