Sleep, and then weep

A recent study (1) that demonstrates that sleeping has significant therapeutic benefits in erasing and mending difficult emotions is not new. However, it further reinforces the idea that sleeping has been fundamentally important to the human psyche all through history. Most biological systems, humans included, deal mostly with pain most of their life. As the painful memories have no beneficial effect on the system, the optimal action is to get rid off it. Akin to a computer, "the garbage," need to be collected and disposed off.

Reduction in sleep can be considered a leading indicator for pain build-up. Such an outcome has catastrophic effects not only on the individual but also on the society as a whole. Since pain is unambiguously bad, any process that slows down discharging it is suboptimal. Humans, with large unused brains, are particularly vulnerable, as they seemingly have an infinite capacity to remember. There may be an an average optimal sleep time for a biological system as well as the society it is part off. If changes in technology and social structures are moving against this optimal target, it is a bit like winding up a spring – it will have to break some time with disastrous effects.

Sleep has to be a policy issue for the design of better societies. Those who lose sleep over the "consumption economy," may be well served to sleep the black Friday out.

(1) Dreaming takes the sting out of painful memories. Justin Yao, Shubir Dutt, Vikram Rao and Jared Saletin.

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/11/23/dreaming.takes.sting.out.painful.memories