If sleeping is so essential, how come we cannot really control it?

Question

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

Answer 1

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.