I don't think they are naive questions. We know very little about what sleep is. It seems natural to think that our systems are all "resting" in some way. But most of what happens in sleep, such as healing, growing etc etc etc, also happens when we are awake.

I haven't heard about the predator-prey relationship with animals, and definitely can see that in terms of cats which seem to always be asleep But the trouble is that the vast majority of animals are both prey and preditor. Take two creatures that I know well that aren't prey to anything else - elephants and lions. Lions sleep all the time and elephants only get a few hours a day. But then again, I suppose elephants aren't predators either. I guess predators that aren't prey to anything else are free to go into a deep sleep without becoming something elses meal - and so don't have much evolutionary drive to limit the amount of sleep. Still it sounds like a bit of a dodgey theory and is probably just one of many factors. I've heard that in general bigger animals need less sleep, as do animals with longer life spans. Dolphins are a weird case because they sleep with half their brain at a time IIRC.

As for the spiritually developed needing less sleep - I think that could be a clue to sleeps nature to some extent. Maybe its the effort of consciousness 'directed outwards' that leads to it needing to sink in, whereas meditation and the like leads to consciousness being more inwwardly grounded and possibly this requires less effort in comparison with projecting outwards. Or possibly whatever the role of deep sleep and REM plays is instead fulfilled more completely in the waking state. I'm not sure about the idea that its to do with "conscious control of their brain wave activity" as such, but its definitely common for people who practice contemplation regularly or become adept at meditation to find they need less sleep.

But until someone works out why we need sleep, its all just speculation around a real mystery.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2005 11:46AM by Simon.