Where do we go when we sleep?

alaphforce · Post by **alaphforce** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:03 pm

So humans have cognative brains and 5 sensory inputs. Humans also require down time. When we sleep we are only able to shut down one of our senses (excluding outside intervention at least) and even that is not a full shut down. I speak of sight. We are able to close our eye lids and and keep our visual sensory units offlines but we still maintain sound, touch, smell and taste. As an evelutionist I have to wonder why sight was choosen. As far as I know all mamals do the same. I doubt it would have been hard to develope a flap for the ears but this was not done.

At anyrate, once sleep sets in we enter a realm of pure imigination (more thoughts about early imagination to come in a later post) but our senses are still active with only sight being hindered.

Thoughts to discuss:

1)How do these inputs affect the subconscious?

2)Is my assumption here wrong, ie does the body shut down the other systems some how?

3)Why, evolutionarily speaking, would the body leave on/turn off certain systems during sleep?

4)With the availability of spell check and online dictionaries, why the freak can I not spell?

Mark A · Post by **Mark A** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 5:32 pm

Sight gets shut down mostly because sleep evolved as something to do at night. The assumption must be that the brain's level of activity during the day is not sustainable, and since humans are diurnal the housekeeping got moved to nighttime. Another factor is that visual processing consumes about 20-30% of the brain's capacity (and hence nutrient use) and the brain is an expensive organ to run in the first place, so it's a form of energy efficiency also.

Of course neither sight nor any of the senses is completely switched off, your brain maintains a basic level of awareness to warn of any possible threats.

4)With the availability of spell check and online dictionaries, why the freak can I not spell?

lol. I'm the opposite, I'm a human spell-checker

I've made over 500 posts on these forums, I'll give you 1M isk for the first 10 spelling, grammar or punctuation errors you can find...

alaphforce · Post by **alaphforce** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 6:24 pm

Mark A wrote: lol. I'm the opposite, I'm a human spell-checker I've made over 500 posts on these forums, I'll give you 1M isk for the first 10 spelling, grammar or punctuation errors you can find...

#1 Gramaticly speaking the above quote was a complete thought and hence the use of the triple stop was unwarented

J/K

Nice reply.

Would you also tend to think that dreams are influenced by real time sensory data and thus can act as an early warning system?

alaphforce · Post by **alaphforce** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 6:32 pm

Mark A wrote:Nice intro Look forward to seeing your app

2)Look forward to seeing your app. should read I look forward to reading your app(I will grant you common abreviations)

Stop me at any time, hell for a million ISK........you know thats realy not very much but hey Im bored.

Emizzon · Post by **Emizzon** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:57 pm

Would you also tend to think that dreams are influenced by real time sensory data and thus can act as an early warning system?

The level one one's awareness is often determined by which level or sleep they are currently in. If I remember correctly, we operate in 45 minute sleep cylces, where we will travel from stage 1 to stage 4 and back up to 1. Stage one is considered our light sleep, easily awoken and most recommended for being woken up at. Stage 4 lasts for maybe 5-10 mins and is our deepest sleep, usually people forced awake from this stage are irritable, grouchy and maybe violent. Dreams at this point are often forgot let alone even remembered. Dreams during stage 2 and 3 which usually last from 15-30 minutes depending at which interval of this stage you've reached (as in you've hit your 4th cycle 3.5 hours into your sleep.. blah blah...) Roughly we will spend the most time in stages 2-3 which usually results in our dream states, while our body also maintains a state of awareness, as Mark said, for warnings. And while in the dream state, audio, odor and sometimes taste can affect the current dream. This is why some people will experience what they would think is a voice change, and a slow repetition of their name or whatever sound they are being woken up to. Anyway, that's if I remember the dream seminar I went to correctly. But yes... My simple answer would be that dreams are affected by what we can hear and smell, most commonly what we can hear.

Mark A · Post by **Mark A** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 11:06 pm

I like to watch sci-fi before going to sleep as I tend to have similar, fun, dreams...

(yes, I do love ellipsis...)

Emizzon · Post by **Emizzon** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:37 am

I like to watch sci-fi before going to sleep as I tend to have similar, fun, dreams...

Shouldn't this be "similar and fun dreams..." as this only has two adjectives applied to one noun. There is no need for a comma and instead the word "and" should be used?

lol. I'm the opposite, I'm a human spell-checker I've made over 500 posts on these forums, I'll give you 1M isk for the first 10 spelling, grammar or punctuation errors you can find...

musashi · Post by **musashi** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 4:14 pm

“Where do we go when we sleep?” No where… unless we’re on a moving train.

It is an interesting question to probe into the nature of consciousness.

To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Maybe we go to sleep to commune with our dreams? Trying to gain fresh opportunity to start again. Consciousness IMO is merely potential energy. Energy that, with the right preparation and persistence, manifests into dreams brought into reality.

PS. You've called fire on your position now MarkA. The grammar checkers will be out in force. Its times like this that I like being dyslexic. I can attempt to get my composition correct, but in the end I always have a built in excuse.