Like the way we can control our muscles, or the way we can hold back peeing. How come we cannot control to fall asleep or to wake up?
In: Biology
I can honestly control not falling asleep better than not breathing or not drinking. And I mean, try to not pee for 24 hours and not to sleep for 24 hours, my bet is that you can control not peeing a lot less than you think. Your body needs certain things and has systems that regulate those things. Sleep is just one of those necessary things your body will force you to do.
You can’t?
Have you talked to your doctor about this? because I thought everyone just sorta does that thing after you close your eyes, you know, that squeezy feeling in the upper back middle of your head?
For humans, the inability to perfectly fall asleep or perfectly wake up was not a biological roadblock to our survival. Humans have survived long enough to reproduce for millions of years without the need for this skill, and so it did not become a dominant trait.
It’s a mystery. This why we get sleeping pills and stuff, some people can control it, some can’t. We haven’t figured out why.
Sleeping is an essential function regulated by our brain and body, much like breathing or digestion. Unlike voluntary muscle movements, sleep is controlled by complex brain mechanisms that balance various chemicals and signals. These mechanisms include the circadian rhythm (our internal body clock) and sleep pressure, which builds up the longer we stay awake. While we can influence our sleep to some extent—like creating a relaxing environment or sticking to a sleep schedule—our ability to control it is limited because it involves deep, involuntary processes. Evolutionarily, perfect control over sleep wasn’t necessary for survival, so it didn’t develop as a trait.
We can have more control if we learn how and then practice. If I am in a favourable environment I can put myself to sleep when I want most times. Sometimes I can do it even when I am not tired. Although occasionally it won’t work. I haven’t perfected the waking up at a set time yet. I can usually get it to within 15 minutes of the time I choose. I had a friend who could do it to within 1 minute accuracy. People don’t learn, they don’t practice, they don’t get good at it, probably because they don’t know it’s possible.
We have some control over it. I can decide to take a nap, i can decide to stay awake till late.
Same as breathing, i can decide to hold my breath (up to a point) or decide to breathe faster manually.
But, the more essential a bodily function, the less active control we have over it. Our body/subcontious doesn’t trust us to handle it well. Which is probably true, we would forget to keep our heart beating or keep breathing and die.
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