If there were a pill that made sleeping unnecessary, would that be good or bad?

[jamo0001]

Not talking meth or something like that. I mean a medication that legitimately replaced sleep so that you could stay awake indefinitely and never have adverse effects from doing so.

Edit: And it can't be used on an as-needed basis. Must be daily. You're either a Sleeper or a Nonsleeper.

Would you take it? Would it have a net positive or negative effect on the world?

 

[liveblue92]

Yes, you can sleep when you're dead.

 

[funKYcat75]

Tough question. I can't truly answer it because of the toll it would take on the mind to never be at rest. But I'll try ...

Positive: Workers could go around the clock. Students could be at school at anytime of day/night. The economy would have a bit of a boost. New jobs for shifts that typically wouldn't happen overnight. I guess folks could use the extra time for something productive like reading, learning new skills, spending time with family * (see below)

Negatives: Corporations would start abusing its use within about 1 second. Forcing it upon their workers, extending work hours, etc. Plus, I think people would legitimately go insane. *or doing drugs and screwing all the time, creating another problem.

 

[-LEK-]

I would take it without looking back.

What would you do when you are tired? I know we arent going into logistics, just, naps are awesome, and that would be hard to give up.

 

[WayneDougan]

Ha! Great question. A philosophical question I've thought about for years. I hate sleep and would love to never have to do it. My wife, however, loves sleep and says this would be the worst thing ever.

Avoid the "corporations would take advantage of it" argument and assume labor protection laws would still make 40-hour weeks the standard. Here is the biggest benefit: you could do all your work and schooling at night, and you'd have the entire day to do whatever the hell you want to do. Productivity would sky-rocket. You'd have so much time to do the things you want to do. From a health perspective, you could work-out for like 5 hours per day. You'd have more time for fishing, camping, hunting, sports, etc. For you TV junkies, you could watch your entire season of shows in one 24-hour period. You'd instantly have another 56 hours per week to get work done around the house.

Downside - without HAVING to go to bed, your sex life would suffer big-time. Especially in college. Plus, there'd be no "sleeping off" of hangover. Now that I think of it, I guess the no-sleeping pill would be terrible. Pass.

 

[UKGrad93]

I was going to go with mostly what Funky said. It would make beds & bedrooms obsolete. That could be good & bad. Bad if you make a living selling beds.

No more dreams, but also no more nightmares.

Overall, probably a bad thing. Think about Vegas, the tourists there are up 24/7. Maybe that is what the world would be like.

 

[Willy4UK]

Not talking meth or something like that. I mean a medication that legitimately replaced sleep so that you could stay awake indefinitely and never have adverse effects from doing so.

Edit: And it can't be used on an as-needed basis. Must be daily. You're either a Sleeper or a Nonsleeper.

Would you take it? Would it have a net positive or negative effect on the world?

Can we snort it? If we can, then answer is yes.

 

[jamo0001]

No more dreams, but also no more nightmares.

Deep, brah

 

[UKBrassowTipIN]

No...sleeping is also a getaway

 

[maverick1]

I mean a medication that legitimately replaced sleep so that you could stay awake indefinitely and never have adverse effects from doing so.

Dammit jamo, you been synthesizin' pineal poisons again?

 

[UKGrad93]

How much does this drug cost? Is it covered by my insurance? Do I need a prescription?

 

[argubs2]

Even if the drug would save you from both the physical and mental stress, it's still like trying to imagine a 4th dimension. I guess millions of years of mental conditioning will do that.

I'll keep my sleep because I fear change. I also love sleep.

 

[BlueRaider22]

Could I work double and retire in 15 yrs as opposed to 30?

It would be nice to have more off time to spend with my family, travel, accomplish things I never had been able, etc.

The negatives are that Americans would become even more uptight. Other countries don't view work as strict as we do......I'm afraid employers would start to institute mandatory 80 hr work weeks or something.

 

[bbonds]

.........I'm afraid employers would start to institute mandatory 80 hr work weeks or something.

Then said employer would need to cover the cost of the drug. I consider this similar to employers "expecting" their employees to hook their phones up to their work email accounts, thus working non-stop. False. Only if you're going to chip in on my phone bill.

 

[Ron Mehico]

With more "free time", more things would be expected of us, and there would inevitably be more things to do. So instead of a busy day from 8-5 of running around, you'd have a busy day of 5am to midnight every day. It would just be more stressful IMO.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Yeah. The 40+ hour work week is already ridiculous and abused. They'd be relentless if the human body and mind didn't need sleep.

I don't like to sleep and instead like to entertain myself with movies and reading late at night to relax my mind from working but corporations would abuse it.

 

[LordEgg]

how would you get over hangovers?

 

[ganner918]

how would you get over hangovers?

The same way as now, just have a smoke

 

[Willy4UK]

how would you get over hangovers?

Damn, never thought about that. The only break I get from drinking is sleep. I'm thinking quick onset renal failure by 21 yrs of age if this pill is made.

 

[CUJO_1970]

Would not take. Negative effects would be enormous.

Would increase the homicide rate, increase domestic violence and crime rate as well as the overall death rate due to personal injury, heart attack, stroke etc.

Would be an enormous tax on infrastructure through increased use, increased energy/utilities use and would make us even more dependent on oil (all corporations and businesses would run 24 hours/7 days a week.) More and longer lasting congestion on roads, increased pollution etc.

 

[hoojyoutlaw]

Lack of sleep is lack of sleep. Humans need shut eye to rest the brain. Back in my partying days, I could stay up for 2-3 days at a time w/o sleep thanks to crank. The side effects I suffered were no worse than what soldiers experienced when taking amphetamine pills during wars.

 

[WayneDougan]

Lack of sleep is lack of sleep. Humans need shut eye to rest the brain. Back in my partying days, I could stay up for 2-3 days at a time w/o sleep thanks to crank. The side effects I suffered were no worse than what soldiers experienced when taking amphetamine pills during wars.

What exactly is going on at 5AM when you are on crank?

 

[hoojyoutlaw]

What exactly is going on at 5AM when you are on crank?

Witches, warlocks, etc etc. Never trust a mofo who hasn't had some sleep. The human brain can't handle this atm. Maybe some bio-chem miracle can correct that someday.

 

[JumperJack]

Hell yes. I would love to read, play video games, go to the gym, work on the house....all the shit I can't get done now because there's no time with kids. This is assuming the little heathens still have to go to bed at night.

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

Couldn't leave the 40 hour workweek in place and/or if you did you'd get crushed even more by the real go getters.....why? Would take all sorts of extry scratch to "do all the things you wanted to do".

Hell, the hens would have that much more time to blow coin. No. No thank you.

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

Plus, there'd be no "sleeping off" of hangover. Now that I think of it, I guess the no-sleeping pill would be terrible. Pass.

lol