Scientists are learning the biological “purpose” of sleep by studying what happens when we’re deprived of it. Sleep deprived, people are much less able to retain or use what they learn while awake. They lose resiliency—mental and physical—as their immune system falters. Still we wonder, can we skip it? Can we do without it, or shortchange it in some way, to reclaim the third of our lives that is “lost” to slumber? As a society we seem to be asking the same questions about childhood. What purpose does it serve? Can we speed it up? Can we better prepare our children for adulthood by treating
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