We can stop breathing when we want to. We can also “tell” our body to do what we want such as moving, holding, typing, etc. So why can’t we just “tell” our brain to go to sleep immediately instead of having to wait for it to fall asleep.
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The same reason you can’t directly control your heartbeat, blood pressure, or how much you’re sweating.
Some processes are regulated by our autonomic nervous system. This system is not consciously controlled as a default because it’s more efficient to be regulated by hormones and other neurotransmitters. Ultimately, like most things, it’s “good enough” to get us to reproductive age and have babies, so it never got selected out of this pathway.
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