October 15, 2007

Sleep and IQ

From New York:

Snooze or Lose

Overstimulated, overscheduled kids are getting at least an hour’s less sleep than they need, a deficiency that, new research reveals, has the power to set their cognitive abilities back years.

By Po Bronson

I was going to add an insightful comment, but I can't think of any, so I'll go to bed instead.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

on

15 comments:

  1. Anonymous10/16/07, 3:14 AM

    I know there's a point of diminishing returns, but I've found that some sleep deprivation actually seems to increase my mental awareness.

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  2. Anonymous10/16/07, 9:43 AM

    They will sleep well, but they won't get into Harvard because they won't have enough activities on their resume.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10/16/07, 10:18 AM

    This reminds of a story done by NPR about 5 years ago. Some researher in Minnesota was finding that teenagers (esp. boys) could not wake up at 6:30 am to be at school by 8 am. The reasons were all very Biological.

    Obviously, there parents were getting them up and they were going, but there performance in their early classes suffered.

    Because of this, a number of Private Schools had adjusted their schedule for their teenaged students.

    When the Minn. Public School System was asked about this, their reply was, "Can't do it". Buses, schedules, all that.

    Private Schools = Flexible.
    Public Schools = Inflexible.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10/16/07, 12:02 PM

    I wish some of the few people I can still respect and admire had not affilated themselves with the likes of you, Steve Sailer. You are a conniving, manipulative, bastard whose so called journalistic research is a fraud. You are merely a propagandist who is working to destroy everything I hold dear. Rot in hell.

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  5. AG10/16/07, 1:23 PM

    Mental ability is very similar to athletic ability which have both genetic and enviromental components.

    Both exercise and rest are need to have good result. Too much rest will lead to atrophy. You sleep too much and you sure will become retarded. Harder the athelets practice, better the outcome.

    Most good thinkers sleep less just like hard training athletes.

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  6. Unknown10/16/07, 1:39 PM

    Look, Anonymous 12:02PM, just turn out the lights, flip off your shoes, kick back, and catch a few Z's.

    You'll feel better by mid-afternoon, I guarantee you.

    And try to cut back on that AM coffee load, OK?

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  7. Anonymous10/16/07, 2:42 PM

    Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber/Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies/Which busy care draws in the brains of men/Therefore thou sleepst so sound.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous10/16/07, 2:42 PM

    Anonymous wrote:

    "I wish some of the few people I can still respect and admire had not affilated themselves with the likes of you, Steve Sailer. You are a conniving, manipulative, bastard whose so called journalistic research is a fraud. You are merely a propagandist who is working to destroy everything I hold dear. Rot in hell"


    Anonymous:
    What exactly do you "hold dear"? It would be interesting for us to know..........


    Miles

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  9. Ron Guhname10/16/07, 8:02 PM

    @ Anon 12:12

    "I wish some of the few people I can still respect and admire had not affilated themselves with the
    likes of you, Steve Sailer. You are a conniving, manipulative, bastard whose so called journalistic research is a fraud. You are merely a propagandist who is working to destroy everything I hold dear. Rot in hell."

    This, on a thread about IQ and sleep? Next time, save it for when the topic is mental illness.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10/17/07, 5:32 AM

    I think Steve must have let that comment pass just for the laughs. I have no idea who it could be and I suspect Steve is the only one who knows.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10/17/07, 8:09 AM

    A large part of the counterproductive side of male competitiveness (we are already familiar with its productive side) is not only "I can bang more chicks" but also, among intellectual types, "I don't need sleep - that's for pansies."

    My dad brags he can go 24, 36, 48 hours without sleep and never feel it. "I don't know why you lesser mortals aren't strong enough to live as I do." (He is old now and the less said about his current sleep habits, the better.)

    Among med school students and college students generally, there is the idea "I'll sleep when I'm in the effing grave." Or as Jimmy Joe Tackett, a fellow student of mine, confided: "Only girls sleep" (substitute the word girls with a word describing part of the female anatomy).

    Ah, the wacky world of the testosterone-soaked.

    Einstein reportedly had to have 12 hours of sleep per night. Jimmy Joe is no Einstein.

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  12. Anonymous10/17/07, 9:46 AM

    but I've found that some sleep deprivation actually seems to increase my mental awareness.

    A delusion. You may think you're more aware that way, but other people probably perceive you to be extra goofy when you're sleep deprived.

    As for athletes in tip top shape needing less sleep -- wrong, they need plenty of sleep.

    Actually, I assume you guys are jokers, making wan efforts to be funny.

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  13. Anonymous10/17/07, 2:42 PM

    From the Bourne books,which were so good,as opposed to the latest Bourne movie--which sucked so bad-- here's Jason Bourne:"Sleep is a weapon".

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  14. Anonymous10/17/07, 4:33 PM

    A large part of the counterproductive side of male competitiveness (we are already familiar with its productive side) is not only "I can bang more chicks" but also, among intellectual types, "I don't need sleep - that's for pansies."

    If you include businessmen and other types whose form of competition doesn't involve physical exertion (investment bankers, lawyers, medical residents), probably.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Giovanni Dannato3/1/12, 11:39 AM

    Though there's stories of ascetic geniuses like Tesla who could go long periods without sleep, you'd think most geniuses who habitually overclock their brains would need more sleep than average.

    Much of sleep's purpose is to unburden our short term memory cache. We can only store a very finite amount of inputs in any one period of wakefulness.

    You'd think those who constantly push their mental capabilities would need sleep just as much as professional athletes. Maybe more so.

    ReplyDelete

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