kris oddson
><oddson at odyssee.net> writes
>>Sleep is purely and simply a series of repair and test sequences
>>throughout the night.
>>This is opinion dressed up as fact. (Incidentally, someone else recently
>posted here claiming to know exactly why we sleep, but when asked to
>produce references he did not respond. If he's reading this- I'd still
>be interested in any references.)
I stand by my statement and it is indeed opinion as you suggest(I have
read a lot on the subject)My opinion as to why we sleep is simply
because the earth spins on its axis as it circles the sun and some
orgaisms have taken advantage of the dark period to repair the ravages
of the day.I know of no better answer to the why of sleep.
>> No magic,no reinforcement of learning. The REM
>>sequences are
>>hallucinations while the brain is in a certifiably insane chemical
>>state.Like J. Allan Hobson states on page 77 of his book THE CHEMISTRY
>>OF CONSCIOUS STATES:" dreaming is not like a psychosis, it is a
>>psychosis.It's just a healthy one,"
>>This is possibly true, although it doesn't seem to me to be a useful
>concept. You don't *explain* anything by merely slapping a label on it.
>If your preconception is that dreams are essentially meaningless, then
>this label of "healthy psychosis" will appeal to you.
Hobson is one of the foremost sleep researchers in the world. He has
measured the cholinergic and aminergic conditions of the brain while
in non-REM sleep and their reversals to the insane state while
dreaming.We should remember that several systems, notably the
temperature control system, are taken out of cruise control when we
sleep. It has been shown by tests that the colder the ambient
temperature when you sleep the more frequent the dream episodes.
The reason, in my opinion, that the brain goes into an insane state is
simply that a rational brain cannot be made to hallucinate and that
the body needs to hallucinate so that it can test the various systems
such as the male erection system which occurs every night, I
understand.What else it tests and reports to the central nervous
system I don't know.
But my basic thesis (opinion) stands.Sleep is the organism's taking
advantage of the darkness to repair, test, repair, test itself.
>>> It seems there are still people who have
>>read Freud and can't shake some of his absurdities.
I would like to end on that note.
Thank you Nick Medford for responding.
