jwhendy comments on Alternate Sleep Schedules - Less Wrong

8 [deleted] 11 January 2011 11:47AM

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Comment author: Nornagest 11 January 2011 08:19:32PM *  4 points [-]

I'd probably be more inclined to believe that Uberman and other polyphasic sleep patterns have serious drawbacks than that they don't, but Wozniak's page is distinctly long on rhetoric and anecdote and short on data.

The section about the biological basis of sleep timing is about the only thing that I'm not inclined to throw out as obviously biased, although even that isn't good news for Uberman.

Comment author: jwhendy 11 January 2011 09:26:35PM *  0 points [-]

Point taken, though it seems like that's a common issue for the whole subject. It's been hard for me to find (in a short time) any studies about polyphasic sleep. The primary source of any information seems to be anecdotes. It seems that the entire concept arose from someone who appears to have invented this schedule here. "Uberman" was his naming convention since he was reading Nietzsche at the time.

I did find it quite interesting to read that post as well as this one which reports that he's been on the "Everyman schedule" for 3 years as of 2009 and this one where he compares Everyman to Uberman.

While I'm still skeptical, such positive reviews from someone who's tried it does entice me...

Edit: He... is a she!

Comment author: icebrand 11 January 2011 11:16:56PM 3 points [-]

Here is PureDoxyK's response to the Wozniak criticism. There's a funny bit...

  • There are no women doing polyphasic sleep. Which makes myself, my friend who first did Uberman with me, and my hero Heidi who’s gone more than a year-and-a-half on Uberman by now the most attractive, clean guys in HISTORY! Mind you, he doesn’t just state this silliness, but uses it as EVIDENCE for the fact that polyphasic sleep can’t work (because women’s “hormones” don’t allow it somehow). Yeah, ROFLcopter.
Comment author: jwhendy 12 January 2011 02:51:05AM *  2 points [-]

Wow -- thanks for providing that link -- it was great to read her whole response and the comments. This is a fun reply, as I can say that:

  • I've spent the evening reading tons of posts from PureDoxyk and Steve Pavlina
  • I essentially retract everything I wrote above; I agree that Wozniak is heavy on rhetoric and short on data
  • I think PureDoxyk's posts, blog, and book show that even if she is only one data point... at least it's an empirical data point vs. Wozniak's speculation.
  • Given this... I'm going to try this myself! How's that for a rapid mind changing?

I believe I was wrong and that even if Wozniak has a reasonable understanding of one method of proper sleep habits... this does nothing to rule out the testimony given by those who have adapted to polyphasic and state that they are energetic, alert, etc. on less sleep.

I still have one lingering concern -- long term effects. PureDoxyk states that she is not aware of any long term data on polyphasic sleep.

Lastly, PureDoxyk has a series of vlogs documenting her most recent adaptation to the Everyman schedule (3hr core + 3 naps of 20ish minutes). I watched the first and a couple others. The first has some great tips. There's also a google group with some helpful tips on getting ready for something like this.

Comment author: Finn 15 January 2011 05:35:36AM 3 points [-]

Be sure to read the most recent Wozniak where he talks about PureDoxyk and provides more data:

http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic2010.htm

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